I have a mod 3 2011 that I recently purchased and am getting fixed up. The boat has an interesting coating on the bottom that I’m trying to decide whether to leave on or attempt to remove. It is not bottom paint, but rather a plastic-like protective sheet coating. I’m the third owner and the prior owner didn’t have any idea about it. It has a slight texture to it, so it will probably have some drag as opposed to a clean gel coat or bottom paint like VC 17. I’m assuming it was installed to protect the boat when beaching, but I don’t love it. Wondering if I can paint over it to smooth it a bit. Has anyone else seen this and know what it is? If so, is it paintable? Thanks for the advice
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Bottom coating
- Thread starter Spider
- Start date
Kerrcat14.2K
Member
Not sure. It is possibly an epoxy barrier coat, which is applied to seal the gel coat to protect from gel coat blistering in preparation for coating the bottom with a good bottom paint. Because my 2016 14.2K is kept in the water (freshwater lake) all season it was prepped when new with the proper mils of barrier coating and then painted with a copolymer multi season ablative paint. Three initial coats of the ablative and then refreshed every few years.
Yep, one of the luxuries of keeping the boat on it's trailer is no worries about bottom upkeep. And I don't have to sweat if a storm comes through, compared to wet mooring tied up to a dock. If you're on a can then you need to get to the boat somehow and load your stuff on. Of course if you have the $$$ to afford a shore station then you've got it made! Launch/retrieval of the swing board model is a snap, provided that the ramp and dock are in good shape. And I can easily drag her to many different lakes, that adds a certain dimension.
Of course the keel model must be a very satisfying sailing experiance in challenging conditions, I know my more tender boat well enough to handle almost anything, but won't take her out on Lake Michigan. The only time I did that I had to eat humble pie and scurry back to the ramp when the weather kicked up and I realized that discretion is the greater part of valor!
Of course the keel model must be a very satisfying sailing experiance in challenging conditions, I know my more tender boat well enough to handle almost anything, but won't take her out on Lake Michigan. The only time I did that I had to eat humble pie and scurry back to the ramp when the weather kicked up and I realized that discretion is the greater part of valor!