Good morning, My
Catalina 36 is 20 years old and sailed on the upper
Mississippi River where
winter temperatures easily go to minus 25 - 30 F. Due to my boat's age and
boat bottom condition after
haul out, I am considering maybe having the
boat bottom soda blasted (or prepped with
paint stripper) during the cold
winter months. By having this done during cold months, then when warm May temperatures arrive I would
paint a few layers of
epoxy barrier coat followed by VC17 or similar. The boat is stored outside and has an excellent winter cover that goes down to waterline stripe. Should I have any concerns about the boat bottom being exposed to the cold after being soda blasted or paint striped? For example, soda blasting / paint stripper would be applied on a warm winter day any time December to March at 40 F or higher. Boat bottom has had multiple layers of VC 17 and I feel it is time to get the boat soda blasted, bottom re sealed with an
epoxy barrier coat followed by VC 17. This
work would be done
on the hard. Boat would be sitting 3 - 5 months out side exposed to minimal moisture and very cold (minus 30 F is probable).
Alternatively would consider using a stripper. Anyone have experience using paint strippers in cold temperatures ? Should I be concerned about having a soda blasted or paint stripped "raw" boat bottom when boat is stored outside, and most of the winter snow getting deflected by my very excellent winter cover.
(I am sending this request to a few other sources of information such as
Catalina Yachts, Pettit Paints, Jamestown Distributors for their input). Please share your experiences on cold temperature boat bottom preparation where the raw boat bottom will be exposed to very cold winter temperatures.