Which paint?

[lukewhiting]

Wanting to repaint the inside and underside of my rib over winter. The boats never left in the water so don’t need anti foul. I’ve used hempel deck paint before which worked prefect for inside but I can’t find what paint to use for the underside? Every paint says it’s not suitable for below the waterline.

Does anybody have any experience with this?
Would a waterproof deck/locker/bilge paint be suitable for below the waterline if the boats not kept in the water for long periods?

[ShinyShoe]

Paints unsuitable for below the waterline basically means at least one of the following:

"This is not 100% waterproof"

"This is not suitable for adding anti-fouling over"

"This will scratch on a sandy beach"

Plenty of wooden sailing dinghies are painted with such paints - on the same basis - you aren't leaving it in the water.

Why do you want to paint it though? I've never seen a perfect finish on a deck paint.. but its meant to be "rough".

What is the paint hiding... cosmetically it will look better, but it won't remain cosmetically perfect.

[lukewhiting]

Originally Posted by ShinyShoe

Paints unsuitable for below the waterline basically means at least one of the following:

"This is not 100% waterproof"

"This is not suitable for adding anti-fouling over"

"This will scratch on a sandy beach"

Plenty of wooden sailing dinghies are painted with such paints - on the same basis - you aren't leaving it in the water.

Why do you want to paint it though? I've never seen a perfect finish on a deck paint.. but its meant to be "rough".

What is the paint hiding... cosmetically it will look better, but it won't remain cosmetically perfect.

The boats already painted underneath but hasn’t been painted on thick enough so looks poor. Just needs tidying up basically. I’m not too fussed for the ‘factory finish’ paint job just something that looks smart on first impressions. The boats used and abused for wake skating but would be nice to have it looking abit smarter.

Any other methods of tidying it up?

I’m sure I’ve seen people on here before spray the underside before but couldn’t find the posts.

[BigE]

I'd like to know this also as I had some damage fixed on my boat and it now has grey antifoul area on a white hull. The whole hull could do with a new paint job to smarten it up but all I get from people is, it can't be painted with anything. Surly there is some white marine gloss paint somewhere one can buy?

[ShinyShoe]

Grey antifouling? As a patch...? Something not right

[BigE]

Originally Posted by ShinyShoe

Grey antifouling? As a patch...? Something not right

No, there was a repair done properly but they only had grey antifoul to paint on, they had run out of white so the patch area was painted grey. I'd prefer grey than nothing at all but it just looks unsightly.

[ShinyShoe]

BigE - if you need antifouling (i.e. the boat stays in the water > ?10 days at a time) then you presumably re-paint the AF from time to time (it wears away).

So next time you are repainting the AF it is sorted.

If you don't need AF - then you'd need to strip the AF off before you could think what else to put on, or possibly nothing (although to AF - people usually rough up the gel coat to get it to stick and so it will probably need something...

[BigE]

Thanks, indeed it spend April >- October on the water so it does need new anti foul. That will be my job in March/April next year.

[ShinyShoe]

Originally Posted by lukewhiting

The boats already painted underneath but hasn’t been painted on thick enough so looks poor. Just needs tidying up basically. I’m not too fussed for the ‘factory finish’ paint job just something that looks smart on first impressions. The boats used and abused for wake skating but would be nice to have it looking abit smarter.

Any other methods of tidying it up?

I’m sure I’ve seen people on here before spray the underside before but couldn’t find the posts.

I think that is fundamentally an issue with painting on gel coat. If this was bare wood - you'd have at the very least a layer of primer (maybe 2) and then 2 or 3 (maybe 5) layers of paint. People skimp on the paintwork on gel because it isn't to protect the wood, it is just cosmetic.

The "proper" thing to do is to strip all paint off and re-finish the gel with new gel/flow coat. Good luck getting an acceptable finish! I believe it is possible to spray it... You need some serious facilities to do that though.

The next best thing is to strip it all back and prime and paint it with a 2 pack paint (over a 2 pack primer) which could be sprayed with the right equipment and protection. Plenty of yachts do that then AF over the but in the water. BUT - yachts try to avoid parking on beaches etc. I have my doubts about the longevity of it in true abrasive places

If all you want to do is tart it up then any exterior 1 pack gloss will work on well keyed surfaces - but it will need re-doing regularly.

[ShinyShoe]

Originally Posted by BigE

Thanks, indeed it spend April >- October on the water so it does need new anti foul. That will be my job in March/April next year.

Your case is much simpler that Luke's then.

If you really wanted to you'd just scrape back the grey (careful - AF is toxic) and repaint a patch with white AF...

[BigE]

The whole hull needs new AF so I'll just do that.

Out of interest, can you get marine grade laquer? Like car laquer but able to stay in salt water for months and stuff?

[ShinyShoe]

What are you laquering?

If it's below the water line it doesn't need to shine

If it's above it's not in the water. It may be fine with car - but does it have car paint below?

If you want to laquer gel - then you can get clear gel coat. But that isn't laquer.

[BigE]

I was wondering if you painted a boats hull, could you then laquer it, it would make it shiny and that must make it slightly smoother/faster going through water and maybe weed wouldn't grow as fast. Just a thought really.

[ShinyShoe]

Professional racing boats don't lacquer hulls but do polish the gel.
If they are big enough that they have to stay in the water - they use AF

[GuyC]

https://international-yachtpaint.com...aint-products/

I find this quite useful.

[nugent]

B

Hmg Acrythane over polykote 4+1 primer
No need for laquer