Gale Force Blasting Marine Services

Gale Force Blasting offers mobile service throughout the Mid-Atlantic & Florida. We specialize in marine paint removal. Contact us today to see how we can help with your project.

With a wide range of abrasive media at our disposal and years of experience in this field, Gale Force Blasting can effectively remove all traces of antifouling and leave the surface clean and ready for the application of coatings.

Many boat owners let the marina/shipyard decide on cleaning and repainting boat bottoms simply because there haven't been many options to choose from. Conventional methods, such as scraping and excessive sanding, might be damaging to the hull and ruins the protective gel coat. 

Once the gel coat is damaged, water can get between it and the fiberglass. It then begins to cause blisters, fractures, and lamination of the gelcoat. The original gel coat is smooth in texture and serves as a protective barrier of the underlying fiberglass. A quick coat of bottom paint and the owner is totally unaware of the condition of his hull because of the cosmetic effect of the fresh paint.

Most boat bottoms have never been completely stripped simply because it is costly and very labor-intensive using conventional methods. So bottom paint has been applied year after year. After a point all that is left is layered coats of peeling paint covering the gelcoat—not such a pretty sight, but most important the hull integrity is diminished and the loss of boat operating performance due to a rough bottom surface and the added weight of water that has been wicked into the paint & fiberglass.

Blasting can open the blisters in the gel coat, as well as strip the paint so that the gel coat can be inspected and treated.

Removing the bottom paint with blasting will support and sustain good hull integrity while improving performance in speed for sailing and motor craft with lower fuel cost.

BLASTING MEDIA

The soda blasting media is bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) and is non-toxic, 100% water soluble, and environmentally safe. It can be used to remove unwanted paint, rust, and more without damaging the underlying surface.

Blasting uses compressed air to propel the media (wet or dry) onto the surface area. As the media hits, the bicarbonate of soda particles explode. This burst of energy disrupts the surface stripping the contaminates. Blasting can be performed at pressures ranging from 40psi to 120psi depending on the paint coating and the desired finish of the substrate. 

WHY GALE FORCE?

Our process effectively removes all old paint applications and varnishes from all areas above and below the waterline. This is ideally suited for renovation work to leave a perfect surface for application of coatings. Gale Force Blasting can provide advice based on our experience to assist you with making the right choice when it comes to choosing your coatings.

Gale Force Blasting has successfully removed the coatings from a 13' Whaler, legendary custom Carolina sport fish boats, to aluminum hull yachts over 100'.

View our boat gallery here and contact us about your boat today.