The bottom of my NS26C is covered in multiple layers of paint that stick to the hull in many places. In other areas the paint is coming off in flakes. I have decided to take it down to bare bottom before repainting. As the the gel coat does go below the waterline how do I paint the hull? Primer first then ablative bottom paint? The boat will be used in fresh water. It does not appear to have had a barrier coat applied to the hull and as near as I can tell at this point there are no blisters on the hull.
So the question is do I need to apply a barrier coat?
Thanks
Randy Gadikian
Paisley Moon
NS26C #34
Buffalo, New York
I am a newbie to boats that remain in the water for the season. My NS26c does have a barrier coat on the bottom, I am down to the gelcoat in a few places below the waterline with just a few minutes work. Now the hull painting process is starting to make sense..
I would recommend that you take photos showing that there are no blisters, and then apply a barrier coat on the gelcoat. This will increase the value of your NS26.
Randy
I’m not sure what you mean here. I believe you will find that the ablative antifouling flakes off rather easily. If there is a barrier coat it will likely be softer than the gel coat. On my 26 the clean hull gel coat was very hard, smooth, reddish colour, no blisters.
I used a scraper the take off the antifouling and this did not damage or scratch the gel coat in any way.
The epoxy barrier coat was easier to sand smooth than any gel coat and needed to be sanded because rolling it on makes a very pebbled surface. To make this easier you sand just the high points off on the next to last coat and apply the last coat of barrier with a large bodywork trowel.