:: I know this is sacrilege, but I really think I'd sail my
:: boat more often if she lived in the water. Has anyone
:: painted a never-painted-before Express and put her in a
:: slip? We're talking saltwater, SF Bay here. What did you
:: use? Did you do an epoxy coat first? Am I crazy to do
:: this?

:: Larry Fisher

:: Express 27 #69 Gwendolyn

Larry:

I dry sail my Express in Monterey but used to keep an Olson 30 in the water. I faired the bottom and keel and then applied a two part epoxy base coat. I hired a auto painter as a side job and he sprayed the epoxy coat and it came out very smooth and I never had any blister problems ( Express 27's can get blisters inspite of what some will tell you, I know from personal experience). I then used an abating bottom paint which I also had sprayed on and I could normally stretch it for two seasons. The abating bottom paint seemed to work pretty well and I scrubbed it using a long brush and a bottom rig Wesr Marine sells before normal races and either dove or hired a diver before major races