Cracked paint

[CJStokes]

I am a poor DIY-er, who knows very little about boat construction, about to embark on a general freshening-up of Aquarius this winter - she is a 1976 35' mahogony-ply flybridge made by Piantoni of Italy. In the 5 years we have owned her I have had all work done by various yards but for reasons beyond my control, have neglected her for last couple. I will have a few questions over the coming months but will start with these very basic ones.
1)I had the hull painted blue 4 years ago and a crack has appeared in the hull paintwork vertically down from below the cabin to the waterline on one side only. Why? Water does not enter the hull through that point.

2)How often should a hull be taken back to the (West-System covered) wood and painted from scratch?

Many thanks for helping out a novice !!!

[Bob Adams]

I suspect you have found the end of one of the plywood panel with that vertical crack.Probably just cosmetic. As far as when to repaint, I've never used a schedule for topside painting, when it starts to show its age, scuff and recoat.You don't need to strip the paint unless it's losing it's adhesion and starting to come off.

[CJStokes]

Just wondering if there is anyway to prevent the crack from happening again if I repaint the hull this winter ?

[JimD]

Originally posted by CJStokes:
Just wondering if there is anyway to prevent the crack from happening again if I repaint the hull this winter ?If its a plywood joint and you can access it from the inside take a good look at the joint between the ply panels and go from there