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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

Bottom Paint

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tbosch
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163 Posts

Initially Posted - 09/24/2007 : 17:50:58

Hello! I'm new to "big boats" and was hoping that I could get some good advice from this knowledgale bunch. In June we bought a 1980 Catalina 25, standard rig, fin keel. Overall the boat is in very good condition but we knew that the bottom would need some work over the winter.

First of all it needs some fairing work on the keel. I'm not too worried about that. I'll clean out any loose material, let things dry out, seal and re-fair. If anyone has some advice about the process or materials I'd love to hear it.

My biggest need for advice is on prep and paint. The boat has, I think, an ablative paint. It is a chalky, flaky blue. I keep the boat slipped for about 6 months and on a trailer for the other 6 months. The boat is in the cold fresh waters of Lake Superior. I don't race it. So, what are some options for prep and paint? How about priming? Just the areas I re-faired or the whole bottom? Inquiring minds want to know...

I'm new to the group so by way of introduction... I live in St. Paul, MN. The family had some good times and some big adventures sailing among the Apostle Islands in northern Wisconsin this summer. I've been sailing Hobie Cats for the last 10 years and have done some crewing on bigger race boats out of Bayfield, WI where I switch between grinding and being rail meat. My wife is really into our "new" boat so making time to use it is not an issue. I'm sure you will all agree that this is a huge bonus. We're hauling out in a couple of weeks and are already looking forward to next summer. The water around here gets really hard during the winter months. That's when I visit forums like this and read about others of you that sail year round. Some day...

Thanks for your help
Todd
80 Catalina 25 SR/FK
89 Hobie 18

Todd
1980 C25 SR/FK "Dora"

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Dave Bristle
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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 09/24/2007 : 18:52:13

Welcome Todd (and Mrs. Todd)! I'll defer to fresh water folks on paint selections... but suggest when you dig into that cast iron keel, you start with a "rust reformer" wherever you get to bare metal, and then put your fairing compound and/or primer of choice over that. The rust reformer contains an acid that chemically transforms the rust, generally turning it and clean iron black, and seals it, retarding the regrowth of rust under whatever else you use.

All the best with your new girl--many of us seek refuge and reassurance at this site when the water gets hard.

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dmpilc
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4593 Posts

Response Posted - 09/24/2007 : 19:07:21

First, welcome to the C-25 family. I've been a C-25 owner for 1 year this month (C-22 for 31 years), but I can tell you that this is a great bunch of sailors. They give freely with very helpful advice, and some not so helpful, LOL, and you'll get hooked on the forum in no time. You'll find out that they (we) also like to have a good time in the process. Check out the forum archives on bottom paint questions. I'm also in fresh water, but I don't have a trailer, so I'm not hauling out for the winter. A lot of the guys like VC-17 and VC-Offshore paints. I went with Interlux Ultra-Kote and have had good results. These are all hard finish paints, and that is what you will want since you are hauling out for the winter months. I can inagine the water does get very hard up there! Ok, to go from soft ablative to a hard finish, you will have to remove all of the ablative paint, and let it dry out for at least 2 weeks, preferebly 3 or 4, depending on how long the boat has been in the water. (the boat we bought, an 84 tall rig, swing keel, had not been out of the water in over 3 years!) Work on the keel during the drying time. Also, check for blisters, "dremel" them out and reseal the holes. Some guys may recommend applying an epoxy barrier coat before you bottom paint, but if you are going to haul out for half of the year, I'm not sure you will need it. The one drawback I'm reading regarding VC-17 is that you have to re-apply it every year.
I hope you enjoy the boat very much, and I'm looking forward to hearing about your fix-up experiences.
David

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 09/24/2007 : 19:56:48

First, welcome to the fleet and the forum, Todd!

As to your bottom paint, you have a multitude of options, but they all boil done to either simply cleaing up the bottom then reapplying another coat of ablative paint or completely stripping the bottom to change it to some non-ablative paint.

You mention your current paint is "chalky and flaky". Hmmm, you may have a failing hard paint or maybe an ablative over failing hard paint. If the bottom looks like the surface of the moon, then you could just scrape off the loose flakes, sand it somewhat smooth, then slap some more abalative on it or completely remove all of the existing paint and start over. Just depends on how ambitious you're feeling.

Oh, by the way, the 1980 C25 standard rig, fin keel is one fine boat. And I'm not saying that because I own one too...Okay, maybe I am!

Welcome aboard...

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tbosch
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163 Posts

Response Posted - 09/24/2007 : 21:39:38

Thanks for the great responses! Some good options to consider already. I'll probably have more questions once the boat comes out of the water in a couple of weeks.

I'll search the forums too. Good suggestion. I checked the tech tips area but didn't see too much no the subject.

Thanks, too, for the warm welcome. This seems like a great community and I'm looking forward to being a part of it!

Todd (and Jill a.k.a. Mrs. Todd)

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 09/25/2007 : 07:45:34

Todd,

Here's a good resource for paint info.

[url="http://www.yachtpaint.com/usa/default.asp"]Interlux[/url]

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stampeder
Master Marine Consultant

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1608 Posts

Response Posted - 09/25/2007 : 14:36:17

I second the Interlux site comment.
I refinished and painted my bottom - and relied on the technical assitance number <blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">The Interlux technical service helpline 800-468-7589 is open Monday through Friday to assist you.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"> as listed on the interlux web site.
Their paints are geography specific.

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tbosch
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163 Posts

Response Posted - 09/25/2007 : 15:27:39

It does loook like a great resource. I've already spent a little too much time at work looking at it...

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The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.