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I bought a B20 last year, and I don't know whether it has a hard paint of an ablative on it. Its got a pretty good (bad) build-up on it, and when I scraped some loose stuff today, it seemed softer than a hard paint. What should I use--a hard or ablative? And no bottom job--I want to slap some paint on her and throw her in. I'm used to hard paints.

John,

You can put ablative paint over hard paint, but not hard paint over ablative...

When you rub your bare hand hard on the paint, the hard paint will only leave a trace on your hand, (due to oxidation of the paint in air), but the ablative will readily rub off onto your hand at about ten times the rate.

Br,

Patrick

Thanks Captain.

Thanks also. Good timing for this post. I am helping my sister in law get her 19 foot center counsul ready, and was not sure on the bottom paint. This answered my question as well.

Any known issues hard to hard (brand to brand compatibility.)? Not sure if I should worry about that.

Giff,

No problems between brands in terms of compatability...

Br,

Patrick

Thanks again.

Since we are on the subject of bottom paint, how long do you have to wait for the hull to dry after haul out to start prepping & painting. Obviously temperature an humidity play a part, but what is the general rule of thumb?

What about drying time between the final coat and splash. My boat spent the winter in the water. I was planning to haul it for a long weekend in June or July to do the bottom. I expect not to have to do much prep, though you never know. The goal would be to (hopefully) get the job done over a weekend.

I'm not sure about how long to let the hull dry i guess it depends on whether or not u have blisters that will hold extra water. Anyways as far as how long before relaunch it typically depends on what type of paint and what paint manufacturer you use. If you got an idea what you'll be using check out their website/ product info it'll tell u there.