Re: Bottom paint issues
When boats are new out of the mold, they have some mold-release wax on them. When they are painted without proper prep, the wax causes the bottom paint to flake off in places. New hulls have guarantees, however, sanding the hull voids these, so they are almost never sanded, and very few are primed. The mold-release wax is hardly ever completely removed as well. Go to a boat yard and see the crappy bottom painting jobs that are everywhere.
You want to remove all the old bottom paint, prime or barrior-coat the bare hull and then apply good bottom paint. Removing the paint can be done with chemicals, sandpaper, blasting or some combination of all three. If you see blisters or thin gelcoat, use a barrior coat. Some allow as few as three coats and are temperature sensitive, so watch the weather. if the hull is good, use some good primer. I have used the pettit no-sand primer. It has overcoat time limits so check it out before using.
I applied the barrior coats in the spring, when the ave temp allowed me to apply one coat before work each morning. The fourth morning I put the first A-F coat on. The fifth morning, the second coat of A-F. Then she was ready to launch on Sat.
