How much bottom paint on your Seafarer?

glacierbaze

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I have a 2000 Seafarer, which has never been bottom painted. A neighbor, cleaning out his garage, just gave me a full quart of Pettit odyssey HD in black, so that is a $100 head start. Paint was bought this year. Comments on the prep, paint, and the quantity needed?
 

Ky Grady

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Why would you paint it?? Does it sit in the water long term? If it's a trailer boat, no need to paint it. Love a clean look for the bottom of trailer boats.

20220702_201108.jpg
 
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glacierbaze

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I like the look also, and I’ve never painted a boat bottom. But, I retired in March, spend more time at my house at the coast, and the boat stays in the slip longer. Taking it out after eight days tomorrow, and with this warm water, I am a little apprehensive about what I will be faced with.
I wish the guy had given me a quart of white bottom paint to start with. I have seen it, but really have not done any research.
 

nuclear

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I like the look also, and I’ve never painted a boat bottom. But, I retired in March, spend more time at my house at the coast, and the boat stays in the slip longer. Taking it out after eight days tomorrow, and with this warm water, I am a little apprehensive about what I will be faced with.
I wish the guy had given me a quart of white bottom paint to start with. I have seen it, but really have not done any research.
From what I understand the white paint doesn't necessarily stay white and will start to yellow.
 

Sauza45

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I would wait and see what the bottom looks like when you pull the boat. I understand the benefits of bottom paint but after
having a boat with bottom paint I would never do that again unless it's the last resort.
 

seasick

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See how it looks and go from there. If you don't have a lot of growth, you will be better off not painting. If your boat is used in fresh waters, having bottom paint makes other folks think it came from a salt water environment and that may affect its perceived value.
If you need to paint note that a quart is not going to go very far.
First step is to power wash the bottom. Go to the Pettit web site and read the instructions. Your hull should not be painted if it hasn't been prepped. That means cleaning off any wax which I am sure you have and possibly a light sanding or the application of an appropriate primer to allow the bottom paint to stick. Otherwise, you new bottom paint may flake and peel
 

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I have very limited experience with bottom painting boats, although all of my boats have had bottom paint on them when I purchased them. I don’t mind the look of the bottom paint on my current boat, or at least it’s grown on me, but I like the look of a boat that hasn’t been bottom painted much better. I do think that bottom paint can be very useful when you moor your boat for months on end, and mine has been in the water on our mooring buoy for just under 2 months now. Of which, it’s just now starting to get some gunk above the waterline and above where the bottom paint line is. I believe my boat had brand new bottom paint on it when I bought it from the dealer last October, which is nice that it seems to be working pretty well, although I don’t imagine most people leave their boats in the saltwater year round, or for 3-4 months at a time, though I could be wrong.

I have however, seen boats that weren’t bottom painted that looked like they’d been in a marina or on a mooring buoy for months or more at a time and the hull looked like it was turning a brown/orange color from the amount of growth in the water. Hopefully that can be removed and it doesn’t cause any permanent discoloration of the hull, but it did look pretty gnarly. I also noticed when I bought my boat from the dealer I purchased it from that they had a sheet for “current bottom paint pricing” of which my boat I believe it said it was around $800 to do so. I’m sure it’s a bit more money for doing it the first time as I’m sure there’s a bit more prep work and details that you have to go over, but for less than $1k to have it done, I likely wouldn’t even consider trying to do it myself, especially if they do a nice job, use quality materials and can get it done in a week or two. I’m sure I could probably figure it out, but I’ve never tried it before, and for the hassle as well as lack of experience, I’d leave it up to those that do it for a living and will make it look much nicer than I likely ever could, especially for not too terribly much money in the process.
 

seasick

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Bottom painting prices can vary a lot. Paint can range from $75 a gallon to over $300 a gallon. Prepping an unpainted hull is not super expensive unless you want it barrier coated and then painted with anti-fouling.
Last time I priced sanding, barrier coating and two coats of antifouling paint (decent but not premium variety), the cost was $95 a foot. I am sure it is higher now since everything is more expensive especially copper and most bottom paints use copper compounds to deter growth.
 

Mustang65fbk

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Bottom painting prices can vary a lot. Paint can range from $75 a gallon to over $300 a gallon. Prepping an unpainted hull is not super expensive unless you want it barrier coated and then painted with anti-fouling.
Last time I priced sanding, barrier coating and two coats of antifouling paint (decent but not premium variety), the cost was $95 a foot. I am sure it is higher now since everything is more expensive especially copper and most bottom paints use copper compounds to deter growth.
Well... this place charges $15.50/foot for one coat of base paint or $24.50/foot for two coats of base paint, but that's for a boat that's already had bottom paint applied to it before. Per their website "Never Painted Before (includes dewax, sand, prime, and two coats of base paint): $34.50/ft.*" which would be obviously $10 more per foot in price for a single coat than you'd be paying for a boat that had already been painted before. And almost $20 more per foot for a single coat of paint on a boat that had already been painted before. So yes, it can make for a very big difference in price on a boat that's been painted before vs one that hasn't been. For your 228 Seafarer at 22' you'd be looking at around $759 before potentially upgrading to better paint. Of which also on their website they say "*Includes base yard paint. Additional charge for upgraded paint. Yard recommends Interlux Aqua-One® water-based antifouling at $95.00/gal. upcharge. If boat is on a trailer, add $2.00/ft. (discounted rate) to lift off trailer and reload after painting." Also, per Google, 3 coats of paint on a boat that's 25'-30' or less will require a maximum of around 2 gallons of paint, less for your 22' boat, but you'd be at around $759 before tax, depending on if your boat is on a trailer or if you wanted to upgrade to better paint and so forth. If you did you want to upgrade to the better paint, which is $95/gal, at 2 gallons of paint you'd spend an extra $190, which would bring your total price up to around $949 before tax. I'm not sure exactly what you'd be paying regarding sales tax, Google says it's anywhere between 7%-8.875% which will add a max of around $84 to the $949 before tax figure. Which is right around $1,033... and again as stated above, unless you want the project or to try and do it yourself... I think for that price, or you could probably even find a place to do it for less, that it's a no brainer to have it done for you because are you mentioned... you could spend probably close to half of that just in materials alone before you even factor your time/labor into the equation. Just my opinion of course... as always, good luck!

 
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Sauza45

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I am not sure but unless you keep the boat in the water all the time the bottom paint looses its anti-fouling properties.
 

seasick

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I am not sure but unless you keep the boat in the water all the time the bottom paint looses its anti-fouling properties.
You make a very good point.
It depends on the particular paint. Pettit Hydrocoat for example, a water based ablative can stay out of the water for long periods without compromising its antifouling.
Other paints may need to be 're-activated' after layups. Some require a light sanding or scrubbing with a Scotch Brite pad. Some paints also have to be launched within a specific timeframe after their application. It is important to check the product details.
 

glacierbaze

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Had a rainy Monday morning, so I was able to tie the boat up on the marina ramp undisturbed for 4 hours. Using scotch bright green pads, on a 4 foot Swiffer mop type sanding stick, and a 5 inch plastic taping knife, I was able to scrub and scrape 97% of the grit and barnacles off. At 73, I'm too old for that crap, plus a week of yard work, and I am feeling it! I knew I should be taking it out every 3 days and pressure washing, but I let it go. It was like very rough sand paper, nothing sharp.
 
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Mustang65fbk

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Had a rainy Monday morning, so I was able to tie the boat up on the marina ramp undisturbed for 4 hours. Using scotch bright green pads, on a 4 foot Swiffer mop type sanding stick, and a 5 inch plastic taping knife, I was able to scrub and scrape 97% of the grit and barnacles off. At 73, I'm too old for that crap, plus a week of yard work, and I am feeling it! I knew I should be taking it out every 3 days and pressure washing, but I let it go. It was like very rough sand paper, nothing sharp.
I don't blame you... even at 36 if I've been underneath the mustang working for hours on end, I definitely feel it later on that night as well as the next day. Here's a couple of places varying on pricing starting at around $27/ft on up, and even a couple of places that charge by the hour... which I think would be the better option and probably cheaper. My old man is going to be 73 in a couple of months and yeah, I wouldn't want him to do that kind of a project on his own.