gelcoat or bottom paint

[CHANCE1234]

in my post in this same category titled "Bottom paint removal" towards the end i asked the question, what is best to put on the botom once all the 40+ years of bottom paint have been removed. Now, since almost all the paint is removed (still gotta get it off the trailer and sand the roller areas) i'll ask the same question here. The boat will always be on the trailer. i have some open blisters and such that will be filled with Merton's Hull and deck Putty (poly). than they will be sanded flush. Option A would be to roll on a few coats of gelcoat and be done with it. Option B would be to apply interprotect than either signature finish or VC Performance Epoxy hard bottom paint. it would be the non ablative type as it will always stay on the trailer and never sit in the water over night. if i were to do gelcoat, i would not bring it back to showroom type condition this year due to time and money. I would simply roll on a few coats and work on shinning it up after this season. what are your opinions? Again, thank you for the help, as always.

Elijah

[fat2nawilly]

I would go with gel coat

[FishStretcher]

Me too. You can always paint OVER gel coat later if you want.

[Sullivan21]

Yea we went with gelcoat on the belly for same reasons mentioned above been happy with the look and function.