Paint or Gelcoat on trailered Boat?

[drewpster]

It time to make some decisions about the finish I am going to put on the bottom of my tri-hull.

It is flipping time and I need to make some repairs to the bottom. Originally I intended to paint. I have since become paranoid. I am concerned about the durability of the paint on a bunk style trailer. I have experience with Interlux so I was going to use Interlux Perfection two-part to do the bottom. Now I understand this is not recommended due to the wet contact of the bunks to the paint over time. How is your paint holding up on those bunks?

I have done some gelcoat repairs on other boats but never on such a large area. Should I go get a dump gun and go for it, or stick with paint?

 

[MarkOrge]

Re: Paint or Gelcoat on trailered Boat?

I used Interlux Brightside on my Trihull a couple years ago and it looks great. No sign of damage from teh bunks either. I suppose if you scuba dove underneath with a bright light or climbed under the trailer it may not be as bright a finish as the rest of the hull but I can't tell any difference....

 

[fuzzeywiggler]

Re: Paint or Gelcoat on trailered Boat?

Are you planning on putting your stringers and transom in before flipping?
or at least the cap? I would be worried about your hull warping...

I imagine that tri-hull's are alot stronger than a V-hull's in "bare bones"but be careful with that hull.

Fuzzy

 

[drewpster]

Re: Paint or Gelcoat on trailered Boat?

I used Interlux Brightside on my Trihull a couple years ago and it looks great. No sign of damage from teh bunks either. I suppose if you scuba dove underneath with a bright light or climbed under the trailer it may not be as bright a finish as the rest of the hull but I can't tell any difference....

Thats great to hear! It makes things allot simpler if I can do the bottom repairs using epoxy followed by filler and paint.

fuzzy, The hull I am working on is very light (200-300 lbs). The keel and top edge of the hull is well supported. I doubt warp will be an issue. If the hull were heavier or could not be supported equally then I would take greater steps to prevent a problem. Warp for me will be a concern when the main timbers go back in. Once the bottom work is finished I will be building a better means of support once the hull gets flipped back.

 

[wca_tim]

Re: Paint or Gelcoat on trailered Boat?

i thought the brightsides made a decent finish, but it's awful easy to scratch... I would (and have) go with good catalyzed auto paint. The cheap rustoleum marine paint looks damn near as good as the brightsides is every bit as hard after fully curing and is like $10 a quart.

 

[oops!]

Re: Paint or Gelcoat on trailered Boat?

i would at least add the stringers before you flip the hull......the best would be the deck and the stringers....


see the hull ext thread for one way of flipping the hull

cheers
oops