Since it seems the only way that I can keep up with the jones' and keep my boat respectable amongst the speedy is if I'm gonna suck wind because of my boat, I might as well look good doing it.... that why I'm repainting the lead sled.
I've got all the goodies that I need from painting restored 55 chevys, but I have one quick question. The no-slip texture on the top of the hulls.... do I sand it smooth or try and leave it there? I would rather sand it off, so I can add my own no-slip textured paint topside. The "expert" (read: father) says that if I sand that off, I'd go right through the gelcoat. I disagree. You people are the moderators 
Wheres judge mills lane when you need him?
Thanks!
(yeah, I might not sail as quick as you carbon fiber fuddyduddies, but all the chicks will want my lowrider heh)
I'm in the process of cleaning up my FMS SC20 57 and I'm going down to the glass. I'm using an orbitual sande w/60grit. Caldwell has already done this on his SC20 and it looks great.
Just go sloooooooow and deliberate and you should be ok. He used saw dust for non skid. I will use West system.
thom
I'm not going to be taking the gelcoat off completely. I'm going to start with a 320 grit, then work to 600, then prime, then sand with 800-100 then 1st coat, wetsand with 1200, then 2nd coat, then clear laquer.
Thats the idea.... but I need to know just about that top textured area... take it off or leave it on?
take it off. you should go through it with 80 gt. watch for pin holes.
Sand it off! It would be to time consuming to try to prep the non-skid area and you run the risk of missing a spot or two and the paint will not adhere properly. I mixed sawdust with my paint and ended up with a surface that did not slip and was not to abrasive on skin. You can use sand also but if you crew wears a bikini, it might be to abrasive.
Don Caldwell
Hi ,
What kind of cat are we talking about ?
I did my N6.0 last year and the gelcoat was thick enough so sand it flat.
I think from your previous posts that we are talking about an H17 here. This may or may not be a condideration for you but the class rules state the following. "Decks shall have a nonskid surface at least equal to the original design area"...Dan
At this point, class rules mean little, if anything to me
Your post caught my intrest...and I am currently rebuilding a H17 and had to install access ports for a repair. I still had the cut out piece for the hole, so I decided to sand the texture portion to see what happens. I was able to sand it smooth and the resin and glass from below the gelcoat started to show through as i just sanded it level with the center non textured section. This kind of makes sense because the gelcoat is sprayed into a mold and will form a uniform film thickness.
I just painted my 17 last october, and after making all of the repairs and fairing everything, I sanded everything but the texture with 320 paper, and just cleaned the texture real well with a scrub brush and acetone. I then rolled on 2 coats of interthane plus, even over the texture, and it looks great. The finish does not build up much in the texture. I used white, although the off white may have been a better choice, so if it chips or scratches it will just show the white gelcoat below the paint and hopefully not be noticable. No primer was needed. E-mail me if you want some details.
Also, on your soft spot, I had a soft spot like this on a older 17 I had and it did not appear to be delamination. It seemed it had been steped on carelessly or a heavy object on it and it kind of crushed the structure of the glass and foam not cosmetically but damageing it internal strength. I epoxyed a peice of hardwood to the underside and it fixed it perfectly. You could glass in a piece of PVC or even a Christmass wrapping paper roll tube to strengthen it. (the paper tube is just to give the glass shape untill it sets up, it will eventually rot away) I had to cut out some flotation foam to get to it, just put it back in when finished.
Mike
P16
H17 in progress
No need to go through the Gelcoat, just sand thoroughly with 80 then 320, spray the finish in two or three light (reduced) coats wetsand with 600 and compound out to tighten the finish this does'nt add to much weight and works with most topside paints. Your decks could be finished with a foam roller with a bit o " Shark Skin" none skid, use the finest possible grade in some thined finish coat . Your cure time is the most important between coats. "Be Patient".
I like the idea of the pvc, its quick and easy, but I think I'm going to go for the hardwood idea. I'm going to laminate it first in a coat of glass, then shove it in there, build up some glass on top of that, then putsome of that "great stuff" foam on top of that, replace the pumpkin lid and tape it down, so that the foam is forced out of the edges of the lid... then use some kind of marinetex time stuff to fill in the gap. Then it's time for painting.
This sound like a good plan?
(this plan was conceived by my father and I. The former having a couple years of powerboat fiberglass experience, the latter a prodigy in the works 😛 )