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First In's Bottom Job


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Thanks guys!

Russ - I'll probably never go slow enough to catch a fish now! hopefully it is a once in a life time job. Some of the guys by me spray another coat of VC on every spring. I will probably do the same. The prep is simply wiping with acetone before painting vs sanding and all that mess. The fall clean up is also unbelievably simple compared to what i was going through with regular anti fouling paint. cant wait to see how she preforms!

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Nice job. That looks like it was a heck of a job to do. I was supposed to go up saturday and get mine but talked to them today and with the ice and snow we had they are trying to chip the ice out of the doors to get them open. Of course the barn my boat is in is one of the worst he said as it faced into storm and has a ton of build up. hopefully he can have it out by next weekend for me, he was on the roof chipping ice off today. I'll post pics when i get her back of the work that was done.

What color will it turn to once activated?

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Thanks again guys. I went with the original VC so the activated color will be a dull black color.

This was a bigger job than what most would have to endure as my boat was a salt water boat and lacked TLC the last few years. Hope this helps people see working on their boats does not have to be intimidating. also wanted to help those who may want to take on a similar task learn from what has worked and not worked for me.

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  • 7 months later...

Well fall is here and the boat is put to bed for the winter. What a breeze it was to clean the bottom after a full season in the water. I could have washed the bottom of with just a garden hose if i wanted too. Still chose a power washer just to make it go a little faster. Bottom growth hardly sticks to the super hard and slick coating of the VC-17 and unlike many bottom paints, the VC-17 is still there!

I also picked up 4 knots on my cruising speed last season over 2010. I do not think this was solely because of the bottom job, but it definitely helped. I also had my props tuned and my rudders were slightly out of whack.

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Thanks! Im not quite at withdrawal point....yet. Went on vacation the day after the boat was put away and still trying to get back in the swing of things around here. Nice to relax a bit and take my time with things around the house instead of rushing because I am going fishing or the boat needs work. Time for a slow down!

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  • 4 months later...

Josh,

Thank you very much for sharing this! I am currently in the process of buying a much larger boat and one of the minor issues is that it will need this exact process done soon. Probably after this season. I have never dealt with bottom paint before and this has been EXTREMELY educational for me!

What barrier coat did you apply under the VC-17? How many coats?

Thank you again!!

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Thanks, I'm glad it could be useful! I used Interlux 2000 barrier coat under the VC17. I believe I did four coats. I believe I mentioned it before but again I highly recommend having the bottom media blasted instead of sanding. I am glad I had the experience because it made me realize I never want to sand a boat bottom to gel coat ever again! Now looking at the start of this season, all I have to do before splashing her is wiping with acetone and spraying a couple more coats of VC. This may not even be necessary but I want build up a nice hard layer for the bottom.

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With the limited knowledge of this and the limited reading I can find, is it necessary to do the bottom paint prior to the VC-17? I guess what I'm saying is I don't understand why you need to utilize two different ablative bottom paints?

I'm friggin clueless!! LOL

Thanks again for all your help!

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The barrier coat is not an anti fouling bottom paint. It is an epoxy coat that seals the fiberglass bottom from absorbing water. fiberglass boats are actually porous and will absorb water over time. it is a preventative measure that is not required but usually recommended for boats that remain in the water. Once the barrier coat is applied, you put your chosen anti fouling paint over that. I used cheap stuff on my last boat and chose VC17 for my new boat.

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