Paint Ideas

[ggooch]

I just purchased my first Mac 25. It is a 1982 in fairly decent shape. I am exploring painting everything, outside and in but have some questions most specifically about the bottom. We are in the midwest, the boat will be on the trailer most of the time and we will only be sailing freshwater. What is the best advice for a hull paint? Is there a good and economical paint that I can use for both the bottom and sides if I decide I want to go one color? Also, is it best to sand off the original yellow stripes or just prime and paint over them? I have looked back over alot of older threads and have some ideas but haven't found a good answer for the bottom specifically since I am not dealing with salt water. What is the best way to deal with the sides, I have gotten good advice on making the gel coat shiny again, but what if I want to recolor it anyway, what would be the best process? Thanks for all of your help already, I have been lurking here for a year and now that I actually have a boat I know I will have alot of questions.

Geoff

[kmclemore]

"Good" and "Economical" are hard to achieve in anything boat related. However, Interlux is probably the best and most universally known product and will do a fine job on your boat. It is not cheap, but it does last.

[grady]

I agree with "kmclemore" you can not go wrong with Interlux.

If the boat in not going to be left in the water then any good quality paint, boat, automotive, aviation or fleet will do on the bottom and top. You do not need to use a anti fouling bottom paint. The two part polyurethanes and epoxies will give you the best performance but they do cost more. I just did my entire bottom on my 26s, center board and rudder and used just under two gallons of VC performance epoxy that cost about $140. You would not want to us that above the waterline I just use it because it is really hard paint and does not wear when putting the boat on and off the trailer.

I would recommend sanding off the stripes. and everything really good. You can not have a quality paint job if the preparation is not done correctly.

[c130king]

Don't paint it blue...unless you like a slow boat...

[bubba]

Were thinking of doing a cool 2 color pattern ( maybe zibra stripes ) with bottom paint the next time our boats bottom needs painting. Our boat was already bottom painted with copper paint when we bought it at 6 months old. Don't forget to paint the bottom couple of feet of the daggerboard and inside the drain holes. Our boat had zibra clams growing inside and outside of the daggerboard that could have spread to other lakes. When we added 50 lbs of lead weight to the daggerboard last winter we plugged the drain holes with epoxy to keep from spreading the zibra clams and keep the lead in. Bottom paint does slow our boat 1/2 a kt but it is worth it.