2003 2510 Bottom Prep

[Togntime]

I've taken on the fun task of removing what could be 20 years of bottom paint! The bottom wasn't terrible, but paint was thick, peeling in places, chipped in places, and generally rough. This is my first season with the boat so I'm trying do it right. I'm going at it with a chisel and sander. Plan was only to sand down the rough spots and hit it with an ablative paint, but now I started something that seems needing finished. The pic below is the resulting surface. Do you think this should be barrier coated prior to the ablative? Or given the amount of bottom paint remaining will the barrier coat be worthless? I don't plan on blasting it, and I don't plan on sanding down to gel coat everywhere. No plans on an blistering yet. Boat will be moored May-November in Long Island. Thanks for the advice!

 

[Togntime]

Ok. Reading now that ALL of the bottom paint has to be removed prior to a barrier coat. I think the stuff coming off seems more hard than ablative, but either way my intention wasnt to remove it all. I feel guilty because some of the gel coat exposed was roughed up pretty good with the sander. I think I’ll sand less aggressively and not necessarily look to expose the gel coat and focus more on simply creating a smooth surface for the new coat of ablative paint I’ll be using.