Repainting my Ty

[Bristol14]

I'm about to embark on repainting the decks, cabin top and cockpit of my Typhoon Weekender. It's been painted at least once (not by me) and the non skid areas are completely filled with paint.

I'm sure this has been covered in previous discussions, but I'm wondering if anyone has recent experience with paint removers and two or one part paints. I refinished a Bristol Corinthian 15 years ago using a 2 part epoxy and rolled, then tipped the surfaces and was pretty happy with the result. I'm considering 1 part poly, but am wondering how it will hold up. I'm guessing paints and paint removers get better every year or two, so my (old) experience may be dated.

Thoughts?

Thx.

Paul

[bamabratsche]

I repainted mine about 2 years ago using good ol' Brightsides, and it turned out really well. It was pretty easy to roll and tip as long as you pay attention to what the weather is doing, and it's not hard to get a nice glossy finish. People kept asking me if it was Awlgrip. I have no idea how it's going to hold up over the long term, though. Obviously not as well as a 2-part. My issue was that, like yours, mine had previously been painted with a 1-part, so using a 2-part would have involved stripping the entire thing down to gelcoat, which I definitely did not want to tackle at the time.

There is, however, a water-based 2-part LPU made by System 3 that can allegedly go on top of almost everything else. (http://www.systemthree.com/store/pc/WR- ... at-c29.htm) I considered going that route, but it does not seem to be that widely used and I ended up opting for a more known quantity as I had a limited amount of time to get the boat out of the storage area where it was. If you end up using it I would be very interested in hearing how it turns out.

You probably already know this, but you can find out what kind of paint is already on there by putting a rag soaked in the solvent for a 2-part like Perfection on the surface for a while and seeing if the existing coating peels up or not. If it peels, then it's a 1-part and that's exactly what will happen to the whole thing if you try to put a 2-part on top of that.

For the non-skid areas I cannot recommend Kiwigrip highly enough. It was one of the easiest jobs I have ever done on the boat, and has held up very well through 2 years of pretty intensive use.

[Markst95]

Hey Paul- how does the Ty compare to the Corinthian?

[Bristol14]

Thx for the tip on the water-based 2 part LPU. I may try it and will definitely post my results. I was planning to use Kiwi-grip as the reviews I've read have been pretty positive.

[Bristol14]

I loved my Corinthian and would still be sailing it if I hadn't moved to the West Coast for several years. I knew when I came back to New England that my new old boat had to be an Alberg, it was just a matter of which one.

As far as differences between the two boats:

1. The Ty seems to be more nimble and easy to sail. The self-draining cockpit is a nice plus. I do wish the cockpit was a bit longer to accommodate 4 adults more comfortably. Also the cabin is pretty tight (my boat has a compression post).

2.The Corinthian was a drier sailing boat, especially in the Buzzard's Bay chop. Per my comments above, the extra foot in length made it more comfortable when more than two people were sailing.

I'm a day sailer, so much bigger boats are not of interest to me. I may explore moving up to a 22 in the future, but for now I'm happy just to be on the water whenever I can.

Paul

[Bristol14]

Started my deck work yesterday. Used Aquastrip on a small section of the non-skid area and let it sit for 4 or 5 hours. Was able to remove one of the three layers of paint. Today I tried sanding with 60 grit sandpaper, followed by 150 grit and had much better results, so likely will continue sanding instead of stripping. I originally thought I'd mostly use a stripper, thinking the non skid area had a pebbled surface molded into the gel coat, but that's not the case, at least on my Ty.

I'll be removing most hardware this week before I go any further. I have two new Spartan bronze portholes I'm looking forward to installing once the painting is completed.

Still to be determined:
-Perfection or System 3 two part LPU.
-replacement side lights and stern light (leaning towards LED's, but haven't seen a style I like that's reasonably priced.

[Russell]

If you are going to go the sanding route, I wonder how one of those paint removing attachments for an angle grinder might work?

http://www.amazon.com/3M-SandBlaster-96 ... 000BQURDI/

My boat also has 1 part paint on it, came with it (and I got a handsome amount knocked off the price due to it), I have repainted twice now with 1 part, digging my hole even deeper. I do one day hope to paint with 2 part, but the stripping part just drives me to slap more brightside on.... I do plan to strip and paint the hull next hull out though (which isn't in bad shape, the 1 part does much worse on deck where its subject to much more abuse), but even thinking about doing the deck just makes me wince.

[Bristol14]

I'm using a 5 inch orbital palm sander and have to really careful not to gouge or remove gel coat. There are a number of areas it won't reach so I'm sanding those by hand.

Next year I'm planning to paint the hull, but only need light sanding for that. I may also tackle the bottom and a more aggressive sander like the one you suggested will be needed to remove 40 years of bottom paint.

[bamabratsche]

Russell--when you repaint your deck do you remove all the hardware and everything, or just mask it all off and paint around it? I know I'm going to have to do this at some point in the future, although hopefully I can get another 4-5 years out of what's on there now. When I painted it the first time it was right after a major deck recore, so all the hardware was already off. I'm thinking it would be good to rebed all the hardware as well, so maybe an argument for taking it all off anyway...

[Skeep]

Paul, I like your blue tent and support system! And your on the water photo! My question: Why remove the rough areas just to repaint underneath them? I could see doing that if some of the surface cracks went into them but on mine, I'd probably have thought that leaving those areas untouched would be just fine? Just wanting to know your viewpoint. Thanks

[Bristol14]

Thx for the compliment. It's pretty windy today so we'll see how the support for the tarp/tent holds up. Its primary function is to keep leaves and pollen off the boat, especially when I start to paint. I ordered a sample of System 3 white top coat to test the application process.

I decided to take off the 3 layers of paint because the buildup was so thick and there was some wear and cracking in a few areas. I was concerned that another layer would increase the risk of peeling.

[Bristol14]

Just finished my 4th and final coat of System Three Orca White Topcoat on my deck. I thought I had a disaster after the first coat as I had a lot of streaks showing, but subsequent coats, switching from rolling and tipping with a china bristle brush to only using a foam brush and practice made a big difference. It's not perfect, but it looks 1000 times better so I'm pretty pleased with the result. The product makes for easy clean up, doesn't smell and dries to touch in less than an hour.

Next will be the Kiwi Grip, once Jamestown Distributors gets the Cream color back in stock. The deck paint is supposed to cure for two weeks so I have a little time.