Bottom paint

[Hookster57]

I bought my Marlin a year ago and had its virgin bottom painted. The boat docks on a tidal creek with a lot of flow. I pulled the boat out today and the bottom was loaded with growth and barnacles. They pressure washed most of it off and scraped most of the barnacles off. The guy recommended I paint it again. He showed me some spots wearing thin and pointed out I needed to to dress the transom and epoxy the engine horns. Wants to use hard Mercury paint. Do you chaps think I need it or can I wait till next year? I was quoted $1200. Hows that sound?

Thanx

 

[Fishtales]

Hi,
I would talk with others who keep their boat where you keep yours. There are different paint formulas out there and one may be better suited for your particular environment. Personally, I wouldn't use a hard paint. Most hard paints lose their effectiveness if out of the water a few weeks at a time. You would basically have to repaint every year. Ablative paints can be used year to year. Most get 2-3 seasons out of each painting. Get the right ablative paint for your area and you will be better off.

If you can do it yourself why not? Tape the water line, knock off and sand areas with growth and apply 2 coats of paint. All you need is some disposable gloves, a cheap coverall, old baseball hat and a wood working shield hat. You can do it in a few hours.

 

[cgmiller]

That sounds like a lot to pay for something that is relatively easy to do. You are down in Florida so yours would be considered "extreme fouling" as the little bastids are always there and trying to get a foot hold on something. You are going to need 1 gallon of paint to get at least 2 coats and that may be stretching it. To do it right, buy 2 gallons of ablative paint and paint it all on. Buy some interlux 333 for painting the engine brackets and any part of the engines touching the water while she is docked. You are probably also going to have to brush the bottom from time to time as the slime is still going to grow if you dont move the boat every few days. The high flow canal/creek she is moored in is actually more conducive to bottom growth than a slow or slack moving water..more nutrients and oxygen for the growth. I put 2 coats of paint on my Gulfstream and painted the engines last weekend in about 2 hours....and..did not cover myself in paint....which is unusual..good luck!

 

[Hookster57]

Good info. But I'm confused. The guys here say to use hard paint on " fast boats" and ablative on sail boats.

 

[Perry]

yes, if you are looking for speed and keep your boat in the water then a hard paint is better. If you are fishing/cruising then an ablative is the way to go. You need to use the boat for the ablative to work. If let sitting, it too will foul. Run the boat to keep the bottom clean.

 

[cgmiller]

Hookster,

Hard paint is just that. You paint it on and it cures and creates a layer of paint on the hull and those layers build up over time and usually start to chip off when you are trying to paint on the next layer. The poison in the paint leaches out and kills off what trys to grow on it until the paint is exhausted, usually 1 season. Ablative paint slowly washes off over time and exposes more new paint over time. A very fast boat will wash all the paint off and leave nothing to protect the hull. A normal fishing boat is fine, but in order for it to work, the boat has to be used to "wash" off an old layer and expose more new paint. Divers stay busy down there cleaning boat bottoms that dont move, but if you have an agressive diver, he will scrub off too much paint and do more harm than good. You guys dont use lifts down there because you do not like to get your boats wet..it is because the marine fouling is intense and stuff grows all the time. We get a break up here in the ne when the water cools down, it shuts or at least slows down the barnacles, etc.

The benefit of ablative paint is that is does not build up in layers like the conventional hard paint does. Those layers have to be scraped off from time to time.

 

[Marty grady 272]

If you want a fast boat, then buy a fast boat. A 30 Marlin is a big heavy moderately quick fishing boat. Hard bottom paint won't make it any faster, but over time the build up of heavy hard paint will make it slower. Ablative paint erodes away with time and use. One major caution with ablative bottom paint such as Hydrocoat is not to have the bottom pressure washed until you are ready to repaint as the pressure washer will blast off muck of the paint that would most likely last for a 2nd year.

 

[Grog]

Being honest, the hard paint didn't do much for you. Yes it will have less drag but barnacles you got using it will have more drag than the ablative paint ever will. The marinas will push non-ablative paint so they have a customer every year plus for guys who don't care about costs, the hard comes in many more colors. If you put different color ablative paint over the hard, you can tell when it's worn out. For a price reference it's $10/ft + paint cost to paint a boat in NJ.

 

[seasick]

Not all ablatives need to be 'run' to stay effective. There are paints that work equally well at rest as at speed.
Interlux makes one type that falls into that category. Those paints are rather expensive.Note that barnacles are tough to remove and I would advise against waiting another season if barnacle growth is already an issue. Removing the barnacle residue is labor intensive and may require acid and/or heavy sanding.

The price for painting depends on what prep needs to be done ( and if the yard is going to do it) and the brand of bottom paint used. You get what you pay for but as is often the case, you can pay a lot more than you should.