Do I have to paint the bottom?

[Whisky Charlie]

We have just scraped 12 coats of anti-fouling paints of various kinds off the bottom of our 20'<br />1986 Galexy and sanded with 220 grit paper. We now have bare gelcoat in very nice condition. The boat will be trailered this year, not left in a slip. Should we just wax the bottom or is it supposed to be sealed with something? The boat is used for fishing and family cruising, no racing or high speed stuff.

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: Do I have to paint the bottom?

Welcome to iboats. <br /><br />If you are trailering, then you will have no problems. If you have gelcoat in good shape, then a coat of wax will have you good to go.

 

[magster65]

Re: Do I have to paint the bottom?

First post hey?<br />Welcome <br />I agree with studly, as long as the gelcoat is intact you'll be fine. One thing to note is that you'll need a good wax remover to get it off the '220 grit' hull surface if you ever decide to paint it again. For this reason I probably wouldn't wax it myself.<br />12 coats... you're Galaxy's gonna' perform a lot better!