Hobie Hull repair/repaint

Hi, my Hobie 14's hulls are in desperate need of some attention. I have looked through a bunch of posts on here about repairing and painting and have found many different ideas. Some of these are great, and some aren't so helpful to me due to my lack of sailing terminology and repair experience. Here is what I would like to do. I would appreciate any detailed advice (so an amatuer can understand ) if anyone has the time.

My hulls have never been redone to my knowledge. There are several areas along the sides of them where they have been damaged by rubbing against rocks (thanks to an insecure beaching and a storm). These worn spots were filled with an epoxy that seems to keep water out just fine but it looks terrible because of the yellowish color on white hulls. Also, the epoxy wasn't applied in the neatest fashion, there are globs of it on my hulls...can I sand this down? What should I use to fill any other worn spots or dings?

I want to smooth out my hulls and then repaint them. What would the best paint and sanding/painting procedure be? Can I buy this paint locally? What should I do different for the tops (blue part) of my hulls?


Please forgive my lack of experience here and thanks in advance for any thoughts or advice.

I am the new owner of a Hobie 16 that needs re-painting. I'll tell you what I've learned about painting and hopefully someone else can help us both.

Painting: use epoxy to even out voids and fill cracks - sand too smooth, use a good primer and a good top coat. Interlux makes all of these products and has some good info on their website concerning sanding and time between coats (and prepping/cleaning the hulls - very important). The two-part polyester paint is highly recommended for both hulls and topsides. If you are leaving your boat in the water for the season, you might consider using an antifouling paint (although I have never seen this on a cat).

You can buy the paint on the net or a local boat store. Getting advice from the store is hit or miss, the best bet is to talk to someone that has done it.

I purchased a few books about painting, and a few pamplets from West Marine. I doubt I could cover all of that material in a forum post.

My Paint Problem: My boat has been painted once, very poorly. I need to strip it or sand it. My question is, can I just epoxy/prime/paint right over the current paint job? I have materials from West System Epoxy and Interlux Paints, but neither talks about painting over paint. I would love to just orbital sand the paint globs and bubbles down too smooth, then go over it with a few coats.

If the old paint turns out to be of poor quality, can I just barrier coat both hulls with two part epoxy then paint over?

Also, I have some cracking around the forward post/pylons. The cracking is in the current paint job, so I assume it is structural. Can I epoxy theses cracks? I would assume laying some fiberglass inside the hull would work, but that would be hard. I was thinking of putting a 5 inch inspection port right in front of each pylon, could I glass the underside of the pylon by reaching in the port?

The starboard hull looks like it has a flat top, starting at 1 inch wide at the bow to about 6 inches wide at the front pylon. Should the hulls be curved on the decks? I haven't seen a Hobie up close before, so I am wondering if the older boats had flat spots or if this could be a repair.

Any suggestions would be greatly appriciated.

_________________
Jonnyboy
New Hobie 16 Owner