Botttom Coat Question

Michael T

Playing the devil's advocated I pose this question:

If I gambled and tried to get a third summer out of my anti fouling coating and some/most of it wore-off by mid summer would the barrier coats that were applied before the antifouling protect my hull from water penetration?

Advice appreciated

MarkB

I believe so. I think the risk is growth on the barrier coat and them how do you get that off without damaging the expensive barrier coat.

Michael T

@Mark Bellino - you are right 100% on. Thank you for the speedy answer! The Gel Coat Wizard in our area Marc Lemieux just contacted me. He said that the barrier coats stop water infiltration into the hull's fiberglass leading to osmosis and that antifouling coats stop (of course) fouling. If an antifouling coat wore thin it could lead to fouling that would have to be removed carefully in order to not damage the barrier coats. However, for the sake of argument, if ALL of the antifouling coat wore off a hull, no water should damage the hull's fiberglass unless the barrier coats were somehow damaged. Therefore, in his opinion, one of the most important procedures in re-coating the antifouling paint is to get the loose old antifouling off without damaging the barrier coating surface. BTW he said my hull looked fine because if it was getting too thin the grey barrier coating would show through - that's why it is so important to always use a barrier coat color that will be different from the color of the antifouling you are going to use. Anyone near Gananoque/Kingston in Ontario who wants incredible fiberglass, gel coat or bottom coating work done can contact Marc Lemieux. I have seen him rebuild rotted transoms in big cruisers and re-do 75 foot yachts to better than new. Years ago, for me, he removed the engine and drive from my 1994 Rinker 190, drained the gas tank, flipped the boat sanded the hull to the fiberglass, fixed osmosis, barrier coated, re-gel coated the ENTIRE hull and rebuilt the engine stringers.....and it has been fine for over ten years with a 390 HP 383 in it. An amazing guy. mlemieux1@cogeco.ca