Hi Rick, I just got done removing hard bottom paint. Used a combination of strippers and sanding. The stripper I liked the best was Aqua strip. Worked pretty well but one needs patience. And once you are done scraping some sanding is required. You will curse the fabulous lapstrake while doing this. Since the paint is below the water line I have never been concerned about sanding the gel coat there, as it needs it to either be painted of barrier coated on the boats I have had. I keep my boats in a slip so I have made it a point to barrier coat them. If you dry sail the boat I would not think the barrier coat necessary. My 1975 M-17 definitely needed it as it had evidence of some blisters. My M-23 appears to have the gel coat below the water line stripped off and barrier coated. And I am adding more coats. If you know what paint was used you can overcoat with a compatible paint. Once painted I don't think it is really practical to strip and restore it to shiny gel coat. You may want to just put on a hard paint once you have removed what is there since you trailer sail so it does not smear when you wash. Practical Sailor had a great review of bottom paints a couple months back. Robbin On 4/13/2011 9:42 AM, Rick Davies wrote:
I sent out the cry for help below a few days ago. Since nobody answered I thought that it might have got lost in the mail so I'm giving it one more try.
Thanks,
Rick M-17 #633 Lynne L
On Sat, Apr 9, 2011 at 9:14 AM, Rick Davies<jdavies104@gmail.com> wrote:
My boat was kept for two years in salt water by the original owner, who painted the bottom with a copper-colored ablative bottom paint. I have trailer-sailed the boat for almost four years in fresh water, and the paint is now showing its age, besides making a big mess when washed with On and Off. Does anyone have any advice about how to remove the old ablative paint and what it should be replaced with? I was thinking of sanding, but the recent posts on gelcoat damage from sanding are making me rethink that and ask for help.
Thanks,
Rick M17 #633 Lynne L _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
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