Mark Miller wrote:

Has anyone had their hull "peeled" ? What was the routine ? Barrier coat ? 

Thanks , Mark .

Mark: 

There is a hand held planer that will remove the gel coat and expose fiberglass which I think is the peel.  I've NOT been involved with this process but suspect that it is used when there is serious delamination and/or the hull has absorbed moisture and there are many blisters. I suspect that a layer of fiberglass with epoxy will need to be applied before a barrier coat and then bottom paint.  

Routine is to rough sand the existing bottom paint and recoat.  This assumes that the bottom is in reasonable condition.  

Barrier coat is usually applied to the gel coat (if in good condition) or after the gel coat is removed and is used to seal up the fiberglass. Usually multiple layers are suggested. 

Looking at your pictures there seems to be many spots that have been ground down. Were these blisters? ie had some liquid leaking out? or bubbles of old bottom paint? Are these spots soft to the touch- ie delaminations?

Generally, the westsails aren't known for blistering but there are exceptions of course. 

I'm going to ping a couple of folks who have more experience. 

Another option is to call the bottom paint tech support line and see what they say. 

HTH

Jay

Hello Mark,  I have “peeled” at least 5 boats but never with a “peeler”.  I have used a 4 1/4” grinder.  I just did Saraband 3 years ago.  It took approximately 2 days.  In this case I took off all bottom paint, all barrier coat, and any blisters that were noticed.  In my case 98% of my problems were between the gel-coat and barrier coats.  I had very little problem under the gel-coat.  If I found a blister I just ground it out.   I take care not to distort the original fairness of the hull.  You must be relatively careful.  I would then address any gouges as necessary.  Some would only need epoxy filling and fairing while others may need the addition of a little glass.  After all fairing, I applied 5 coats of barrier coat.   One grey, 2 white, and 2 grey, if I remember correctly.                   Sand blasting is perhaps the best technique to peel the bottom, but is getting difficult to have that done.  I have finished 3 boats that were peeled this way.       Good luck,   Dave

We are out of the yard . Thankfully there were only a few small (dime size) blisters , all the old ones stayed fixed . They removed two thru hulls and seacocks that were never used in the last 25 years and glassed in the holes . They replaced a thru hull and seacock for the macerator and one for the raw water in the engine room ,that one I had them relocate also . Due to some miss communication the seacock under the galley sink was freed up and not replaced . Next time .

For bottom paint I have used (in the past) Z-Spar B90 . Ca. will not allow that anymore but they allow Z-Spar B40 it has half the Copper that B90 had .

Next dragon to slay , Our 80 gal. water tank is starting to leak . Just a few drips but it is leaking . 

Mark .

Hi Jay , sounds like your yard is a DIY friendly yard . What kind of copper content paint is available to you ?  In Southern Ca. bottom paint is not consistent , south of me (San Diego) copper paint has been banned . Me , in Long Beach we can get 40% copper paint . Just one year ago we could get 90% .

North of me , Del Rey  copper is banned .