Removing Old Paint

[pbob42]

Give me advice on how to remove thick old paint from the hull of a Boston Whaler boat.

BACKSTORY
Recently I bought a 1983 15-footer in southern California. The boat is not a SPORT model. There is no railing around the driver seat. There is no back support for the driver seat.

The seller was 87-years-old, and in 2013 he painted the deck and topsides. The paint is thick. At the corners and edges the paint condition is rough. Under the paint the gel coat layer has spider cracks throughout. The seller said the boat was a work boat, and it had no top covering the gunwales. The seller also thought that the fiberglass was heavier [than something unspecified].

The deck and topsides need the paint to be redone. I would like to do this work in the winter of 2025-2026.

I plan to remove the wood [components] and refinish them

[Moderator's note: a survey question asking what readers held knowledge of the various models of the 15-foot hull has been removed. Please do not ask survey questions about reader's knowledge. Please read

POSTING GUIDELINES
https://continuouswave.com/forum/viewto ... ?f=1&t=848

If you want information on the various models of the 15-foot hull, please read the REFERENCE article about that model at

The 15-foot Hull
https://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/15/

If you have specific questions, please ask them, but do not pose questions that inquire about reader's knowledge of a particular subject.]

[jimh]

Give me advice on how to remove old paint from the hull of a Boston Whaler boat.

There are two general approaches to removed existing paint: chemical or abrasive. Neither is particularly easy and both risk harm to the underlying gel coat layer.

Under the paint the gel coat layer has spider cracks throughout.

If a hull has extensive spider cracking, repair of individual spider cracks will be difficult and tedious. The general approach is to plan to apply a new top coat layer for the entire area. Please see

Repair of Extensive Spider Cracks
https://continuouswave.com/forum/viewto ... =6&t=10055

You have a 42-year-old small Boston Whaler boat that was apparently not particularly well preserved and has been awkwardly painted over. Restoration of the hull to its original gel coat appearance will unlikely to be easy or successful.