42ft Cruiser — Full Antifoul Strip Without Gelcoat Damage
Twelve years of layered antifoul stripped off a Beneteau cruiser hull in 3 days, back to the original epoxy barrier coat. Zero gelcoat scoring.
Twelve years of layered antifoul stripped off a Beneteau cruiser hull in 3 days, back to the original epoxy barrier coat. Zero gelcoat scoring.
The brief
A typical brief in this category: twelve years and seven re-coats of antifoul have built up a textured, cracked surface on the underwater hull of a Beneteau Oceanis 42. The hull is due for a full strip-back ahead of fresh barrier coat and antifoul. Sandblasting is on the table but risks gelcoat damage. Chemical strippers are often prohibited at the marina due to water-quality concerns.
Dry ice runs over 3 days on hardstand at the slipway — non-abrasive, no chemical run-off, full flake-capture for compliant disposal.
The work
The hull was 38 feet of underwater area with antifoul layers ranging from 0.8mm to 1.4mm thick, depending on how the build-up had crested over the years. Layered cracking made the antifoul brittle — easier to remove than freshly-applied paint, but more prone to flaking large pieces.
Day 1. Setup, containment, and the starboard side waterline-down. Full ground-sheeting under the hull captured antifoul flake for proper disposal — marina compliance requires zero water-borne flake. Pressure tuned at around 100-110 PSI to cleanly break the antifoul layers without disturbing the underlying epoxy barrier coat.
Day 2. Port side and the underside. We worked from waterline down to the keel, stepping section by section. The keel itself required a tighter pattern — antifoul builds up thicker in the keel cavity and the curvature meant slower coverage.
Day 3. Bow, stern, transom, and final cleanup. Hand-detail of areas around through-hull fittings and the prop shaft. Ground-sheet flake collected and bagged for disposal.
The result
In this scenario, the hull comes back to a clean epoxy barrier coat finish in three days. No gelcoat scoring — the shipwright’s close inspection is the verification step. Osmotic blistering, if present, becomes visible at this point too.
Marina compliance is the secondary win — zero flake into water, with a disposal certificate provided as part of the handover pack. Most marina water-quality bylaws prohibit chemical stripping and tightly regulate sandblasting run-off; dry ice clears both constraints.
From here the yacht goes straight into fresh barrier coat application and a new antifoul system without delays for chemical washoff or air-drying.
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About this scenario. Dry Ice Blasters launched in 2026. This piece illustrates how a typical antifoul stripping job runs — drawn from industry-standard work patterns, our team's prior operator experience and equipment specs. Process, scope and outcomes reflect what you can expect when you book us. Be our first published customer and we'll document your job with permission.