Repainting The Hull | Stripping Paint

This is what the underside of the hull looked like at the point when I realised that the white gloss paint I am using is still blistering when exposed to water.

Grey and white primer is all carefully sanded smooth with no 'step' between the colours, all ready for gloss.

Sadly it is not to be. It's all got to come off, for the second time.

The test pieces set outside some weeks ago showed signs of blistering again when they got wet, and I simply cannot take the chance that the same thing will happen again if I repaint the boat using the same make of paint.

So I started to remove all the newly applied primer, but this time I used paint stripper rather than use the sander.

This is because I find it impossible not to sand through the fibreglass sheathing when sanding, through to bare ply. Whereas careful scraping with paint stripper does not damage the substrate at all.

This is the stripping kit. A sharp Bahco scraper does the job very effectively, with no scratches or tram lines. And a stainless steel scouring pad is very good for places which can't be scraped, such as curved surfaces.

An here once again is the eco-friendly paint stripper which washes off with water.

It takes three applications of stripper to completely remove the paint. I usually use the scourer on the final coat.

This is the starboard hull after stripping.

You can see that the two-part polyurethane primer that I applied to the faired keel fillets is not affected by the stripper.

I worked downwards. This is the port keel and fillet after stripping.

And here is the port side of the bottom fully stripped.

I left the transom masked off to avoid staining what will be a revarnished surface, like this.

Here the transom has been partly stripped.

And finally here is the fully stripped transom.

Lastly I washed and scrubbed the hull to remove any traces of stripper, and sanded it smooth with a P220 grit.

All  ready for marking up. Again!