Painting the Boat

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AlanH
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Painting the Boat

Post by AlanH »

I think our 2006 has been in the Florida sun since it was new and our gelcoat is beginning to wear through on the hull and front of the flybridge. I am thinking about having it painted this year.

Has anyone had there boat painted? If so any information you can provide about the yard that did it (if in Florida), type of paint, satisfaction with the job, problems, recommendations, etc. would be much appreciated. My brain says have it sprayed but there is a 75’ Lazzara near us that has been professionally rolled and tipped that looks amazing. Any thoughts on that? We live in Palm Coast but are willing to travel for the right paint job.

By the way, I did look at wraps. They are about 1/3 the price of paint and the job can be done much quicker but they will not hold up long on a Florida boat in the sun. Maybe 2-4 years.

Thanks,
Alan
Alan Hendry
Catbo
2006 34' Hull #81
75hp engines
Spoff4
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Re: Painting the Boat

Post by Spoff4 »

Our 2005 is in similar need.
FYI- In 2017 we received an estimate from a painter in Tampa/St Pete that came highly recommended by one of my partners who had his trawler painted. $8000 for the topsides (fair imperfections, prime and paint white, and new non-skid). $12,000 to re-paint the hulls light blue. (A 34' cat is the "equivalent" of a 68' boat, so not cheap.)

We did not pull the trigger in 2017, but will probably do something in early 2020.
On your coast, you might reach out to American Custom Yacht on the river by I-95(?). They did some work on Tampa Girl in 2012 that we were happy with and they work on very nice boats.

Happy to compare any notes/thoughts as we go through the process.
-George
George and Anita, Paul and Susan
Tampa Girl
MV 34 Hull #60
Tampa, Fl
AlanH
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Re: Painting the Boat

Post by AlanH »

George,

Thanks for the reply. I spent the last couple days going over the boat and think I am going to focus on the topsides for now and may even narrow it to the outer parts of the flybridge. I am going to begin talking to places including your suggestion. I will update when I decided something.

Alan
Alan Hendry
Catbo
2006 34' Hull #81
75hp engines
AlanH
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Re: Painting the Boat

Post by AlanH »

We did get the boat painted and decided to do everything on the exterior. I do mean everything. If it had gelcoat it got painted. The hull, the deck with new non-skid and paint and the flybridge inside and out as well as new bottom paint and Propspeed on the running gear. We looked at a bunch of places online and based on reviews narrowed the list to three places. We met with each and then they came to our house to look the boat over and work up estimates. We ultimately decided on Huckins Yacht in Jacksonville. We brought the boat home a couple of weeks ago and it really looks great. The boat has been to three marinas since we picked it up and two of the three dock hands admired the "beautiful" boat. One asked if it was new.

Huckins used Alexseal paint. One of the places we considered was going to use Awlgrip and the third place was willing to use Awlgrip or Alexseal. We painted it the same colors as it came from PDQ. They removed some hardware but not all. They did a lot of sanding and used between 5 and 7 coats of primer on different parts of the boat. The new stripes and boat name are not paint not stickers. PDQ used stickers. The one exception is "PDQ Yachts" is a sticker. The boat looks just like it did when it left PDQ. Maintenance Should be easier as they say to clean the boat and then wax it with just wax. Not a cleaner wax, just wax. Huckins estimated 5-6 weeks and it was there for 9. We told them we were in no hurry and just wanted it done right. I went up there once a week and there was always from one to three people working on it.

We are very happy with the outcome. The boat looks great. Of course, we will have to see how it holds up over the long term. But based on our experience at this point, I would highly recommend Huckins. I know the big question everyone has is, how much did it cost. It was right at $37,500. Definitely not cheap but we are satisfied that it was money well spent.

Alan
Alan Hendry
Catbo
2006 34' Hull #81
75hp engines
Rivetman
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Re: Painting the Boat

Post by Rivetman »

We had ours painted over the winter, too. What a terrific job done by Pier1000 in St Joseph MI.

They used Awlgrip and the color is Polar White. Cost was a bit higher than Catbo but in the ballpark.
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Craig & Sue Wiker
MV34 Hull #59
Last Arrow
St Joseph, MI
Thing 1 Thing 2
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Re: Painting the Boat

Post by Thing 1 Thing 2 »

River Forest in Stuart gave me an "approximate quote" for painting our 2005 a few weeks ago. $32,500 for the entire boat, including nonskid, roll and tip.
AlanH
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Re: Painting the Boat

Post by AlanH »

I considered roll and tip at first. It was going to be quite a bit less than 32K, in fact about half. I am certainly not a paint expert but the research I did led me to the conclusion that a roll and tip job would not last nearly as long as a spray job with Alexseal or Awlgrip. There is a boat near us that had a roll and tip job a couple years ago and it looks very nice. The painter that did it gave me a price but said it won't last more than about seven years.

Alan
Alan Hendry
Catbo
2006 34' Hull #81
75hp engines
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