Financially reasonable paint?

D

Dennis Lowe

New Member
I've just purchased my first sailboat. A 1973 Force 5, which I'm told is similar to a Laser. I'm blown away by the proposed cost of a paint job! Are there any methods of painting a fiberglass boat that doesn't require a spray gun, a spray booth, or several hundred dollars of paint that may or may not work? Man, I called a place today and they said a 14' boat would cost $1,500.00 for the bottom only! How about a can of Krylon? Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks, dennis
 
Are you sure you really want to paint your boat? Unless you have a very compelling reason to do so, I'd not paint it. Depending on what problems exist with the boat there may be alternatives to painting that some who read this forum may be able to explain.
 
+1 to Rob's post. Often the issue is just surface oxidation, and that needs to come off anyway even (especially) if you're going to put paint over.
A frequent alternative is just rubbing it down + polishing it -- automotive or marine rubbing compound, followed by wax. Cheap in dollars, a little more investment in elbow grease + time.

For my own self I'd suggest more important than all this talk and what your boat looks like, I'd say don't forget to get outside, get on the water and sail your first sailboat. I've sailed a 1973 Laser for 20+ years now. It was 20+ yrs old when I bought it and it wasn't pretty then. Every umpteen years I've started to polish / wax it, but never gotten very far with that. When the wind blows I sail it, and when the wind doesn't blow I do all the rest of what I need to do so I can sail when the wind blows. The old thing sails beautifully. But everybody's entitled to their opinion + to do what you want with your boat and looking nice is nice.
 
Great point! I do have some new fiberglass patches that need painting for U.V. protection I was told, but you're exactly right. I'll get the rubbing compound and buffer out of the closet for the rest. Thanks.
 
Of its really bad of wet sand it. The gelcoat on these is really thick. If you were to paint it I just did mine with Epoxy Primkote and Perfection. 1 quart of primer and two of Perfection this was for the whole boat including foils
 
try wet sanding it, start with 400 then work up as high as 1500 grit, follow that with a good polish and ptef

even a really old boat can be restored to have a shiny gelcoat

take your time, maybe one grit level per night, in a couple of days you've got a shiny boat!
 
I started with wet sanding and the gauges were through to the glass. And that with a couple impact fractures and paint was the answer. Top end marine materials and my total was about 400
 
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