[C320-list] Bottom Job

[Charles Greenwell]

I typically do the same thing you do each year or two.  Last Year I
decided to remove all of the bottom paint and start fresh. I made this
decision because some spots on the bottom were flaking and the bottom
was starting to look like an orange skin and not smooth. This was after
11 years.

I got quotes to sand the hull and apply a barrier coat.  They came in
around $3200.

I also asked the yard about soda blasting.  This process leaves a
smoother finish and if done properly does not require a barrier coat.
This bid came in at $2800.

This was all bid by Port Annapolis here in Annapolis MD.

I then ran into the guy from Gale Force Blasting (
http://www.galeforceblasting.com/index.html ) who has a mobile setup and
travels around the east coast soda blasting bottoms.  He looked at the
bottom and then gave me a quote of $1200.  He did the work within a week
of our first meeting.  It was an excellent job in that the bottom was
smooth a silk.  After I cleaned the entire bottom with a solvent it
looked brand new.

Once the bottom was cleaned up, I did find blistering around the prop
shaft exit.  This area is not part of the molding process for the hull
because the shaft log is added in after it comes out of the mold.  I
also found blistering around the shaft strut, another area which is
manually feathered into the hull after it comes out of the mold.  There
were other areas as well.  None of this was dramatic and they were
easily fixed.  Here is a post that I made last year about this.
http://lists.catalina320.com/htdig.cgi/c320-list-catalina320.com/2010-Ju
ne/032591.html

I can say that the $1200 was money well spent.  The bottom is smooth as
silk.  I also found that in light air days here on the Chesapeake Bay I
have gained hull speed.  In fact, it was amazing at how much it changed.

Randy
Le Bijou
#719