SHETLAND OWNERS ASSOCIATION

I need some advice please, someone has over painted the original tangerine
Gelcoat with white gloss,I dont know make of paint etc. the white
is peeling in places and is showing all the brush marks and it needs a good make over,
What is the best way to prepare the surfaces?
What would members recommend using for this project?
Is it practical to remove gloss and still preserve the original
finish?
All constructive help and advice is welcome

Nudge on this question - previous owner has painted over the gelcoat and I'm curious as to what to do.

Looking at videos of people repainting boats with Gel coat, and the way to sand and then polish the gel coat to a really nice finish is very interesting. When I removed paint from the hull of a family 4 I didn't remove all the paint just enough to get it back so I could get new marine gloss on it (I didn't want to use anti-fouling paint because I'm not sure if it's a hazard to marine life). But the job of removing the existing paint was difficult enough (it was just the hull of the boat and nothing above the water line).

Derek

Re antifoul, it is a risk to marine life, to stop marine life growing on the boat, but it isn’t going to affect anything in the general area, just any that tries to attach to the boat. I wouldn’t leave any boat afloat in salt or brackish water without AF, barnacles and calcium worms will soon follow weed growth on marine gloss paint.
Freshwater boats need a special AF to slow the growth of slime and weed.

It will be interesting to see what it's like when I take it out of the sea water. I'll photograph it for sure. I put it in a sea marina at the beginning of April.

After painting hull with gloss marine paint *before* going into water: https://compute.eolas.io/boat/boat_afte ... g_hull.jpg

Which part of Ireland are you in? I imagine the coastal conditions for marine growth in my port of Milford Haven in West Wales are pretty similar to most Irish harbours west of Carnsore point, as we are only 60NM from Kilmore Quay. We get pretty bad fouling after 5-6 weeks afloat once the sea temperature picks up a bit from June onwards.

I’m hoping to get across come July or August and spend a week between Kilmore and Cork before sailing back, but in my yacht not the Shetland. Crossing St George’s Channel is manageable in a Family Four in perfect conditions, (I’ve been close to Tuskar rock, 3/4 of the way across before on a windless flat calm day, but not knowing the fuel availability around Rosslare made me turn back) but staying a few days and guaranteeing a weather window for the crossing back is a no go, we only get suitable conditions once or twice a year hence now having a sailboat.

Hi @dellquay13 - I can't believe you made it to Tuskar rock in a Family Four (I've a friend that has swam out to Tuskar rock from the beach - that was a few years ago mind you). I'm in Greystones Co. Wicklow just down south from Dublin (with Bray harbour up north 8KM and then Dunlaoghaire harbour and Dublin port up further north again). I've been told that the West coast of Ireland is a much better location for places to berth (which surprises me as I would have thought the Atlantic would be rougher but apparently not). I've no experience of being down south or over there in the west (actually my only previous experience is inland waterways - but I do live close to the sea here so that's why we put our Family Four in the local marina).