GL: Bottom Paint Stripping

[Ron Rogers]

Baking Soda blasting started to be used on boat bottoms in around 2003. A 
firm in Texas (and now others) came up with a type of baking soda whose 
crystals had enough "edge" to cut bottom paint. They sold it with a truck 
mounted rig. I first saw it done in Annapolis and then got a closeup view of 
a Marine Major who had bought a rig to do this in his retirement.

He was working on a GB 46 and he could gently remove paint a layer at a 
time. However, when he hit some cosmetic blisters, the gelcoat did come off 
leaving dime-sized craters.

So, as gentle as it is, you can abrade gelcoat if you are not careful. When 
he encountered paint that would not come off easily, he skipped it rather 
than rough-up the gelcoat.

Ron Rogers