I've finished removing the old bottom paint. Now what???

[originalsin]

I've heard it mentioned that after a boat has had bottom paint removed something should be done to protect the remaining gelcoat. I will never keep the boat in the water for more than a day or two at a time so anti-foul in not necessary. Sould I just wax it like I have the rest of the hull and call it done or should I put some type of two part poly like Interlux Interprotect to seal it up to prevent water intrusion?

Any guys out there with some advice on the subject.

btw--the boat is the 20 year old Sou'wester in my sig.

 

[rangerdog]

I don't know what to do but I know you shouldn't wax the bottom. Contrary to what seems to make sense, in fact it will actually slow the boat.

From the net:

In his book "The Bass Boat Bible" Earl Bentz talks about this. In his days with the Mercury factory racing team, they found that wax actually caused the water to "cling" to the hull. They found that sanding the hull in the direction of the water flow increased speed. Apparently the slightly rougher bottom allows air bubbles to get under the boat breaking the surface tension. Same reason you're slightly faster on a light ripply water than on dead slick.

 

[Neckbone]

I don't know what to do but I know you shouldn't wax the bottom. Contrary to what seems to make sense, in fact it will actually slow the boat.

From the net:

In his book "The Bass Boat Bible" Earl Bentz talks about this. In his days with the Mercury factory racing team, they found that wax actually caused the water to "cling" to the hull. They found that sanding the hull in the direction of the water flow increased speed. Apparently the slightly rougher bottom allows air bubbles to get under the boat breaking the surface tension. Same reason you're slightly faster on a light ripply water than on dead slick.

This is true. I remember reading that all the America's Cup sailboats were making their hulls as smooth as possible. Then someone who had studied sharks, noticed that their skin was not smooth as glass, it was actually very rough. They went to their boats, added a little texture to the underwater hull, and it actually made them a good bit faster, because of the reason stated above.

 

[originalsin]

I wonder if I could still wax the bottom but leave out all of the wet sanding. I want to do everything I can to protect the gelcoat but I like the idea or the rough bottom adding a little speed. I also like the idea of not having to do all of the friggin wet sanding!!!