Sunshine got a bottom job this past weekend.
Tied against the wall at the local "marina" and using the tides made the job pretty easy.
My self and two local workers scrubbed and sanded while the water went down and painted while the water rose. It was possible to get on two coats. On Sunshine that takes two gals plus a bit of thinner.
All this was done on Friday morning and afternoon into the early evening.
I waited for the Saturday tide to put on a third coat by myself. That's a third gallon.
In the pics you can see that the aux rudder and the prop and strut are a different color. Last year I decided to experiment a bit. I removed the rudder and cleaned it up. Then I applied a couple of new coats of epoxy. Then I mixed copper powder with the epoxy and applied two coats of that mixture. I finish by applying a light dusting of copper powder to the still slightly tacky surface. That way there was a coating of pure copper on the rudder.
I was very happy with the results. Since the epoxy is very hard compared to ablative paint it will stand very hard scrubbing. Even a light burnishing with 120 grit wet/dry paper.
I did this last year and decided to use the concoction on the prop and strut as well.
I added the copper powder to the paint as well. Altogether 2 kilos. At 1,000 piso per kilo that's about US$50 worth of copper.
FYI Here is the price break down:
3 gals(4 liters) Dutch bottom paint. P4,300/can X 3 = P12,900 = about $320US
2 gals(4 liters) Thinner for above. P590/can X 2 = P1,180 = about $30US
Sand paper, roller sleeves, brushes and general clean up stuff = about $25US
2 men's labor and use of the "Wall" for the weekend. = P3,000 = about $75US
Not too bad! Right?
![Image](http://www.sbastro.com/SunShine/images/BottomJob/AuxRudder.jpg)
![Image](http://www.sbastro.com/SunShine/images/BottomJob/NewPaint.jpg)
![Image](http://www.sbastro.com/SunShine/images/BottomJob/Prop.jpg)