paintwork

Various bits of my boat are being repainted after repairs, and on flatting down an undercoat the finish was really nice and smooth, much better than the rest of the boat which has strange little bobbles in it. Is it worth flatting down the rest of the hull to get a better finish, or should it be left shiny but slightly bobbly, given that a full repaint is not on the agenda?

64799 "Dolphin"

I would suggest flatting down the whole hull to get an even finish, the boat will have less drag. I would suspect the bobbling could have been caused by paint being applied with a roller and leaving either a surface texture or micro bubbles.

After all the work you have done would it not be better to give the whole hull a fresh coat of paint? I certainly would and I know I would be happier knowing I had the best finished and looking boat on the water.

Roger
59725

The paint was applied with a brush, we think there may have been something in the paint as there's been a similar problem with the paint over the repairs. I know at some point the hull will need repainting, but the boat's been off the water for two months now and I'd quite like to sail it for a change! How much difference to drag will the little bobbles make, given that they're probably from tiny specks of dust?

64799 "Dolphin"

If it were my boat, to be sailed my own none-too-competent-self, I would take the view that time spent on the water practicing will have much more effect on boat speed than fine tuning the hydrodynamics of the boundary layer by sanding and repainting. So I'd leave repainting until forced off the water again by winter/repairs/injury or other adverse circumstances.
If, however, practise has made you nearly perfect, then maybe it is time for that special polish.

pigs might.....

Yes, I came to the same conclusion, the state of the paintwork is the least of my problems<img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>I'm having a go with some Tcut and it will do very nicely. Thanks for all the advice!

64799 "Dolphin"