barrier coat

N

Nan-C

New member
I am wired to do the cautious things -- like a bottom barrier coat, and within reason, I'll pay the price. But I don't want to waste money or do the wrong thing in a misguided attempt to do the right thing. So, epoxy barrier coat or not. My boat is a new 25 that will live on a trailer. It will, however, be in a slip in saltwater for 2 weeks to 2 months at a time -- in the future that could grow to even three months at a time. My thought is I should do it now if I am ever going to do it. My problem is I don't know if my situation really calls for it. If this is a grey area, I would do it. What are the prevailing thoughts?
Thanks -- Greg
 
My personal feeling is that if you are going to be in salt water--especially warm water, you want to bottom paint. If you are going to bottom paint, it is best to put the epoxy barrier coat on first.

If you can dive on the bottom and clean it every week, you may get away without bottom paint--and not need barrier coat. The boat should dry enough during the times it is on the trailer to avoid blistering--plus there is a vinly ester resin layer which will also help to prevent osmosis.

Some folks are able to avoid bottom paint by frequent scrubbing and used--we personally have painted if there was a question.
 
I studied this topic to death. The data ...

1. The hull of CD-25s of 2006 vintage or later is vinyl ester which theoretically is far more resistant to blisters than conventional resins.

2. My boat will spend most of its time in a slip in the Chesapeake but will be trailored on some longer trips. It will also spend some time in more saline waters and potentially around Florida. I was going to go with Trinidad for anti-fouling as it is harder and would be less susceptible to abrasion from the trailer rollers. Then I was told that after two weeks in the air, Trinidad loses much of it's anti-fouling capability. Oops!!!

3. I wasn't going to go with a barrier layer until Gary Williams, owner of Osprey Composites in Deale, MD, told me that while the hull is vinyl ester, the gel coat is not. He felt a barrier layer was a good cautionary measure. It was not in his interest for me to get the barrier layer as his shop space is a very scarce resource, and my boat had to spend a number of additional days in the climate controlled shop to apply the five barrier coats. I believe he was giving me his best judgement.

4. A fair amount of the job cost was removing the wax and sanding the bottom so it could receive the paint. How much of the cost, I don't really know.

Based on a significant amount of confusion and with no single clear expert (particularly relative to vinyl ester hulls) what I did was:

a) Five coats of barrier paint
b) One coat of Trinidad (in red)
c) Two coats of black ablating paint

Total cost of everything was $2500. I didn't have to pay any lift fees as I had the painting done when the fiberglass repair (resulting from the accident) was being addressed. The only item in question from my perspective was the five barrier coats. Given that the bottom is only prepped like that once, this seemed the way for me to go.

Good decision, bad decision... I don't truly know. Looking at the cost of a well equipped 2007 CD-25, the $2500 for what I got seemed a reasonable expenditure.


Bill
Edgewater, MD
 
Greg – I do not have an opinion on bottom painting because I do not keep my boat in the water, but I wanted to take this opportunity to welcome you to this forum and congratulate you on your selection of a C-Dory. As you have already found out, you will generally get a quick response to any question posted to this site.

Welcome aboard.
________
Dave dlt.gif
 
I applied Micron CSC last season. It was the first time it had been painted so I had to do a good deal of prep and then applied three coats.

The boat was in salt water continually from early May through mid December.
When I pulled it, I pressure washed it within an hour or two to get the slime off the water line and the barnacles off the trim tabs. The bottom was very clean.

This past weekend I sanded and touched up some spots where the paint was flaking but it was minimal - maybe a pint of paint.

I will pressure wash again right before launching to "reactivate" the paint and I should be able to get a second season.

While I'm happy with the product, working under the boat is a job best left to the marina and, I will never ever repaint a boat botton again - period!

Phil
 
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