Looks the same as my boat, where the paint has flaked off. In my case it's the epoxy barrier coat, applied when my boat blistered and had the gelcoat peeled. If that's what it is, you to NOT want to sand that, as it might ruin the barrier coat. Once covered with a coat of bottom paint, you won't notice it a bit. Or at least that was my experience.

Fortunately for me, the bottom blistered the first year ('98) and Catalina covered it 100% under warranty. My C30 blistered in the 5th year, so they only covered 20%. Both had epoxy barrier coats applied after peeling and they both looked exactly like yours does.

I too am a new boat owner, and I just had my bottom painted for the first time. The first thing those guys said when they hauled my boat out was "get yourself a new diver." They discovered what I had discovered only days earlier. Namely, my diver wasn't cleaning some of the hard to reach areas. However I wasn't sure if stuff just grew differently in those areas. For instance, my keel plowed into some mud a couple of times (the first time was during sea trials while my broker was driving!). So the bottom paint was partially gone at the front portion of the bottom of the keel. Here barnacles were growing. But the guys at the yard said they wouldn't be nearly as far along as they were if my diver was doing his job properly. The other thing we noticed was a small "blister" in the hull. I told them that I thought blisters didn't happen on fiberglass hulls after a certain date because of new technology. The guy at the boat yard laughed and said blisters happen all the time on fiberglass hulls no matter when they are made. I didn't have the blister fixed, because in that instance the boat was already painted by the time I noticed it. The guy in charge at the boatyard said it was no big deal, so I let it be this time around. I subsequently read up on blisters on the Internet, and what I came away with is that fixing blisters is a hit or miss affair, and that just because you "fix" a blister doesn't mean it's fixed. It might look fixed, but the underlying cause may still be there, and that said blister could very well redevelop in the exact same spot. So it would appear that blister repair is nowhere near an exact science and only time will tell if it is fixed or not. As for how to smooth your hull, I can't help you there. I only relate my own experience because we are both new boat owners and may have the same questions and/or knowledge gaps.

All the best on your new adventure!--Joel S.

I take it that you guys have hard bottom paint as up in in Wa it is illegal to dive and clean the bottom on other paints. I do my own diving and paint my bottom. Were the paint has come off like you boat with hard paint use 80 grit on a orbital sander and sand and feather in . This will help the pain from chipping off . Use 2 coats this time and you should have a nice even surface

I am far from expert on this subject, but many of us in our area use a hard paint and it needs to be sanded off before it gets too thick. I am told that if you let too many layers build up, the paint becomes like an inflexible shell and can crack off in large pieces. You bottom looks like mine has in the past.

I did what Bill suggested and feathered it all with the 80 grit vacuum orbital sander and repainted. I am not looking for a racing slick hull, so it works for me.

Bob,
One of the first steps you should do is to wash the waterline with acid to get the brown/green growth off. Some boatyards do this for you at haulout. Yours didn't. The area between the bottom paint and molded-in blue waterline is actually white! I've used Mary-Kate On & Off. Use eye protection, rubber gloves, an old sponge, and LOTS of water to flush off. Do 10' sections at a time and only let it sit for a minute or so. The old bottom paint will get streaked, but who cares. I agree with the other suggestions about sanding and feathering in the bare spots. An acetone wash with clean rags for the bare spots will help, too. Good luck with the new boat. You will LOVE it!

[QUOTE=TomSoko;20939]Bob,
The area between the bottom paint and molded-in blue waterline is actually white! [/QUOTE]
After several seasons of cleaning that annoying white stripe at each haulout (and never really getting it to look nice), I followed the advice of a neighboring C36-er and just extended the (blue) bottom paint up to the bottom edge of the blue waterline, as he had on his. A whole lot easier, no one else will notice its absence besides me, and I can learn to obsess about something else instead!

I wound up doing as Matthew cited many years ago. It detracts slightly from what (in a perfect world) is a better look with the white stripe showing. BUT, as Matthew points out, for many of us, it is impossible to keep clean as our waterline has risen over the years with added weight.

[QUOTE=deising;20941]I wound up doing as Matthew cited many years ago. It detracts slightly from what (in a perfect world) is a better look with the white stripe showing. BUT, as Matthew points out, for many of us, it is impossible to keep clean as our waterline has risen over the years with added weight.[/QUOTE]

To say nothing of our waistlines.

I used spotless stainless this fall which completely removed the brown stains. I tried this at the recommendation of the spotless stainless rep at the Annapolis boat show this fall. I've tried various fiberglass cleaners in the past, and none completely removed the brown stains.

I increased my waterline up to the halfway mark of the blue vinyl stripe.

[QUOTE=JAS;20926]So the bottom paint was partially gone at the front portion of the bottom of the keel. Here barnacles were growing. But the guys at the yard said they wouldn't be nearly as far along as they were if my diver was doing his job properly. [/QUOTE]

If I had a dollar for every bullshit opinion that I heard come out of a boatyard worker's mouth about what fouling should, or should not, be taking place on a given boat bottom, I wouldn't have to clean boat bottoms anymore. :rolleyes: How do they know how fast the barnacles should grow on your keel? Are they in the water looking at boat bottoms every day? Are they experts on fouling rates? No, my friend, they are not. Boatyard personnel are experts at applying anti fouling paint because that's what they do every day. They are not experts at the in-water maintenance of that paint however, because they have never done it. An unpainted underwater surface in a Southern California marina is going to gather 3-dimensional fouling growth so fast you can almost watch it grow.

Don't take everything the yard says as gospel. It's not.

Hey Fastbottoms, can't argue with you, as I know far less than you or the guy at the boatyard. But I have to tell you, the rest of the boat was clean, but the barnacles under the keel were quit thick, and there were these hard, crisscrossing, tube-like structures growing on the rest of the underside of the keel. It alarmed me when I first saw it, and my alarm was confirmed a few days later (or so I thought) by the boatyard. Hard to believe barnacles (or whatever that was I was looking at) could grow that fast in a week or two. But then again, what do I know...I'm pretty new to the whole boat ownership thing. That said, I definitely agree that STUFF GROWS FAST DOWN THERE IN THE SUMMER!

Any opinion on how often the bottom should be cleaned in the SoCal area in the winter?

Thanks for your reply--JS

[QUOTE=JAS;20952]But I have to tell you, the rest of the boat was clean, but the barnacles under the keel were quit thick, and there were these hard, crisscrossing, tube-like structures growing on the rest of the underside of the keel. It alarmed me when I first saw it, and my alarm was confirmed a few days later (or so I thought) by the boatyard. Hard to believe barnacles (or whatever that was I was looking at) could grow that fast in a week or two. But then again, what do I know...I'm pretty new to the whole boat ownership thing. That said, I definitely agree that STUFF GROWS FAST DOWN THERE IN THE SUMMER! [/QUOTE]

The tube-like structures were South China Sea Coral Worm. Very prevalent in SoCal. They will cover anything not painted in a big hurry all year long. This is why I urge you not to fire your diver out of hand. In all likelyhood he is doing a good job. But the boatyard personnel are talking out of their asses, because they don't have a clue about the reality of the fouling progression.

[QUOTE=JAS;20952]
Any opinion on how often the bottom should be cleaned in the SoCal area in the winter?[/QUOTE]

I think every four weeks in the winter is typical in Newport. Every three weeks in the summer.