It is 5 years since Little Cat was launched and about time for a haul out and bottom job. In the past I've done bottom paint on the beach (see previous post), but the boat was in need of some more substantial maintenance. The builder had done a great job with construction, but had hurried the hull topcoat, so I also wanted to overhaul the topsides paint.
Another job was to get rid of the blue line on the gunwales that I've always disliked. This would require undoing all of the beam lashings to sand around the mount blocks and would turn into a major PITA.
The builder had also set up a legacy of hard work by choosing to paint the hulls with a budget sloughing antifouling. False economy - never do it! While a bit cheaper, these paints have a short life and cannot be used with any other antifouling type. The only way to use a more effective bottom paint was to completely remove the old paint down to the epoxy layer.
This was hard work, but not as bad as expected using the fancy vacuum orbital sanders at the boat yard. But, along with the topsides, took several days of non-stop sanding.
In the above picture can be seen the industrial duty rudder hinges. When I first got the boat I wasn't that happy about them, wanting the standard Wharram lashing system. Several years later, however, I luv em. The hinges can be disconnected and both rudders unmounted in 30 secs, allowing proper sanding and painting on the hull stem and rudders - impossible to do with the lashing system. I feared that the hinges would also effect performance, but Little Cat has seen 14 knots several times, so it can't be too bad.
Meanwhile, the rudders headed home for sanding and several new coats of epoxy. The rudders were not glassed, and water had got through the paint in several places.
The topsides also got the 80 grit treatment in preparation for rolling and tipping with Interlux Brightsides offwhite (same color). The hated blue stripe got attacked with the sander and was an incredible amount of work because of all the curves and fittings etc. The first coat of bottom paint can be seen going on here. I used Interlux Bottomkote NT which is a combo hard/ablative with good write-ups and a reasonable price. I managed to get on three coats which should keep us in good shape for a couple of seasons.
After a week of work we were ready to get back in the water.
Another job was to get rid of the blue line on the gunwales that I've always disliked. This would require undoing all of the beam lashings to sand around the mount blocks and would turn into a major PITA.
The builder had also set up a legacy of hard work by choosing to paint the hulls with a budget sloughing antifouling. False economy - never do it! While a bit cheaper, these paints have a short life and cannot be used with any other antifouling type. The only way to use a more effective bottom paint was to completely remove the old paint down to the epoxy layer.
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| All the old paint has to come off. |
This was hard work, but not as bad as expected using the fancy vacuum orbital sanders at the boat yard. But, along with the topsides, took several days of non-stop sanding.
 |
| Getting there. |
In the above picture can be seen the industrial duty rudder hinges. When I first got the boat I wasn't that happy about them, wanting the standard Wharram lashing system. Several years later, however, I luv em. The hinges can be disconnected and both rudders unmounted in 30 secs, allowing proper sanding and painting on the hull stem and rudders - impossible to do with the lashing system. I feared that the hinges would also effect performance, but Little Cat has seen 14 knots several times, so it can't be too bad.
Meanwhile, the rudders headed home for sanding and several new coats of epoxy. The rudders were not glassed, and water had got through the paint in several places.
The topsides also got the 80 grit treatment in preparation for rolling and tipping with Interlux Brightsides offwhite (same color). The hated blue stripe got attacked with the sander and was an incredible amount of work because of all the curves and fittings etc. The first coat of bottom paint can be seen going on here. I used Interlux Bottomkote NT which is a combo hard/ablative with good write-ups and a reasonable price. I managed to get on three coats which should keep us in good shape for a couple of seasons.
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| Making progress |
After a week of work we were ready to get back in the water.
Lookin Good!
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