MacGregorSailors.com

Hello all,

Just wanted record my hull-bottom painting experience. It was a fun and worthwhile project, but was about 10 times the work that I had hoped .

I sail in the Great Lakes which are reknown for slimey/calcified build-up if you don't have ablative paint on the hull. Last year, when I pulled it from the water, I couldn't get the scum off of the factory gelcoat with any amount of powerwashing, Starbright Hull Cleaner, scrubbing, etc. I actually got angry once and tried my random orbit sander to see what it would do and it quickly took the grit off the paper without touching the crust on the hull.

After some web research, I discovered that toilet bowl cleaner (in my case, The Works(tm)), did the job quickly and easily. I'm not sure I would advise the annual use of toilet bowl cleaner (a hydrochloric acid solution) but the one-time application left the hull shiny and new looking, with no obvious etching or damage.

I rented two jackstands from a local marine shop and prep'ed the hull with...

1. Toilet bowl cleaner
2. Hot power washing - (not too hot and not too powerful)
3. Hand scrubbing with Scotch pads
4. Acetone dewaxing
5. Hand sanding with coarse-grit sanding pads
6. Rub-down with Interlux V-172 solvent (alcohols)
7. Two coats of Interlux VC-17m Extra with teflon, copper and Biolux (rolled on with a smooth-knap paint roller).

VC-17 dries almost instantly so you have to keep moving, or wait about 10 mins before continuing. It stuck on very well and seems like it will stay there. The color selection is limited - Copper, Red and Blue. I was afraid the blue wouldn't match so I chose the copper. It's actually a clear paint that you mix copper powder into before you apply. It's shiny at first but will turn very dark after it's in the water for a week or two. BTW - I laid down some wax-paper on the bunks before letting the boat rest back down on them.

On Edit: The two coats of paint took just under 1 gallon total. I mixed all four quarts of VC-17m into a milk jug (with the copper) and only poured what I needed into a small roller tray. VC-17 dries verrry fast - this way you won't end up wasting a lot of paint.

Anywho, I'm hoping not to repeat last year's troubles with growth and cleaning. I'll let you know how it goes...

~Bob pics...

VC-17 is excellent stuff with a very slippery surface. You can touch it up year after year without alot of hand work. The paint color will change in the water and any touch up will color match. Nice looking job

bscott

MaryKate On & Off Hull And Bottom Cleaner
3 months salt water .........a gallon Mary Kate 3 gallons warm water brush on hose off I had a power washer but it wasn't really needed to remove build up it was needed to clean the decks etc.
MK is really truly and brush on hose off
Same goes for my 5 months in Lake Michigan..... brush on hose off BTW with less effort than displayed by Daniel waxing Mr.Miyagi car

Hi Dive,

Interesting - thanks! I see MK On/Off is a 20% HCL solution as well, so now I don't feel so bad about using The Works (20% HCL solution). MK On/Off also has smaller amounts of Phosphoric and Oxalic Acid in it as well. I paid less than $10 for five bottles of The Works at WalMart that did the entire hull in a jiffy. I see MK isn't too terribly expensive either - the Starbrite was a joke.

BTW - The Scotch Pad step above was to get every little spec of paint/scuff/grime/etc off for the painting prep. The Works sprayed on and hosed off as well. Nice stuff.

Cheers,
~Bob

Currie wrote:Hi Dive,

Interesting - thanks! I see MK On/Off is a 20% HCL solution as well, so now I don't feel so bad about using The Works (20% HCL solution). MK On/Off also has smaller amounts of Phosphoric and Oxalic Acid in it as well. I paid less than $10 for five bottles of The Works at WalMart that did the entire hull in a jiffy. I see MK isn't too terribly expensive either - the Starbrite was a joke.

BTW - The Scotch Pad step above was to get every little spec of paint/scuff/grime/etc off for the painting prep. The Works sprayed on and hosed off as well. Nice stuff.

Cheers,
~Bob

That's good to know Currie......... As your/ we're not always able to get MK when we need it want it right now .....and the cost is irrelevant versus spending days .......... scrubbing

I have a question? Could I jack the front up off the bunks, paint it, let it dry for a couple days, and then jack the back end up off the bunks and paint that end and let it dry? Will I have a match line problem? I would feather not mask a line and then overlap the stop start line.......

I saw the following method on another website

I'll add that we did all this with the boat on the trailer and never lifted it. How did we do under the bunks? You first raise the front of the trailer and block the forward part of the hull. You then lower the front of the trailer while pushing it back about two feet. This exposes the areas under the bunks without removing the boat from the trailer or blocking it excessively - and there is no danger of it falling on you.

For me, the front was easy - I'm not sure why, but the winch actually holds the boat down onto the front bunk in my case. With the winch loosened, I was easily able to lift the front of the boat with one hand and prop it up about 8" (under the rub rail) with the other hand. I used the jack-stands on the back end. Scottie's technique sounds intriguing. I was being very gentle with fresh paint, even though it's fast-drying. I'm not sure if I would like sliding the new paint over the bunks (can you even do that without rollers?). The jacks that I used were screw-type with handles. I'm not sure if the handles are actually meant to actively lift the boat (for heavier boats), but the Mac is light enough that it was really easy. They were properly chained together, of course. Worked very nicely.

BTW - With VC-17, "Seaming" the paint applications together was no big deal. You can't see where the seams are. I painted from the front to the middle bunk, then painted the front again almost to the middle bunk. IOW - I staggered the seams for coat one and coat two. Then I dropped the front and raised the back off of the middle and rear bunks. I finished coat-one from the middle bunk back. Then coat-two from where it was seamed (I had to look closely to find it ) to the back.

Tip: Once you've raised the back, you find that there isn't much clearance at the middle bunk. You can increase it considerably by then cranking up the front with the trailer's nose jack. Make good and sure that the trailer is super-secure. Also, I didn't have to go under to paint - only to clean - I just had a long handle on the roller.

~Bob

Thanks for the post Bob

I am doing exactly the same thing for the same reasons.

Went to my marina this spring to see what all the big boys were using, all VC17m.

This will be my M's 3rd season in the water and I am fed up trying this and that.....

We will see this Oct how the 17m does.

Ciao

G

Should you not still be putting on 5-6 coats of epoxy to stop the blistering !!! before putting on the vc-17m

J

Not according to the Interlux website info.

You can do it right on bare fiberglass.

Which is what I plan to do, after sanding and cleaning the hull.

G

I read that it was an anti foul paint nothing saying it prevents blistering !!! ?

J

Believe your right J...spent 14 hours under mine this spring putting on 6 coats of 2000E followed by 2 coats of VC17. Well worth it though.

Had the "pimpling" issue after only 1 season that all 07 & 08 owners should be aware of and take precautions for if your leaving it in the water.

At least now my only worry is sleeping so soundly my snoring blows the hatch off....

Well, I'm done.

I chose to stop the paint at around 2" below the black stripe as that is where the water line was and I like the look of the black stripe by itself.







G

Very nice Beene!!

I like the space between the stripe and bottom paint too. I only have a meager 50HP on mine so without the weight aft my un-occupied, real-waterline touched into the white paint at the bow, so I had to run the VC-17 right up to the stripe.

Great work - get it in the water!

~Bob