I must say this forum is a wealth of knowledge and experience and appreciate the comradery. I am currently restoring a 67 and 71 Sunfish. The 71 is mint, the 67 not so much. The 67 I have blind patched hull holes and found the gelcoat was shot meaning lots of little fine pock craters. My plan is to sand down, fair, sand out, clean with acetone than the big question to paint or gelcoat. I have scoured this forum, found lots a great information. My dilemma is that I leave the boat in the water all summer long, I know that is a no-no, but I do not have much of an option. Is there a paint that can handle being in the water for 4 months straight or is the gelcoat best option? Any advice appreciated.
To gelcoat or not to gelcoat, that is the question
- Thread starter VTSUNFISH
- Start date
mixmkr
Well-Known Member
No brand of paint (unless antifouling) will survive underwater for 4 months.
You might consider coating the bottom (and might as well do the sides too) with an epoxy (West Systens, etc) and pick a thin, Teflon paint like VC17m for antifoiling. The VC17m can be as slick as the surface it's applied to and comes in several colors. The red is nice and bright...or black, navy blue, etc It's OK for salt water too, for that length of time. Paint the deck with your favorite choice and color
You might consider coating the bottom (and might as well do the sides too) with an epoxy (West Systens, etc) and pick a thin, Teflon paint like VC17m for antifoiling. The VC17m can be as slick as the surface it's applied to and comes in several colors. The red is nice and bright...or black, navy blue, etc It's OK for salt water too, for that length of time. Paint the deck with your favorite choice and color
Mixmkr is the Pro, I'd follow his advice 
And you're on the right track, the key is to get a watertight coating of something over the fiberglass, as over time the fiberglass can start to absorb water and cause blisters.
And you're on the right track, the key is to get a watertight coating of something over the fiberglass, as over time the fiberglass can start to absorb water and cause blisters.
The more you tube videos I watch the more indecisive I become. Thanks for response. The gelcoating is definitely more work with that 15 minute working window time. One guy made 6 plastic pint cups and adding the catalyst as he needed more. My wife says I always do things the hard way anyway. Reality, it will not be a show boat or racer, having fun with kids on a little freshwater lake, just trying to do right the first time. Thinking about Pettit protect high build epoxy barrier primer than Pettit Vivid hard ablative antifouling bottom paint. The kids really want a yellow hull with the red deck and the VC17m does not come in a canary yellow. Has anyone had good results with the Pettit brand? Signal Charlie, you are a celebrity in my house, made the kids watch all you videos!
mixmkr
Well-Known Member
Those Pettit products will work great. Put the epoxy on as smooth as possible. You could also probably get by with 2 coats vs the xtra coats they might recommend. Get a quart of Vivid. Bright colored bottom paint!
Alan S. Glos
Well-Known Member
Amen. If you have the equipment, know how and environment to spray gelcoat, that is the way to go to get the fresh from the factory look. I think the guy up in Essex, VT does that. I hand painted white gelcoat on the entire bottom of a Sunfish once and I will never do it again as it did not smooth out, took on the dreaded orange peel look and I had to wet sand for many hours to get a quasi-decent finish.
A true two-part epoxy paint is a better way to go. Use the roll and tip method (see Signal Charlie's YouTube video), let it cure completely and then feel confident about leaving the hull moored in the water all season.
Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY
A true two-part epoxy paint is a better way to go. Use the roll and tip method (see Signal Charlie's YouTube video), let it cure completely and then feel confident about leaving the hull moored in the water all season.
Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY