Bottoms Up!

[DesertAlbin736]

I've been a sanding fool the past couple weeks and nearing the end of the sanding portion of the job to repaint La Dolce Vita's hull with Pettit Hydrocoat ECO non-copper ablative anti-fouling paint.

This is how we got the boat off the trailer. Luckily I have friends in low places. One buddy loaned me six boat stands. The other runs a recycling business out of this industrial site on the lower West side of Phoenix, and dabbles with sailboats in the side. He has this gantry crane (which I nicknamed "Elmer") with a chainfall hoist to lift the bow off. I have a heavy duty tow strap that we used to use to strap launch our Catalina 25, plus some heavy rope. We rigged the strap under the bow and lifted the stern with a forklift, just enough to gain clearance over the keel rollers. Once we had the boat lifted we lowered the adjustable bunk boards, rolled the trailer forward gingerly and adding boat stands and blocks and jack stands under the keel as we went. Piece of cake!

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Here's a bit of what I've been dealing with. 4 or 5 coats dating back 40-plus years. This is the part under the trailer bunks that I couldn't get to when the boat was on the trailer. Yes, this paint can be applied over existing paint, but the old paint was in such poor condition I decided to take it down to bare gelcoat. This paint is too expensive to risk coming out with poor results.

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Here's the port side that's finished sanding & ready to go to the next step in prepping with Pettit Bio Blue 62

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I have this much left to go & should be able to finish up tomorrow. Then while I'm at it will polish and wax the hull & buff it out with a power buffer before starting the final prep and painting. This is tough stuff. I'm using a pneumatic sander starting with 40 grit to strip the paint, being careful to avoid digging into the gelcoat. Then switching to a 5" orbital electric sander with 60 grit, then a final finish sand with the orbital sander using 80 grit, which is what Pettit recommends for prep sanding. And of course OSHA would be proud of me. Doing all this fully suited up with paint coveralls with hood, ear plugs, cartridge respirator, safety glasses, face shield & rubber gloves.

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[kerrye]

Isn't that a job for December or January, not April?

[DesertAlbin736]

I was busy in December and January with installing the larger holding tank and relocating the battery bank and related wiring changes. I finished up the rest of the sanding today and should get the painting done next week. As rough as the old paint was, I'm wondering if I might end up picking up an extra 1/2 to 1 knot increase in speed for the same RPM. April is not a bad month to be doing this, other than missing boating during this mild weather. But would not want to be doing this in May or later. I"m scrambling to get everything ready for our cruise to Desolation Sound just two months from now. Next up is repacking the trailer bearings and fixing the brakes on the rear axle that we didn't complete last year.

[WillieC]

All right! So that's how you do it! I posted way back when asking how to get the boat off the trailer for bottom painting and didn't get much if any in the way of response. Very similar to what the boys in the yard where I bought my trailer described. (Edit: That post was on the BC website, not AOG.)

Checklist:

Concrete blocks......Check
Tyvek suit, ear plugs, approved mask, goggles, gloves....Check

Now all I need is a warehouse with a gantry crane, chainfall, a forklift, boat stands, a compressor, hoses and pneumatic sander and I'm good to go!

(Not too jealous, here. Guess I'll go stand by the mailbox and hope my parts from UK arrive today. Not.)

Steve, have you decided where you will dump in this summer on your way north? At the risk of being overwhelmed with all your improvements, it is always good to see another 25 fitted out. We are on Hood Canal, Puget Sound. With family in Bellingham.

[kerrye]

Don't want to be critical, but concrete blocks are not a good idea. They are too brittle and can crack and break. The fifth wheeler in the storage lot next to my camper was braced with concrete blocks. All the stacks cracked and broke. I would use wood in place of the concrete.

[Beta Don]

Don't want to be critical, but concrete blocks are not a good idea. They are too brittle.

I agree 100%. They are not designed to support anything much heavier than another block. Using them to support a 5,000 pound boat is a recipe for disaster. Get some wood blocks like they use in the boatyard.

Don

[Jeremyvmd]

I don't know if I agree with the no concrete blocks. It all depends on how and where they are used...if you support the weight on the wide flat sides they will crumble. But if you use them the way they are designed with the weight on the side with the opening/narrow edges and stack them together properly then they can support massive amounts of weight.
My foundation is concrete blocks and it can support my house in flood conditions with 4ft deep + water running at over 5-6 knots without a hickup. Yea there are more of them then you would use under a boat but the house also weighs more...not a perfect example but I garantee each block is supporting more weight than just one additional block.
People get into trouble with concrete as a support block because they don't use them correctly or enough of them. Below you can see the "strong" way to support a boat with concrete blocks.

Edit: looked up the ASTM specs for a concrete block - must be able to support a minimum of 1700psi...in theory...

[Beta Don]

Concrete blocks stacked with mortar between them can support massive loads because the mortar spreads the load evenly and that prevents the blocks from cracking - This is how they were designed to be used

I've broken many a block with very little weight when using them to support things. I've never seen a boatyard which supports boats with concrete blocks probably because of negligence and liability issues

But - It's your boat and you can use anything you like . . . . and maybe get away with it 95% of the time. Still doesn't make it an accepted practice

Don

[Jeremyvmd]

I guess nj just does it differently cuz every marina I've ever walked into in this state has done it the way my marina did mine. Never used under the keel that I can remember but on the chines...yes. But I'll take your word on it *shrug* I don't profess to be an expert on blocking boats im only commenting on what I've seen and the info I've been able to find in my research. It's perfectly possible im wrong but when they test the breaking strength on blocks that's without mortar...I suppose if the block was supported with wood during testing it would eliminate the problem of point loading as well due to the softness of the wood.

[kerrye]

I'm pretty sure that a number of the blocks which cracked under the fifth wheeler in our storage lot were in their correct orientation. Personally, I would not get under a boat supported by concrete blocks.

[2manyboats]

DesertAlbin; I'm with Kerrey on this one about the concrete blocks. I've broken too many on other projects to trust them very much. In Maine at the boatyard where I worked we only used wood blocking. Wood will form to shape a little bit and help keep things from shifting. Also I did not see the 3/8 chain typically used between opposing jack stands to keep them from kicking out. IMO you'r probably ok for a quick wash and repaint of the bottom with concrete blocks but I prefer wood.

Wayne

[smacksman]

Just to be different we use ally beer kegs and wooden wedges on our yard back in the UK. But then we are a boozy lot!

[2manyboats]

Most logical idea yet. A couple of pints and the bottom looks good so put her back overboard..I like it

Wayne

[WillieC]

Back to the topic, sort of.

Are you done yet, Steve?

I, too, trailer my 25 and need to do bottom paint, I suppose. I have read somewhere on the internet so it must be true, that ablative paints might not be the best for boats that come out of the water frequently. I know you don't proceed without much research and deliberation, so I am wondering how you came to using the paint you have chosen. Though, from reading your posts, you aren't much out of the water unless you're going 90 down the freeway to your next adventure.

ra (WillieC)

[sail149]

I have read the ablative is the right stuff for trailer sailors , hold up well to the wet dry......but does rub off easily when wet , power wash gently!
What about Alaskan blocking?
http://www.chrisbray.net/teleport/image ... to_706.jpg
http://www.chrisbray.net/teleport/image ... to_707.jpg
They use styrofoam dock floats.
Admitted the boat is resting on the keel but it's the way they do all the boat there....apparently
Check out the rest of their story
http://www.yachtteleport.com They took their sailboat thru the northwest passage a few years ago
Amazing story and really lovely people.