Refinishing Cat 22

I'm the first to admit that maybe I am not understanding something, but house paint is kinda flat. It's not shiny, isn't it gonna look like you... well...painted your boat with house paint. House paint dries out, cracks and falls off my house in like 2 years how can that possibly work on a boat. To my logic maybe that would work on like an old wooden boat, like an old lobster trawler but over gelcoat on a sailboat? The interior is gelcoated fiberglass as well. It would be like going out in your driveway and painting your car with house paint, that's not a good look. Yeah, it may protect it and last a while...but....not so much on the beauty end of things. Maybe just doing nothing is the best thing to do. I just wanted to gussy her up and make her shine like new again but, I really don't know what to do. I just can't believe that we can put crap on Mars, but we can't have a product you can spray on a boat to make it look like new and that will last as long as the original finish. Actually.... I have a jetski hull I would like to do, maybe I will try one of the products(interlux or awlgrip) on that and just see how it works for practice. Again, I admit my total ignorance on the subject so please don't let my uninformed opinion insult anyone, I'm just having a hard time understanding I guess. It's extremely frustrating I have to admit. LOL

 

You are probably not using $70 /gallon house paint. Iron Clad is acceptable as a finish coat, but is not very glossy and will chalk in short order. The others I mentioned are for gloss. Their gloss retention is not up to LP standards by any means, but it's pretty good. I used to revarnish my wood skiff about 3 times a year, so some perspective is needed here. Nothing is going to last 40 years unless you wash and dust it several times a day! The idea that you do this once and are done is basically not how this works. Continuous tinkering and improving is much more conducive to a long service life. The batch method is done by boats that earn there keep in very defined seasons and must maximise their availability during that season, but it's not the best way to maintain a boat. The major consideration for me is can I repair damage easily and quickly with what is on hand on the boat or in the trunk of my car, and can these projects be broken down into short stints of work. A two hour stint redoing a grab rail isn't a problem. It just happens. But if I need a ten hour day to make headway on a task, that could be a problem. If I have a ten hour day I want to go sailing. So I tend to select systems that can be tinkered into shape over ones that require a greater amount of commitment.

Some of your comments suggest that you don't have a good handle on paint chemistry and what is out there. If all you are familiar with is Home Depot house paint, then you need to do some research and learn the components and processes of better paint systems. Mostly, a glossy deck is not desired because it will show every imperfection, spot of dirt, and can cause glare problems. Its a complete waste on nonskid areas. The production quality of the hull is not really up to supporting a mirror finish on the hull topsides. You would need to an enormous amount of work to bring it up to snuff using the proper hi build primers and sanding with longboards. That is why I suggested a housepaint, The best ones have just the right amount of gloss to give a good showing from ten feet away without the mirrored surface showing every wave and wobble.

<< deleted link, see comments below>>

There are others, I'm not hung up on this stuff, just using it as an example because I used it in the Keys for many years on just about everything.

 

FYI
The Mueller Ironclad link you included is for the factory applied finish on Mueller steel roofing and wall panels. Not only is this finish not waterbased (it's a silicone protected polyester resin) but it's also oven baked after application. I'm not sure how this is at all relevant to the conversation.

I would highly caution the OP about considering waterbased house paint for the exterior of his boat, I think he will end up disappointed.
I would encourage the OP to do his own research before making a decision, don't believe what a bunch of anonymous people on an internet forum have to say. Awlgrip, Detco (Sterling LP) and Interlux (Brightsides) all have websites that include application guides. Go to your local boatyard and chandlery and ask advise. Walk around marinas, if you see a nicely painted boat ask the owner how he did it.
If you plan on painting your whole boat it's a lot of work, after all the work you want to make sure you chose the correct product.

 

You're absolutely right when you say I do not have a great understanding. I do know that for a 40 year old boat the gelcoat actually held up very well. And if gelcoat is not the greatest, porous, cheap, etc., I just amazes me that 40 years later there isn't a boat coating of any kind that would do as well. At least with light use. I don't pound this boat around by any means, it's freshwater, and stored inside winters.(Wisconsin). I do understand that you don't necessarily want a gloss deck. At least not as gloss an the hull, above the water line. This is, by my reckoning, a small boat, there is only... what maybe a foot and half to two feet from the boot line to the rub rail... not gonna take much paint. As for the deck, I really don't see it being that bad if I do it in sections, foredeck, over the cabin, then the cockpit. As for the deck hardware I am going to use the good marine butyl and bevel the holes. I will definitely take your advise and ask around locally at the marina and peeps with other boats. Thanks.

 

Usually, if everyone's confused, I've goofed somewhere. So I go to SW paint and look for Ironclad, and get something I've never seen or used. It is not the stuff I was trying to recommend. I found several web references to the stuff I was talking about, which were epoxy based primers which could be left as a top coat if you weren't fussy. But nothing current. So I'm sorry for the confusion. Impervo and Impervex are as I remember.

The previous link was also not the correct stuff. I have gone back and deleted the link.

 

Some pics of the boat.

Here's some pics of her, please bare in mind that I have no intention of going to a larger boat...probably ever. So I don't mind doing whatever I have to, to make her right. I paid $1,000 dollars for her, bought her in the water, with a 6hp motor and I got to use 2 months of the slip. I probably have 150 hours sailing her already. I really have nothing in her, so spending some money is fine. I don't want to deal with the whole cradle thing and leaving it at the marina over the winter and all that. I always see those guys climbing 15 foot ladders to get into their boats. Blahh. This way I can just take her home and put her in the garage and work on her over the winters. I guess there is a very good reason these boats where so popular.

 

I do quite alot of Fiberglass work ; and Deck Refinishing with the factory mold is the one job I dread but I have found a few little tricks to help me along. First I scrub the deck with a diluted simple green and tsp solution using a large medium grade scotchbrite pad on a pole then rinse. After it drys I then chemical wash the deck after putting on protective clothing chemical respirator ect. I use a mix of xzylene & acetone nearly a 50/50 combination to chemical wash the deck. Now there's other stuff as I'm sure you know but this is what I use as it really works well. I then attach a stainless wire brush to my drill or my air grinder depending on the situation. Not the circular type, you'll want a downward facing one with very thin wire so you do not eat up the mold . Make sure it's stainless just in case in your clean up you miss a few bits of stray wire as they'll leave an awefull brown rust stain on the deck (and the customer allways phones you about those stains). I also keep a wire brush next to me while sanding the deck with the drill to remove any tough or peeling material. I've tried using a bronze wool pad for this kind of work and you really feel like your moving a sand dune with a spoon, the drill and wire brush gets immediate results. After that I use a palm sander on a low setting and sand the top of the non skid with 220. From there I hoover up all the dust then I'll blow it with an airgun for good measure chemical wash it again and then roll or spray it depending on where your at if your finishing with Gelcoat the job is easy as you can finish off with Duratek and skip the sanding and polish. If awlgripping ect.. Between coats it's up to you how you want to scuff it I tend to stick to scotch brite pads to get into the grooves & 400,600,grit on the surface for a smoother finish. If there is actual Damage stress cracking to the mold look up "Gibflex" or "Mas Epoxy" (they buy from Gibflex and mark up the price) they make a silicone sheet with molded patterns set into it. Hundreds of patterns. The repair using the mold is a pain in the Wazoo but you get better at it as you go along. Good luck.

 

you should just buy Chip Ford's boat youd be money and time ahead in the end!
http://www.chipford.com/