Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I had my boat in the water for the first time this year. The previous owner had the bottom painted, and while it worked okay, I think it's time for a strip down and repainting.

I'm in the Mid-Cheasapeake Bay area. The boat is in Smyrna, DE right now, the marina I keep it at is on the Magothy. I'm willing to trailer it whereever within reason to get it done right.

Any recommendations for a place to getting this done? Any estimates of what I should be paying (I know this will vary). I assume I'll be looking to get the ablative paint done?

While normally I don't mind doing things on my own, I don't have the space to do it, or the ability to easily the boat off the trailer.

Thanks!
Todd

Wait for Ed to get on. He is from your area and he'll be able to answer.

I am new to pontooning, but have many years sailing i have always used an ablative bottom paint on my boat. I have spoken with reps from Petit re the dos and donts. They say that the biggest problem is putting too much paint on your hull. If you just have spots here and there that have flaked off, you can just touch them up. My last boat was a 34 foot Catalina, and i typically used about a quart of paint per season. What is causing you to consider stripping and repainting?

Make sure it doesn't have copper!

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=24365&p=199650&hili ... nt#p199650

[quote="SPembleton"]I am new to pontooning, but have many years sailing i have always used an ablative bottom paint on my boat. I have spoken with reps from Petit re the dos and donts. They say that the biggest problem is putting too much paint on your hull. If you just have spots here and there that have flaked off, you can just touch them up. My last boat was a 34 foot Catalina, and i typically used about a quart of paint per season. What is causing you to consider stripping and repainting?[/quote]


Hi Steve-
The previous owner had the bottom painted and kept it in the water. I pulled it out at the end of the season and there was about zero growth on it. The next season it was on a trailer. This season I had it in the water. When I pulled it, there were a lot of barnacles on the pontoons and motor pod. It was so heavy that my speed dropped significantly. I suppose some of this is on me, as I should have been checking them out when I was in the water swimming (okay, who am I kidding-lounging...).


So, at the minimum, it needs a really good cleaning. The paint is also flaking in a lot of places, and it looks like they may have just painted over those areas with several coats.

If the price is not prohibitive, I can have it stripped and repainted and I'll know what my starting point is.

Thanks for the info on the paint usage for touch ups. The price of the paint is not cheap!

Todd

Todd-also keep the empty can so you can remember what you used. Always use the same paint for touching up.

Btw are you having it soda blasted. Not sure what people do with pontoons. As I said I am more familiar with fiberglass hulls!

Good idea on keeping the can. It can go with our 27 different paints for the house!

I'm not sure what the prep will be. I think soda blasting is to abrasive; I've heard they use walnut (?) shells.