I would love to do a color change on my boat, as of right now it is blue on the side and white at the bottom I would love to change it to one solid color (bottom and side) I know the white is in the gelcoat but as far as painting the bottom a solid color are there any other options besides ocean bottom paint that will hold up decent?

why would you want anything other then white on the bottom? Traditionally speaking color changes are from the hard chine up only, bottom always stays white. If you must paint, durability starts with prep. Most bottom finishes develop issues because they are not prepped well enough but keep in mind no paint finish is good for under water. Awlgrips pretty tough stuff as well as Imron, Concept and the like but none of them will handle rough use, trailer abrasion and floating debris as well as gel.

Dave speaks the truth. We've got a number of customers who (for various reasons) have had bottom paint applied to their hulls at our fresh water marina. Sure, all one needs is a pressure wash (no chemicals) to get the marine growth off at the end of the season. But once you apply bottom paint correctly, there's pretty much no going back. And figure you'll need it re-applied every 2-3 years. Oh, and it won't hold up to either roller or bunk type trailers, the color choices are pretty limited and from a cosmetic standpoint, it's ugly as hell. Hope that helps.

I wasn't looking to put the the bottom paint on that they use for salt water but I'm wondering about using either a base coat clean coat or using the roll on interlux paint. I just like the way it looks when the boat is one solid color. Or what if you do a base coat and clear gel coat over it?

Talk to glassdave. He's the absolute master around here.

do you have the ability to get the boat up in the air a bit off the trailer? couple things to keep in mind, prep is everything here . . . prep prep prep. When you think your done sanding . . . your half way there I wouldn't use a base clear anything, if you must paint the bottom use Imron or Concept or something like that or you could roll an tip Awlgrip out of simplicity but again i cant stress enough prep prep prep.

I still cant stress enough, in standard practice, painting the bottom of a boat is a mistake.

I had my bottom paint soda blasted $650 then I sanded the entire hull with 80 until it was as white as snow everywhere, then I filled in every nick and scratch with 3m under water filler then had the bottom sprayed with interlux VC epoxy with teflon. Its not meant for in water but up here our season is short and its fresh water. I keep it scrubbed when at the sand bar. So far its been quite good. I have no idea if it was the right way to go but then again I'm a rookie that had to rust the boat paint shop.

I had my Fountain bottom painted with epoxy below waterline 11 years ago and it spends a good chunk of the summer at a dock. There is no sign of paint failure.

Not hijacking, but didn't somebody use a roller to paint the underside of a boat a while back? They then wet sanded it and it looked pretty slick.

Would you mind posting what type of paint, how applied and any other particulars that might help others decide what path to go? I have a 1963 17' Hydrodyne that I re-cored, need to decide what to do with the bottom. Going to start a new thread here. I know it is not an offshore boat, but I trust the feedback here of people quite a bit.

Brian