Boating and Sailing.pdf - Moja ladja

288
Part 6: Boating Maintenance
of the water and setting it on blocks so the work can be done. Also include the approximate
time when the job will be done. You may be thinking weeks while the yard owner is
thinking months.
Anti-fouling paints like
Unepoxy keep marine
growth from latching on to
your hull. Most types of
growth-inhibiting paint are
best applied yearly.
(Photo credit: Pettit Paints)
However, if you’re a do-it-yourselfer, here are the basic steps from Pettit Paints, one of
the leading suppliers of anti-fouling paints:
1. Make a waterline mark around your hull. The easiest way is to get in the water and
mark it with a crayon.
2. Dewax the hull. Newer fiberglass hulls often have leftover mold-release wax that
will also cause your paint to release. Use a fiberglass solvent to get rid of the wax.
Boat Bytes
Applying anti-fouling paint
is a lot of work. For boats
kept in freshwater lakes, it’s
much easier to use a
growth-repelling bottom
wax like Easy On, which keeps
zebra mussels and algae from
taking hold. (Unfortunately, it’s
not effective against saltwater
barnacles.)
3. Sand the hull to a dull finish with 80-grit sandpaper.
(Pettit Paints makes a sandless primer that
forms a chemical bond with the gel coat and eliminates
the need for sanding before applying bottom
paints—it saves a lot of time and effort.)
4. Rewash the hull with the solvent.
5. Apply two coats of the paint, allowing each coat to
dry according to the instructions on the can.
6. Wood hulls get the same treatment, except you
start with a wipe-down with a tacky rag with thinner,
and then make the first coat of anti-fouling
paint with 25 percent thinner so that it penetrates
the wood. Finish off with more coats unthinned.