Bottom paint, bugs swarming boat

[TheMcpeters]

Hi,

We are planning on putting a fresh coat of anti fouling on our new-to-us 1968 Cal 34. After sanding down the bottom we have started to notice small gnats swarming around the hull. Seems to be the worst in the morning but truthfully you can see them all over the hull throughout the day.



The boat is in a steel cradle and we have Interlux BottomKote Fiberglass NT, which has a quick drying time but I am still worried about bugs landing on the paint and ruining the application.

I’m not sure how much I can do at this point besides hope for the best. We don’t really have access to electrical and it’s in a moderately trafficked area (foot traffic).

Any tips would be appreciated. Would feel a lot better if others have successfully applied paint in a similar environment.

[siamese]

First thing that comes to mind to keep them off the bottom is a leaf blower. Assuming they can be blown along and/or away from the bottom, not into it.

[akopac]

Mosquito coils...

[glenn.225]

When I painted my hull topsides, there were millions of may flies. So I made a temporary curtain with very thin plastic drop cloth. It worked really well. Just a couple got in the paint, and I waited till the paint dried then buffed them out.

[AKA-None]

Originally Posted by glenn.225

When I painted my hull topsides, there were millions of may flies. So I made a temporary curtain with very thin plastic drop cloth. It worked really well. Just a couple got in the paint, and I waited till the paint dried then buffed them out.

You could use netting and at least get a little air inside
Also it doesn’t take much breeze to keep the little buggers away

[psk125]

If they get stuck in the paint won't they be underwater after the boat's launched? No one will notice, and it shouldn't make any difference in the paint's effectiveness.

[ttex]

I was thinking gnats on the bottom is a non problem.

You could also just set up box fans to keep the bugs off but then maybe the fans grab **** and throw it on the paint so that prob wont work.