paint necessary?

[desperado8156]

Im a new boater and so I'm still a landlubber of sorts. I need you guys to steer me straight til I get up to snuff, so Im grateful for you exp. Sorry if I sound so dumb with my questions. Im brand new to the boating ownership thing.<br />I have a 73 searay w/e and the bottom is painted. I trailer the boat now but last year rented a marina space and when I took it out, the paint was like butter. Im a new owner , so I don't know what the paint is.<br />Im thinking that maybe I should just take all the paint off and leave it with a gelcoat, since it won't be in the water unless Im using it. Do I have my hatches bettened down correctly or is there some reason to paint in my circumstances. Seems like a gelcoat would do just as well or better than $100 bucks in paint. Thanks

 

[mattttt25]

Re: paint necessary?

i assume it's a fiberglass hull in good condition. if you won't leave the boat in the water for more than a day or so, you don't need bottom paint. not sure what condition the hull will be in once you get the paint off. may need to do some maintenance at that point. hopefully others will chime in here. good luck-

 

[Mikedg]

Re: paint necessary?

If your boat was prepped properly prior to painting, the hull would have been sanded with 80 or 100 grit, leaving scratches in the gelcoat for the paint to mechanically bond. Once this is done, you will have to keep the hull painted or go through a costly and time consuming restoration of the gelcoat.

 

[crmoyer]

Re: paint necessary?

Anti-fouling paint is often times ablative, which means it's supposed to come off over time, that's what keeps it from fouling. Maybe the paint was performing as designed, although in my experience it shouldn't look like butter.