Re-painting old bass boat

[Rayb]

Hi,
I'm trying to restore my 19 year old bass boat, but I have a problem as far as being able to paint(gel-coat) the bottom of it because it is on its trailor. Is there a good safe way to construct something to allow me lift the boat so that I can get at the bottom of the boat to do repairs there? I don't have a garage, so everything is being done outside. The boat weighs about 1200lbs.

Thanks
Ray

[marshmat]

Usual strategy here is to support the hull on four big jacks (the type you see sailboats sitting on in winter). You paint everything except where the jack pads touch, then fix those up once the rest is dry and it's back on the trailer. Another common strategy is to put the boat on keel blocks with supports at the gunwales. If you don't mind covering the trailer with a lot of newspaper while painting, you might be able to lift the boat up a bit at a time with levers and jacks, then put keel and chine blocks between the hull and the trailer and paint it right there.

For a trailer boat you don't usually have to worry about anti-fouling paint for the bottom. A good polyurethane paint is probably your best bet. Don't use gelcoat; it is not a very durable material and is used in production boats only because it works well with the fibreglass moulding process. Real paint lasts a lot longer and is easier to touch up when scratched.

[yokebutt]

Ray,

We have a large saw-horse (8 feet tall) made from 4 by 6 lumber floating around the yard, it's been used to lift small boats and engines for many years, the only caveat is that whoever uses it has to keep it until somebody else needs it.

Yoke.

[PAR]

Another option and the way I do it, is to use a chain fall (you can rent these too) from a large tree branch. Rig a sling to lift up the boat wholesale. It will need to be balanced with most of the weight being well aft. You'll see where this needs to be once you begin lifting and only the bow comes up (just keep moving it aft until it lifts the whole boat) This is the much safer way to do it and you can set her down on home made stands or whatever. Please note that concrete blocks can fracture easily and it's better to make up a set of stands, then use a stack of blocks. When you've covered all the areas not under the stands, pick her up, move the stands a little and finish her up.

You can build an "A" frame kind of thing if you don't have any big branches available. I've seen folks use boom style engine hoists to lift boats too. Think it out and work safe, you don't want to drop in on your foot or the ground.

If the engine is removed it's a lot easier to handle. At that weight, several big friends over for an afternoon of beer drinking can get it done pretty quickly. It's surprising what can be done with the promise of free beer . . .

[Rayb]

Do you use paint instead of gel coat to fill in chips?

[PAR]

Gel coat isn't the best material to get color on a hull. It's used in the industry because of the compatibility with the molding process. Your better off with a thickened epoxy repair in the dings and a high quality paint.

Gel coat doesn't last that long and paint can be freshened up. So, I use paint over epoxy repairs, gel coat if forced and I can never get a perfect match with gel coat.

So how would Yoke, Marshmat or Gonzo do it, two part linear poly or gel coat?