Original Willard Bottom Paint?

Good evening,

Does anyone happen to know what Willard originally put on for a bottom paint?* I am thinking the original on our boat is a red, of course it is under many layers of something else now.* Wondering if it was an ablative or hard or???* Trying to plan what I intend to do after I sand off the flaking layers and not sure if we'll go all the way to the gel coat to get a surface to paint.*

I'm guessing I'll get some feedback about why not go to gel coat.* I am working with the co-owner of the boat and having this discussion.* So if I could find out what was originally put on the boat I can build my data base more completely and help have the info I need to share and make the best decision.

Last haul out, in Feb. there were big pieces of blue layers flaking off exposing red undercoat which appears to be next to the gel coat.*

Considering trying a product called Aqua Strip to see if it is cost and labor effective or not.* I'm guessing it will take a lot of stripper to do the job. I've got all my sanding gear set to go regardless.* Soda blasting is not in the works for us right now.

We will begin stripping the first week of April at Latitude Marine if anyone is in the area and wants to come by.

Keith Olive

Willard 30/4 La Conner

Way back 99% of boats were using red soft copper paint , as they had used on wooden boats.

"Hard " paint was for day sail racers that thought they went faster after days of polishing.

Thanks FF.

*

Do you know any way to tell what it is?* The red that is exposed is still in good shape.

*

Keith

Hi Keith,
Someone may have striped it 10 or 20 years ago so who knows what the original was and furthermore who cares? Previously I used Interlux Micron Extra and found it a VERY high performance product but I'd never use it again as I had to strip it w scrapers and that's not something I want to repeat. I'm using soft copper paint that the fishermen use here in Alaska (Pettit SeaMate(under $100 gal)) but have'nt seen the bottom since I put it on. It's not supposed to build though and now that's a primary requirement for an anti-foulant for me. Soon I will have Willy on the grid and will know how the Pettit performed. I have used Interlux CSC (or someth'in like that) and it works well for a year and I do'nt think it builds. Ten years ago I was very concerned about getting the highest performing things I could find for my boat. Now I think I have a much more objective outlook and see that often lower performance things are better. However if you have an ultra high performance anchor perhaps an ultra high performance bottom paint will please you most. And pleasure and pleasing is golden in yachting.

Our method for using ablative modern paints is multi color.

The bottom on our 90/90 is painted red which is carried 3 inches above the designed waterline.

The bottom of the boat has a few coats of white , ending an inch or two below the water line.

Above the red is a blue boot top.

With this setup , you will know when to replace the white when you can see red.

The reason for the extra wide real boot stripe with a slender blue "water line" above is the USCG.

IN days gone by the Hooligan Navy would stop and hard search (crowbar) and vessel with a "wide" waterline.

AS our boat is small and holds 200G of fuel or water , the water line will easily vary by inches, about 900 lbs for an inch of immersion.

With the skinny blue "water line" and red showing below, we were never stopped.

Insurance is what you decide it is.

FF

Thanks everyone. It seems that our plan is to take it down to the gel coat, apply an epoxy barrier coat and then paint. WHich type of paint we have not decided yet. We also decided to put this off until June when the weather and temperatures are more conducive to painting. I'll be out of school for the summer and will a better block of time to do this job too.

Keith Olive

Keith,
How are you going to get down to gelcoat w/o taking off some gelcoat? Does sand blasting not remove some of the gelcoat? I do'nt have an epoxy barrier coat and need to grind out small blisters at times (less than annually). The little blisters are less than a square inch and less than 1/4" deep. After grinding I brush on two coats of west system epoxy, sand a bit and apply AF. I no longer worry about blisters. It's just regular maintenance. I've never heard of a Willard hull failing from too many blisters. Just say'in.

Grinding

Hello,
We are planning on sanding off the paint to gel coat then applying barrier coat. All depending on what we find when we get there. Lots of paint layers to process. Full tyvek suits and hoods with air supply while under the plastic tent.

Depending on the age of the Willard (before or after the Arabs and Jews '73 war) will determine any pox problems.

Many Willards were Hetron FR , Fire Retardant resin (for commercial customers) and before the oil price rise , hardly ever suffered from the pox.

Oldie is a goodie !

FF