Since I have eaten an elephant and got the bottom sanded and fair over a few lunch breaks in the past few weeks, last week I decided to tackle the first epoxy barrier coat on the bottom. Clearly the boat already had an epoxy bottom coat job at some point in the past, but I didn't think a few fresh coats could hurt. Plus it makes the boat look a lot more like a boat that will be launched again soon.
I purchased a gallon kit of gray Total Boat Epoxy Barrier coat on Amazon and when it arrived last Monday, I got right to work. The first step in the process is to spend some quality time with a drill and mixing paddle to fully emulsify the sludgy stuff at the bottom of the can. When these cans sit, the solids very quickly settle to the bottom and I don't think any amount of stirring with a wooden mixing stick would work.
Once I had the entire can of base uniform with no chunks, I wiped down the entire hull with acetone and then taped the waterline. This particular barrier coat is a 3:1 ratio, and because I wasn't sure how much it would cover I started with a quart (mixed volume). I had some plastic graduated mixing buckets on hand and added 1 - 1/2 pint of curing agent to the bucket followed by 3 - 1/2 pints of the base and stirred it all together for a few minutes (this time with a wooden mixing stick).
I poured the mixture into a paint tray and using a 9" foam roller with 3/16" nap. I started on the keel and just rolled it on. No drama at all, but very satisfying to see the mottled red, green, and white hull turn a uniform gray. With the quart I was able to cover both sides of the keel and a foot or two above it. I repeated the same process for the rest of the hull and the next day I came back and moved the jack stands so that I could get under the pads.
Photos are better than words for something like this, so here they are:
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| Many years of old crusty bottom paint flaking off when the boat first arrived |
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| Bottom paint removed and hull partially sanded |
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| Hull sanded and ready for a new barrier coat |
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| Barrier coat applied and looking snazzy |
