Diesel on bottom paint

[DaveBMusik]

I made the mistake of leaving my tank too full at the end of the season. A combination of a couple hot days and the boat not level caused some fuel to expand out the vent and on to the bottom paint. I washed the area with a detergent when I was able but the stain is still visible. Petit says the paint should be stripped as the fuel may have gotten into the gelcoat.
Has anyone experienced this ?
Any suggestions are welcome!
- Dave

[Dave Spencer]

Hi Dave,
Exactly the same thing happened to me 3 or 4 years ago.  I have VC17 on the bottom and did nothing special after the overflow incident.  I haven't seen any issues in the ensuing years.  I suspect the corrective action would depend on what kind of bottom paint that you have but, at first glance, stripping the paint seems a little extreme.

[Fred Koehlmann]

If by bottom paint you mean the anti-fouling paint, why worry? Who's really going to see it?

I'm not clear on how it is going to soak into the gelcoat. I figure it should evaporate before anything like that could happen. If dish detergent doesn't do it, try a Mr. Clean eraser or Spic'n Span. If you have something right in the gelcoat then you can always try polishing with a very fine abrasive polish.

[DaveBMusik]

If by bottom paint you mean the anti-fouling paint, why worry? Who's really going to see it?

I'm not clear on how it is going to soak into the gelcoat. I figure it should evaporate before anything like that could happen. If dish detergent doesn't do it, try a Mr. Clean eraser or Spic'n Span. If you have something right in the gelcoat then you can always try polishing with a very fine abrasive polish.

The only reference on the web I found was regarding one of the large oil spills and the boat sitting in the water for a period of time. I hope that situation causes a different result than mine.
The two issues I worry about (according to Petit) is the new bottom paint (Hydrocoat Ablative) not adhering to the old and the existing paint becoming less / not effective.
My plan, once we get some running water, is to scrub using Dawn and then sand a little and re-evaluate.

Unfortunately, the shrink wrap caused the spill to spread onto one side of the rudder and a 5 foot section of the hull. I'm hoping not to have to take all the paint off.
Some of the wooden boat guys have talked about some remedies to leach the oil out...

[Jim Hardesty]

Unless you are going to paint the bottom this spring don't do anything.  A few weeks in the water will clean it right up.  You may consider taking a gallon or two from your tank to prevent anymore spills.  It will get warmer.
Jim

[Ron Hill]

Dave : That overflow has happened to me a few times.  I did nothing until spring.  Then after I re-cleaned the bottom with TSP, I just repainted or touched up that area.

The biggest problem that I found from an overflow from the tank vent was screwing up/softening my seal that I had around the stainless column into the rudder layup seal.  I always had to drop the rudder a bit and redo that seal!! 

A few thoughts