Stripping rudders of antifouling paint

[panda]

Hi fellas. The previous owner painted rudders with antifouling paint. How would you go about removing this paint and restoring it to the original beautiful white? Some kind of paint stripping bath for 24 hours? What worked the best judging from your personal experience?

[Jimmyt]

Never tried antifouling, but stripped a lot of paint on vehicles. If I want ed to get back to a good gelcoat finish, I'd try chemical that's designed for use over fiberglass or GRP; maybe call these guys: https://www.owatrolusa.com/product/marine-strip/

The question is, did the PO scuff it up before he put the bottom paint on? Hope not, but you can fix gelcoat if necessary. I assume you have original style fiberglass rudders and not HDPE aftermarket rudders?

[panda]

PO did scuff it up before painting. It's ok, not too bad. I used Klean-Strip® Premium Stripper - it removed most of the old paint. Now sanding it and will paint.

[Jimmyt]

Glad you were able to get it done.

[Bobglas]

Make sure you're not removing a barrier epoxy coat especially if you're keeping her in a berth.