I need to paint the starboard hull of my P-18. Do not want to go through the trouble of spraying gelcoat. Gelcoat is in poor shape and only worse after I drilled multiple holes in it to correct a delamination problem. The area to be painted is the entire hull. I have primed the hull with Interlux InterProtect 200E and plan to put on at least three coats. The boat will not be kept in the water (storing on land when not in use). I have tried to get information from staff at West Marine but they have different opinions: 1) Must use ablative paint for whole hull, 2) Use ablative paint below the waterline and topside paint above the waterline (this was despite multiple attempts to inform him that the waterline varies depending on crew weight, point of sail, etc. and 3) Can use a "topside" paint as the boat will not be kept in the water. Someone on this site has used a topside Pettit EasyEpoxy. Any experience with this or any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Scott

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Scott
ARC 21
Prindle 18
Annapolis, Maryland
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topside paints are all you need...use the interlux line that the primer is suited for. gloss is tougher than satin finish if you have a choice. let it cure at least 7 days before you put it back together.

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bill harris
hattiesburg, mississippi
prindle 16- "BLUE RIBBON"
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For what its worth the previous owner of my 5.7 painted below the waterline with an ablative (black) paint. Year one, I did nothing cosmetic, just got the hang of the boat. This year I decided to polish the gelcoat & wax it shiny.
That paint p.i.s.s.ed me off more than any other item in the last 2 years!
It rubbed off on people anytime they touched the hull, it made my righting line all black. Small areas were wearing off, exposing the white beneath, it looked like sh*t. It was not required as the Cat was never stored in the water.
I have the boat apart right now, so between taking the kids tubing & wakeboarding today, I spent 5 hours with a sander & arm power getting it all off. Small areas adhere better than others, requiring huge amounts of hand rubbing. The area that was painted has slightly discolored, & is not as "white" as the topsides. I'm not sure if more sanding will bring it back to original.
I had to start with 220 grit, to cut the paint (wet/dry automotive finish paper, 220 is much finer than 220 wood paper) then a rubdown with 320, then 400. Have to work tomorrow, but one more hand rub with 600 next Thursday, then a rub with Collinete 925 cleaner, then a final coat of colinette wax. If I had not had to deal with that paint, I would not have wasted two days of my life! Even heavily oxidized gel coat can be restored with wet/dry auto sanding. The small area I did with all 4 grits is as shiny as new. I don.t think I wuld ever paint over gelcoat.
I can see why a good paint job is so expensive, the prep will kill you.

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Hobie 18 Magnum
Dart 15
Mystere 6.0XL Sold Was a handful solo
Nacra 5.7
Nacra 5.0
Bombardier Invitation (Now officially DEAD)
Various other Dock cluttering WaterCrap
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For what it's worth I painted my Hobie 21 about eight years ago. Still shiny and nice. I used two part urethane and sprayed it in my back yard. This stuff is self priming so I did filling with West system thickened epoxy, sanding with a belt sander for the big lumps, in line sander after that, then an orbital sander and bondo and glazing compound. When it was perfect I sprayed it. After the first coat you think "Didn't anybody do prep on this?" More sanding, more bondo, more glazing compound, more sanding. Three coats of paint in total. I used Ferox because it was cheaper than Awlgrip. Came in a bunch of colours, I always wanted a black boat, and it came out shiny and stayed that way. Except around the nose where I kept hitting things.

"I can see why a good paint job is so expensive, the prep will kill you." Truer words were never spoken. And I'm retired.

Priming with a high-solids primer saves a lot of filling time, and yes, a good paint job is totally about the preparation.

Thanks for your help. Discussed with Interlux technical support today and he recommended that I paint over the Interlux InterProtect 200E with a topside primer (Primecote) as it will yield a smother finish with less sanding. Recommended using Perfection topside paint over this. Will give it a try and will post how it comes out. Have done significant amount of prep work and hopefully it will pay off.

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Scott
ARC 21
Prindle 18
Annapolis, Maryland
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might as well paint the other hull? you might regret having one pristine hull and one not so much. after the paint job the boat will look brand new...make sure to let it cure at least a week before reassembly, it was the biggest mistake i made.

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bill harris
hattiesburg, mississippi
prindle 16- "BLUE RIBBON"
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I just painted my boat. I too bought a boat w black bottom paint. I used prep standing w 80 grit. Rinse w water followed by acteone wearing throw away gloves. Paint uses interlux 2000 I this is a two part woody paint I painted my whole boat with this top to bottom. I put a finish coat on with regular interlux. Very happy.

Finished painting the hull and it looks good. Very happy with the Interlux Perfection topside paint. Sanded between coats with 320 grit sand paper. Only a slight difference in color from the gelcoat on the opposite hull. Would have painted both but I JUST WANT TO GET THE BOAT OUT AND SAIL!!! Will leave that for next winter or spring. Will try to post a picture of the final product.

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Scott
ARC 21
Prindle 18
Annapolis, Maryland
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Just a note. Be sure to have a positive pressure resperartor is you are going to spray urathane paint. That can be some nasty stuff.

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It's like standing in a cold shower, tearing up hundred dollar bills.
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