Lady renovating boat please help

[boaterlady]

I was here before years ago, finally my bf and I boat an old sailboat together so very excited! She is an Aquarius 23 foot, 1972 and she was $1000. I've ordered Aqua strip to remove the paint and have the outside restoration plan down I think but I have one simple question I can't find an answer to. I will be doing bulk of the work so I am gathering info. I want to remove oxidation from the deck and reapply whatever is on there to make it white again. What do I do? Could anyone tell me exactly what to use?
Thanks so much in advance.

 

[Grub54891]

Well first, Welcome back! As you may know we like lots of pictures of what you have, and are doing to the boat. Are you sure it's paint you will be stripping or is it gelcoat? You don't use stripper on gelcoat. Pictures please!.

 

[boaterlady]

It is safe for gelcoat, I researched the hell out of it first, It is called aqua strip, pics coming in a few...sit tight! Thanks!!

 

[boaterlady]

I researched a lot and it is safe for gelcoats. It will leave that in tact whilst removing paint. I wasn't about to sand off all that lead paint, no way. Videos and pics shortly and thanks!!

 

[mjf55]

do a google search for "maine sail buffer tips" without the quotes. Great article by Maine Sail on how to restore your gelcoat.

 

[boaterlady]

Thanks so much

 

[boaterlady]

Well first, Welcome back! As you may know we like lots of pictures of what you have, and are doing to the boat. Are you sure it's paint you will be stripping or is it gelcoat? You don't use stripper on gelcoat. Pictures please!.

https://youtu.be/rw4apUGZA4w

Video of it all

 

[boaterlady]

So what dos I do to hull after I paint it? I've ordered all that I need to remove oxidation etc and make top and decks pretty but know I don't need that stuff all over if I am painting so after I paint hull, do I just wax and go? Or do I need cutting creme?

 

[boaterlady]

Anyone?

 

[Woodonglass]

It depends on the kind of paint used

 

[gm280]

While there is very good help available on these forums, we don't have any mind reads that I know about. So you have to explain all the particulars and even pictures for us to see what you are dealing with. Then we can understand what you are asking about. What type paint are you going to use and how are you planning to apply it? What is your prep for the remaining gel coat? All those things allow us to understand your process and then we can offer answers to your questions. JMHO

 

[sphelps]

As Woody and gm stated ... You will need to follow the instructions on which ever paint you use ... Some can be cut and buffed if wanted and some may just require a good coat of wax ... If the paint goes on nicely without a lot of orange peel or fisheyes then no need to cut and buff .. Are you rolling or brushing or spraying ?

 

[DeepBlue2010]

The reason you are not getting the fast responses you are looking for is that there is considerable amount of ambiguity in your thread. I read it from start to finish and I still don’t know the answers for some important questions. So, let’s just start over; tell is the following

For both the hull and the deck

• What is the current finish (paint, gelcoat,&#133?
• What is the current status of it (restorable, needs refinish)
• What is your plan, what you want to do (repaint, regel )?
• What did you do so far in terms of preparation?

 

[72fj40]

I watched some of the video. Are you wanting to paint the bottom of the boat, and buff the white?

 

[boaterlady]

Photos too big to upload. Annoying. I wanted to strip it all off and start over and bought aqua strip but it's not as effective as I would hope. Today was a hot mess after waiting 24 hours it didn't do a lot. Looks like the white part of the boat was the gel coat itself so have to redo that. Biggest issue is stripping thing. I'm against dry sanding because there's lead paint, he thinks it's fastest as it's such a mess. I said wet sanding could work. So my plan is strip the whole thing all the way down, I guess all the way to fiberglass now as the gel seems quite dinged up. Then I guess a new gel coat is need, ordered some bottom paint in black, some topside in yellow, and do I need an epoxy barrier coat as well as a new gel coat? Let's assume I am starting with fiberglass please. And can I dry sand safely with the right protection and a hepa vacuum etc? Is dry quicker than wet sanding? Trying to get this done but be safe. Sigh. Will try to make photo smaller to upload.

 

[boaterlady]

No Title

 

[boaterlady]

I bought solvent wash, primer, TSP, just need this thing stripped first.

 

[boaterlady]

So again let's assume bare fibreglass to start please as gel was pretty thrashed. Please help, I'm trying to be clear what I'm doing, just end the steps. From what I gather, gel coat, primer on bottom, anti fouling on bottom, do we need barrier coat before antifouling and if so, on whole boat? And I saw I can get colored gel coat. So that would be good to use above water or can I use it all over boat and put bottom paint over it?

 

[DeepBlue2010]

You don't need to gelcoat the bottom and then apply anti fouling in top of it. You can but the extra efforts yields no return. Sand the bottom to rough it up then apply the bottom paint system you selected (the anti fouling paint)

Epoxy barrier coat is great insurance against water intrusion and blisters. Most bottom paints are designed to deplete and this is the signal for the owner to reapply. But when they do, they expose the substrate. Blisters don't happen in every boat but when they do, it is a nasty and expensive repair. Again, Epoxy barrier coat is a good insurance, I would go for it if I were you.

Regarding the above water line and the inside of the boat. If you are starting with clean fiberglass or even if you start with scuffed old gelcoat, you can reapply gelcoat on top of it with no problems if you know the proper techniques of spraying or rolling gelcoat. Cleaning the surface with Acetone is a must and it has to be done in one direction and with clean side of the rag with every pass to avoid spreading contaminates around. Then the new gel could be applied.

You can use any color you want, it is a matter of personal preference. Keep in miind that darker colors are harder to maintain.

 

[boaterlady]

THANK YOU for your reply, going crazy here. We are going to leave gelcoat alone but we did wreak havoc on it trying to strip it in some spot and there are some dings. Can we just touch that up with some gelcoat or epoxy, sand and repaint? Do not want to have to strip off gel and reapply, seems like major drama. Also have fibreglass showing in spots, bought a kit to fix that. How the hell do we get this sucker off the trailer to access the whole thing though? Tried a jack, did not get it high enough. Also, any idea how to get a stubborn man to play it safer when stripping lead paint? He is out there underneath scraping it off and it is falling on his face. He has a suit and respirator on but the eyewear that is not enclosed on and the paint stripper is dry at this point so dust is a plenty and I have found it far less dusty spraying water but he will not listen. LOL half joking only.