Bottom painting at Lake Pepin - Please Advise

[pbnelson]

TLDR; can a total noob paint this Cal-34 bottom in a few hours, over the course of a few days, or should it be left to a pro?


I'm asking the forum for advice. This will be my second year as a sailor, with a slip on Lake Pepin, Minnesota. Fandango's bottom looks a little worse for wear compared to the other boats up on the hard, and I suspect it needs to be repainted. See photos. I have a few questions, and I'm hoping some of the old-hands here can help me from wasting time and money.

1. For Christmas I got a lovely Shurhold Pro Dual Action Polisher to tackle the gel-coat scuffs and oxidization. That got me to thinking about the lower half, as well, and whether or not something should be done. Considering these photos, does it look like I need to repaint the bottom, or is this just an alternative way that bottoms can look, and I should leave well-enough alone?
2. Assuming it needs to be painted, is that something a man with no experience doing sailboat maintenance, and a full-time job, should attempt or is it best left to professionals?
3. If this is something best left to pros, a couple of questions:
   • Can anyone recommend painters in Lake City, MN? And what does something like this tend to cost, ballpark, low to high? I mean, are we talking less than $1000, less than $5000, what?
   • Is it naive to assume a pro could get the job done between now and late-April/early-May before the boat is scheduled to go into the water?
4. If this is something that can be done by the novice boat owner, then a few question on that front:
   • Does anyone know if there are restrictions about sanding/scraping/painting in the marina here? Obviously I will call and ask, but if anyone knows off the top of his head, please chime in.
   • Is it sufficient to just wash the bottom, buy a few gallons of the right paint from WestMarine, and use a roller to slap it on like painting a bedroom wall? Or is that kind of hackery what caused the blotchiness we see in the photos?
   • What *is* the kind of right paint for a freshwater lake infested with zebra mussels, anyway?

The boat will be going into the water soonish, either late April or early May, 5-7 weeks from now. It may be that the best solution is to do nothing, have it hauled out earlier in the fall, and deal with it then. To be honest, online videos make the process look fairly involved, certainly much harder than painting the interior walls of a home.









Haul-out crew washing the bottom last October. Note the zebra mussels, not too bad because we take her out at least once per week, but still a few.

[AKA-None]

Looks like you’re in lake city marina so check with them as to what kind of work they’ll allow you to do
If I recall correctly you are limited in the type of work you can do in the parking lot

[siamese]

Like AKA said, find out what they'll let you do. That's the sort of job I tend to tackle myself, regardless of whether I'm working, but that's not to say it's for everyone.

I'd take it down to bare gelcoat, one way or another. Chemicals, maybe. Or have the pros blast it. But I'd want whatever's on there off, so I could apply Interlux VC 17. That's about the best thing going in freshwater. Definitely popular on the Great Lakes. Makes for a nice smooth hull, and it's easier to reapply when you need to.

Annually, on my 31 kept on Lake Michigan, I use a Scotch pad stuck to a broom handle to smooth the bottom, then I apply a thin coat of VC17. I never get a heavy buildup of paint, and the bottom is always smooth, and mussel free.

Check and see if others are using VC17 on Pepin.

Another factor is how much you love your boat. Is it a keeper, or are you transitioning to another boat? If you anticipate having her for awhile, show her some love.

Compared to what saltwater boaters have to deal with, keeping a boat in freshwater with a short season and annual haul outs is pretty easy to deal with.

[pbnelson]

Fandango is my first boat, and I've only had her since November '21, so she's definitely a keeper for the foreseeable future. She's probably not fit for an Atlantic crossing, so she's not necessarily the last boat I'll ever own, but I'll cross that bridge...

I estimate 8 quarts of VC17 for the two initial recommended coats, costing approximately $800. Just for the paint. Not counting any primer. Not counting labor. If I assume an experienced painter could do the prep and paint in ~12 hours at ~$100/hour, I guess I'm looking at the $2500 ballpark, no? And that's if it can be done at the marina, in-situ, without having it moved to some yard somewhere, which would cost even more. I'll definitely call the marina on Monday to get their take.

Me personally sanding/scraping/stripping it all down to gel coat is a non-starter because A) I'm just too new and green to attempt such a thing, and B) I don't have the spare time, and C) the window between warm weather and spring launch is probably just a couple weeks long, so there's no time to be learning new skills.

I'll roller paint it myself, if that's all it takes, because any idiot can do that, right? But I can't see personally doing more than a scrub-down and spot-sanding for prep work. So I guess the question comes down to this:

If I can't find a shop to do this ASAP, would it be a waste of time and money to roller on a single coat of VC17 as soon as the weather exceeds 50F?

Or would I be better off leaving it all alone until the fall?

edit: this site estimates bottom area (not including rudder) at 18.1 sq. meters (i.e. 195 sq. feet). https://paints.nautix.com/calcul-de-surface/

[AKA-None]

Vc17 roll it on

Dries faster than any other liquid you’ve ever seen

Lake city marina gives you the put in date you must be ready then

Where your boat is sitting becomes the parking lot so in you go or it must be moved out

[siamese]

I see the boat being discussed is a 1969 Cal 34. Good for you. Nice boat.

Thanks for the additional information. Based on what you're saying...and it all makes sense...Just doing the minimal this season is probably what's going to work. You'll have very little bottom prep work. They power washed it, so it could be all it needs is a once over with a Scotch pad. And/or a little sanding. No sense getting it better than in needs to be. If there isn't VC17 on the bottom now, don't put on a coat of VC17. It'll eat the finish below it, probably. Use your and your yard's best guess on what on there now, and put another coat of that on there.

Next Spring, if you love her, get her stripped down (that's what he said) and put on the VC17. Not only will you have a nice smooth bottom, but the annual or semi annual prep and redcoat is rather easy, and you may opt to do it yourself.

VC17 doesn't have to have a primer, unless you opt to go with something like Interlux barrier coat epoxy primer. You'll need to decide whether you want to do a barrier coat.

Your 8 can estimate sounds reasonable. I'm basing that on how much I use on my Catalina 315 for a single coat.

[dksail]

VC-17 is a great way to go once you prep it properly. Must of the boats on Pepin use it.

You might have made a mistake on how much you need. 8 quarts seems like too much. I had a 27’ J-boat that barely took a quart each year. The stuff is really thin.

[garyfdl]

I'll pile on and agree VC17 is the way to go, but... you have to get all the old bottom paint off, and that is labor intensive regardless of who does it.

The other choice? Go with what you've got. Now from the pictures? I'm gonna guess you have blue ablative bottom paint. If you can determine what kind (check with the previous owner?), you can just clean up what you have/get rid of the loose and peeling paint, and repaint. Will probably take a couple coats but is easily a DIY job, a weekend or two. If you can't figure out what is on there, check different mfr's info and see if there is one that might be suitable to put over other paints.

In either case, after it's painted, regular touch-up each spring should keep you going for many years.

[pbnelson]

Update: I emailed the seller to ask if he knows the old paint... we'll see. And I talked to a local marine service guy (James at Marine Center, good guy) who will take a look himself and give me an estimate. Ballpark pricing would be the cost of the paint plus something under $1000 to apply it.



FYI, in case anyone googles this in the future, here is the local marina paint policy, as of March 2023.

[pbnelson]

UPDATE: bottom job is finally complete - the spring flooding delayed everything - but she finally launched into Lake Pepin yesterday.

Here are some before/after shots:







Kudos to "Marine Center" here in Lake City, for doing a bang up job in a challenging year. As a bonus they installed a new Airmar DST810 thru-hull transducer at the very last minute - they have a great team, over there.

Total invoice hasn't been presented yet, but it won't be cheap: somewhere in the mid-four-figures.

EDIT: the topsides look great thanks to the Shurhold "dual action polisher pro" and "buff magic compound" and "pro polish wax".

[pbnelson]

Just FYI, here is a shot of what the bottom looked like after sailing for a season (~4.5 months, a short season this year).