barrier coat/ bottom paint / VC17

[Ron Hill]

Dan : Yes, the smile is common to most wing keel C34s - because at some time the majority of the hull weight was NOT put on the nose of the wing.  You'll just have to gouge it out and the fair in some West System.

It looks like there was some previous blister repair done??  Recheck that repair!! After the coats of epoxy barrier after applied I'd still go with a single coat of hard bottom and then ablative over that final coat.  Remember to change colors so you know when to repaint and or just touch up worn spots!!.

A few thoughts

[KWKloeber]

....bottom cleaned. I then applied several coats of Micron CS ablative paint 

@karista

I'm interested in the process you used.  You say "cleaned" then CS over the VC.   Are you saying it was blasted?

My 30 was the Commodore's at Youngstown YC and after I moved it to L Erie I took his ablative down to the hull (which it turns out much of the gelcoat had been ground (I ass/u/me many blisters repaired?) 
I faired spots needing it, sprayed 6 coats of VC Tar (popular in the '90s) -- then VC17.  After moving off Lake Erie I'd like to go to something different but have always heard that more is needed than just "cleaning" the VC-17.   What was the barrier you covered over with the CS?


@melp64

If I was still on Lake Erie I would not want to change from my VC17.  Being on the hard annually, it is was a snap to clean the bottom, recoat, and it's dry in 15 minutes.  I  looked at it like normal spring duties.

I used to put multiple coats on the wear surfaces like the bow, and leading edges of the keel and rudder.

For warm water / saltwater locations, or expecting to move there at some point, I'd never use it.

[karista]

....bottom cleaned. I then applied several coats of Micron CS ablative paint 

@karista

I'm interested in the process you used.  You say "cleaned" then CS over the VC.   Are you saying it was blasted?

My 30 was the Commodore's at Youngstown YC and after I moved it to L Erie I took his ablative down to the hull (which it turns out much of the gelcoat had been ground (I ass/u/me many blisters repaired?) 
I faired spots needing it, sprayed 6 coats of VC Tar (popular in the '90s) -- then VC17.  After moving off Lake Erie I'd like to go to something different but have always heard that more is needed than just "cleaning" the VC-17.   What was the barrier you covered over with the CS?


@melp64

If I was still on Lake Erie I would not want to change from my VC17.  Being on the hard annually, it is was a snap to clean the bottom, recoat, and it's dry in 15 minutes.  I  looked at it like normal spring duties.

I used to put multiple coats on the wear surfaces like the bow, and leading edges of the keel and rudder.

For warm water / saltwater locations, or expecting to move there at some point, I'd never use it.

Ken, the boat originally had 3 coats VC Tar Barrier Coat on the hull and then 2 coats of VC17 were applied yearly while on Lake Ontario (Rochester NY).
After moving it to Deale MD on the upper Chesapeake the VC17 simply did not work and a thick Moss like growth covered the entire hull. The yard had a difficult time removing it, but using scrappers and pressure washer they finally got the hull clean, afterwards I simply used a palm sander and removed the VC17 which was not difficult but left the VC Tar barrier coat, then applied the Micron CSC ablative paint which held up just fine for many years, in retrospect since moving the boat to the hot salt waters of the gulf I wished that I had used the hard Trinidad paint instead of the ablative as we use divers monthly to clean the bottom and if not careful the divers can easily remove more of the ablative paint then needed. I found out that the hard paint can not be applied on top of the ablative so this would require removing all the ablative first and that is very expensive. The cost here in St Petersburg, FL to have a yard simply do a bottom job applying 2 coats of paint is close to $4000.

[KWKloeber]

Karista

Thx for that good info. I likely don't have much VC left and the remainder will be a snap to get off.

Oh, longing for the Good Old Days (two well-paid, energetic teens with a hose and stiff brushes took care of my ablative problem over a weekend in 1996-ish with negligible impact to the wallet, including the MacDonalds and pizza bills.)

[Ron Hill]

Guys : Ken has said a "mouthfull".  Having moved (a number of years ago) to an "over 55 community" I found there were NO teenagers to hire!!!  Having had 3 sons - that all move away - it was a real shock.

It's alarming to realize that you know how to do a job, but at 90 finding that it's getting physically harder to Pretzel yourself down there to get it done!! 

A thought

[melp64]

Guys : Ken has said a "mouthfull".  Having moved (a number of years ago) to an "over 55 community" I found there were NO teenagers to hire!!!  Having had 3 sons - that all move away - it was a real shock.

It's alarming to realize that you know how to do a job, but at 90 finding that it's getting physically harder to Pretzel yourself down there to get it done!! 

A thought

90!!! I'm finding it hard to do boat yoga at 60. I elected to have a professional wet sand blast the hull, He took off the bottom paint just to the barrier coat. Some of the areas on the hull were 1/4 thick. I can varnish, rebuild cabinets, clean, even paint but the money I spent to have the bottom blasted was worth every penny and then some. I spent the weekend and did a final sand on the entire hull getting it ready for barrier coat. I just order total boat 2part epoxy fairing compound to fix small areas that need it. The guy at the yard that does all their fiberglass when he saw the bottom said other than the Catalina smile the bottom is excellent shape. Next weekend I'll do the fairing and I'm ordering total boat barrier coat.

[KWKloeber]

Guys : Ken has said a "mouthfull".  Having moved (a number of years ago) to an "over 55 community" I found there were NO teenagers to hire!!!  Having had 3 sons - that all move away - it was a real shock.

It's alarming to realize that you know how to do a job, but at 90 finding that it's getting physically harder to Pretzel yourself down there to get it done!! 

A thought

Ron
The malady is NOT limited to or unique to "over 55" communities.  I've tried unsuccessfully to hire snowflakes FOR ANYTHING and there's plenty of them around here.

[KWKloeber]

Karista

I had asked about the compatibility of other (non vc-17) paint over my VC-Tar.

Now I'm perplexed!

Ken,
Many thanks for your email and support of our coatings. Unfortunately however it is best and recommended to completely strip the entire bottom (both barrier and antifouling) back down to the gelcoat.
The removal will help to ensure you have full compatibility of the newly applied product scheme (InterProtect barrier coat along with the desired antifouling).
Hope this helps and best of luck with the work!

I'm hoping that they're just trying to sell more barrier coat.

[melp64]

A lot of work was done this weekend I was able to sand the entire bottom, I gouged out the loose stuff around the smile, then I faired it out with epoxy which turned out fantastic I also faired anything I could. I am going to purchase barrier coat paint this week 1 gallon of barrier coat paint covers about 450 sq feet. Will 1 gallon be enough to cover the bottom?

[Noah]

IMO, 1 gal. is not enough paint. You need two coats minimum of barrier coat. I know it is expensive. I recommend you buy one can gallon and a couple of extra quart kits. Then return what you don't use.