Under Bottom Paint

Troy Scott · Post by **Troy Scott** » Mar 29th, '10, 08:24

Around here this is how it usually goes when a boat is hauled for bottom work: With the boat still in the sling, a guy using a pressure washer removes all the old ablative paint and immediately inspects for gelcoat blisters. Many owners don't realize that this is when you see gelcoat blisters. If you wait even a few hours many or the blisters will shrink or even disappear. This does not mean the problem disappears...... The point is that there is no reason to let old paint build up, and also that there is good reason NOT to.

SurryMark · Post by **SurryMark** » Mar 29th, '10, 08:48

from Maine Sail:
Micron paints don't even begin to ablade until 6-7 knots. Pettit Horizons and the Ultima line begin at 2-3 knots.. Pettit SSA (single season ablative or super soft ablative) ablades even faster..

M'Sail,
I was waiting to see how you'd weigh in on this. I've never heard about ablatives needing speed to slough off. I'm about to scrape down to gel coat. Maybe I'll have someone who knows what's what take some moisture readings, and then decide about a barrier coat. Meanwhile, it sounds like one of the Pettit's is a good bet for a CD27. Sound right?

Zeida · Post by **Zeida** » Mar 29th, '10, 10:32

Here in Miami Florida, water temp. warm most of the time, good environment for little critters that love to live in our hulls, most of the boaters use the Microns, Trinidad, Seahawk and similar... they work best.

Bandolera is right now on the sling, getting her bottom redone. I am using Seahawk Tropikote Red, because it has, guaranteed, the highest copper content of any of the similar paints - in other words, it is the most effective in repelling those critters, slime, etc. It also reduces the time my diver has to come and clean -every 4 months- so it works fine for me! We are applying three full coats of the Seahawk Tropikote with a little more along the waterline, rudder and front of the keel.

As she comes out of the water, immediately pressure clean... let dry some, light sand the hull to remove any excess paint that may be flaking off, then if the hull is more or less sound, PAINT! Bandolera has tiny blisters, but they are basically cosmetic, so we paint right over them.

<a href="http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc26 ... G_1638.jpg" target="_blank"><img width="600" src="http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc26 ... 8.jpg"></a>

<a href="http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc26 ... G_1645.jpg" target="_blank"><img width="600" src="http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc26 ... 5.jpg"></a>

<a href="http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc26 ... G_1653.jpg" target="_blank"><img width="600" src="http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc26 ... 3.jpg"></a>

<a href="http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc26 ... G_1683.jpg" target="_blank"><img width="600" src="http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc26 ... 3.jpg"></a>

<a href="http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc26 ... G_1690.jpg" target="_blank"><img width="600" src="http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc26 ... 0.jpg"></a>

<a href="http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc26 ... G_1705.jpg" target="_blank"><img width="600" src="http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc26 ... 5.jpg"></a>

<a href="http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc26 ... G_1707.jpg" target="_blank"><img width="600" src="http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc26 ... 7.jpg"></a>

While she is out, I remove the barrels from all the seacocks, clean well with kerosene, regrease them with Red Moreys and put them back. I also remove the prop, shaft, coupler, cutless bearing (it was worn out) stuffing box, repack same with new packing, clean and reinstall. I also use Pettit underwater Zinc & Metals Barrier Coat on the prop, shaft and thruhulls, so all metals are protected. We have been on the yard 8 days and will be ready to splash tomorrow. Huge downpour all day today, so we wait for tomorrow and good weather.

Zeida · Post by **Zeida** » Mar 29th, '10, 10:35

By the way, the Seahawk products are a LOT less expensive than the better known brands - they put the $$ on the product and not so much on the publicity. But if you read the specs, they are probably BETTER!

Tom Keevil · Post by **Tom Keevil** » Mar 29th, '10, 11:35

Zeida,
Have you had any problems getting enough water into your cutless bearing using the shaft doughnut zinc? It's kind of a tight fit in there, and we've never tried one, though we've been tempted.

Zeida · Post by **Zeida** » Mar 29th, '10, 15:07

Tom... there is plenty of room. The pix below shows the final position of the donut zinc on the prop shaft. The photo you saw before was before we put in the prop. the zinc was just placed in the shaft temporarily.

our shafts are exactly 19" long, not much room in there for anything, but for sure, you have room on the outside to use the donut zinc.

I normally replace the cutless bearing every time I haul out -this time, it was a 4 year wait- the cutless was slightly worn out more on one side than on the other, due to a tiny misalignment of my engine and tranny, a problem my boat had already when I bought her. As much as i have tried, it is not easy to align these two. i do it myself, since i will not trust anyone else. I have horror stories of "expert mechanics" who did not do it properly, resulting in twice having the tranny out to replace all the broken gears. AFTer I learned how to do it, i've not had a problem again. This time, after we pulled the shaft out, removed the coupler, stuffing box, etc. cleaned all and went to reinstall, all the parts fit in perfectly with no effort. There IS a trick to it, for dealing with the Universal 5424 engine, and the everyday mechanics don't know it. Now I do. It has to do with the key that goes in the shaft slot where it joins the coupler.

[img[img]http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc26 ... G_1733.jpg[/img]
[/img[img]http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc26 ... G_1732.jpg[/img]
You can see the new cutless bearing just peeking out of the stern tube.
I can adjust the drip of water that I want to come through the stuffing box, so it means water is coming through and my cutless is being lubricated ok. however, i use the gortex packing, which does not get hot at all, and basically requires no drip!

Maine Sail · Post by **Maine Sail** » Mar 29th, '10, 20:32

SurryMark wrote:from Maine Sail:
Micron paints don't even begin to ablade until 6-7 knots. Pettit Horizons and the Ultima line begin at 2-3 knots.. Pettit SSA (single season ablative or super soft ablative) ablades even faster..

M'Sail,
I was waiting to see how you'd weigh in on this. I've never heard about ablatives needing speed to slough off. I'm about to scrape down to gel coat. Maybe I'll have someone who knows what's what take some moisture readings, and then decide about a barrier coat. Meanwhile, it sounds like one of the Pettit's is a good bet for a CD27. Sound right?

Mark,

Horizons, or Ultima SR40 are both great though Horizons will get some slight slime by the end of the season as it does not have a slime blocker. West Marine PCA Gold is basically the same as Ultima SR 40..

jwestman · Post by **jwestman** » Mar 30th, '10, 08:59

I notice nobody talks about chemical strippers to remove old layers of bottom paint. Is there too much risk of damaging the gelcote? I was thinking about something like peel away or a less aggressive stripper designed for fiberglass.

Zeida · Post by **Zeida** » Mar 30th, '10, 15:02

Tom... I don't know why the two pictures I posted in my last email to you did not show up. I am trying here again to show you exactly the space available between the prop and the cutless bearing.

[img[img]http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc26 ... G_1732.jpg[/img]
[/img[img]http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc26 ... G_1733.jpg[/img]
(that's my crazy cousin by the prop)

Tom Keevil · Post by **Tom Keevil** » Mar 31st, '10, 02:47

Our setup looks quite different from yours - we don't have nearly that much room. We have a Campbell prop that has a wider hub, and it looks as if our shaft is a bit shorter than yours. It also looks like our cutless bearing fitting sticks out more than yours. It's remarkable how many small differences there are between our boats. Guess we'll stick with the bullet zincs.

Zeida · Post by **Zeida** » Mar 31st, '10, 19:33

Tom, how interesting to see the differences in two supposed same boats!
I would be very curious to see the inside of your shaft, stuffing box, coupler and the way it is attached to the tranny... since I will be working in that area all this week, I will have pictures to show you of my setup.
For sure, it looks your shaft is shorter, but I wonder how can that be?
Do you have a universal engine 5424 M30?

Tom Keevil · Post by **Tom Keevil** » Apr 1st, '10, 12:19

Well. Zeida, I hesitate to post this picture, since it all looks rather grungy, and I assume that you could eat dinner off of your immaculate stuffing box. But, I'll swallow my pride and post it for you.

Tom

mgphl52 · Post by **mgphl52** » Apr 1st, '10, 12:22

Tom, That's a fine looking Campbell Sailor! I just a bit jealous... OK, maybe even a lot!

Tom Keevil · Post by **Tom Keevil** » Apr 1st, '10, 21:43

That photo of the Campbell prop was taken seven years ago when it was brand new. Needless to say it now looks a bit worse for wear, but still works well.

Zeida, I neglected to answer your question about the engine. Yes it is a 5424.

Tom

mgphl52 · Post by **mgphl52** » Apr 1st, '10, 22:30

7 years old or not, I'm still jealous...

The Cape Dory Board

Under Bottom Paint

BBBU (bottom paint build up)

Re: Bottom work

Bottom Paint - It's that time!

Bottom Paint

Zeida - Doughnut Zinc?

Re: Bottom work

Under Bottom Paint

Thanks Zeida

Shaft Photo

Prop & Engine