Educate me on paint

[3 Squids]

Going to pick up my new toy this weekend. It would appear that someone painted the boat with out proper prep. I'm thinking maybe it wasn't primed. The guy I had check the boat out for me said the hull is in beautiful shape, no blemishes or anything. I'm thinking I may repaint the hull sides. I've been looking at the Awlcraft 2000 topside paint.

I'm thinking I'd carefully sand it back to the gel coat, prime and repaint. My thought is what to do at the waterline. I'm afraid if I just tape at the line, sand, prime and paint it will give me problems at the waterline. Any input? Here's what is happening now.

[spareparts]

down load awlcrafts application guide, it has all your answers, regarless of which paint you decide on
Painted this with Awlcraft 2000 last year

[bradford]

I'd bet he used a paint not intended for use below the water line and left it in the water for an extended period of time causing it to peel. Depending how high up the hull sides the peeling goes you might be able to keep it, just sand the stuff below the waterline and maybe use a bootstripe to clean up the lines.

Keep in mind I don't really know what the hell I'm talking about, I'm just a redneck that likes screwing around with boats.

Ps, what type of hull is that Spare? The lines remind me of a Scout, but better.

[3 Squids]

I don't believe the paint sits below the water line. Even on the bow it is peeling quite a ways up. Looks like it's being "washed" away while underway. My biggest concern is where the bottom paint and topside paint will meet. Seems a very vulnerable area.

Spare that's a sweet looking hull. Maybe I'll just tow it down to you and have you paint it haha. I've never painted a boat but done plenty of cars and have had much success so I'm thinking I can pull it off.

[spareparts]

its a parasail boat that was built using the old Rybo Runner/Man o War Hull. Notice the huge step. Its 31 ft long. I just painted the newer version last week(they have 2 para boats). The newer one doesn't have the step

http://www.cwsboats.com/oceanpro31.htm

[step up here]

The awlcraft 2000 is awesome paint!!!!!! When you start your prep work you will see what was done. That will determine what you have to do for the proper results.

[spareparts]

We went with the Awlcraft 2000 solely for its ability to be touched up. These boats are commercial operated boats, and they get scratched up pretty good. A2000 is nowhere near as hard(and scratch resistant) of a paint as the regular Awlcraft. Its comparable to catalyzed premium automotive paint. In hind site, we are having to repaint that boat again this year because it has so many scratches, it faster to redcoat the whole boat rather than just repair. We should have painted it with regular Awlcraft. One thing we did is I re-coated within 24 hours over the primer, so we didn't have to sand the primer before topcoat. It was not my call and I was a bit nervous about it. but the paint stuck pretty good. I would have sanded the 545 before topcoat, but I wasn't paying the prep guys, the boat owners were. Awlgrip primers are the real deal, they are nothing like automotive primers and most automotive painters are lost with them. 545 sands like concrete, and the filling primer doesn't sand anywhere near as easy as automotive primers. Auto primers use a lot of talc and filler to make it easy to sand. This stuff absorbs moisture and causes problems down the road in marine applications. I would rather spray auto paint over marine primers than marine topcoat over auto primers(still better to stay with recommended marine paints)I really want to spray some Alex seal. Its a much improved paint over Awlcraft, offering more colors, effects, and its able to be spotted. There's another paint company that's making a comparable paint, but I cant remember the name( its made here in SC). Regardless, its expensive. That parasail boat used 1 full gallon on 545(with activator 1 gal) and 1 gallon of top coat( 1/2 gallon of activator), has a gallon of thinner. All added up it was close to $800 in materials

[3 Squids]

Anyone got an estimate on how much paint painting just the hillsides will take. Probably do 3 coats minimum. The paint I'm looking at is $280/gal. I'd like to keep it under a gallon haha.

[spareparts]

I painted that boat with a full gallon, and layed it one heavy, 2 qts should be enough for a v, maybe even 1 qt

[Kracker Jack]

S little over one quart painted my boat....one tack coat then one heavy "flow" or finish coat. Its beautiful!