Leaving Anti-foul on and not re-painting?

[Lovey80]

Hi guys and gals,

as some may be aware I am still considering importing a boat from the states. Still haven't found one that fits all my requirements at the right price. There always seems to be something that isn't quite right. I am trying to be patient but it is getting hard as I am fast approaching a stage I will be able to pay cash for a boat.

For me one of my requirements is the boat must not have bottom paint/Anti-Foul. For a couple of reasons (resale being one of them). As it seems the Americans have a bad habit of keeping their boats moored throughout the summer months a huge portion of US boats have anti-foul on them. I am weighing up letting anti-foul be one of my compromises to get me into a boat for my price range.

So after all that drivel my question is: What will the result be if I keep a boat trailered with the anti-foul on the boat but don't keep the maintenance up to it? As in never repaint it???

Will it begin to flake off making a future stripping of the paint easier? Are there any adverse consequences of doing this other than it looking terrible?

Your thoughts?

Thanks

Chris

[O-3]

Why not get the antifould removed??

There are professionals that do it in the USA.

[stonecold]

Mate my old cruise craft was anti fouled at some stage. I have left it as is when I purchased it. Apart from looking ugly and adding some weight tot he hull, at this stage its not getting any easier to chip off. And I had her for 5 years.

[tigermullet]

You could also take it to one of the Marinas and have it soda blasted. I don't know what the cost is but it surely beats leaving the antifoul on or trying to remove it by sanding.

[cormorant]

Most antifouls have undercoat that is a protection layer. usually 80 grit and then the undercoat like interprotect or a epoxy . These undercoats are often as hard or not harder than gelcoat so not easy to remove unless doing it physically. A lot of people rub em down and then aply a 2 pack epoxy to get a good bottom but it is never the same as the original gelcoat as you can tell it has been done..

There is some gel style antifoul removers ( paint on cover with glad wrap and scrape off in 4 hours & gerni) but these still don't get the undercoat if a hard one was used.

My opinion is that it is a expensive job to remove that never ( well rarely) gets a really good finish and devalues the boat significantly unless storing in the water. Everything wears out quicker on a moored boat.

It's a lot of work so unless a massive discount wait for the right boat. Winter over there soon so maybe more for sale cheaper . Who knows what will happen with teh dollar after the election?

[Lovey80]

Thanks for the replies. So I take it that If I just leave the Anti-foul on the bottom it wont begin to flake off after a couple of years.

Cormorant, these gel style removers you speak of.... That would take a lot of the hard yakka out of getting the Anti-foul off just leaving the undercoat to be rubbed back, then wet and dry to smooth out the gelcoat again and buff??? or would that 80 grit they use to scuff up the gelcoat before the undercoat goes on completely wreck the surface of the gelcoat requiring the bottom to be painted?

If the painting option was taken, how would it hold up to going on and off rollers or skids as per a Cat trailer?

Cheers

Chris

[cormorant]

Really depends on how they prepared it. People use the stripper method when there is many layers of antifoul and where they don't want pollution so they can't wet sand. You can't safely dry sand antifoul.

Be warned if it is a older boat ( like more than 10 years) that if it has a old tin antifoul it by law may have o be stripped or not get a import lic. Be careful of that if it is a commercial vessel as they continue to use banned antifouls in some countries. Possibly just a box to tick on the forms

The finish you could get would depend on the thickness of gel coat and and and and ..........

Paint - well seen some good ones but seen a hell of a lot that fall off pretty fast - not a fan but the new epoxy finishes on proerly prepared surface are as good as gel coat but they are not the same to buff etc etc. Tougher than gel coat but scratched will show different colour etc.


Antifoul is pretty good paint so it sticks liek nothing else. Some newer ones completely ablate off and witha high pressure gernie you can literally blast em off but most leave a residual structure of the paint.

Soda blast - great with a good operator but not cheap and then you have to finish the hull

I have seen good jobs done by good people but there is a hell of a lot of average ones out there.