To bottom paint or not to bottom paint this is the question

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J

JC

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I will have the boat in and out of a slip through the fishing season. The bottom will be exposed to saltwater at intervals of 7 days then trailered and power washed. Does the hull require bottom paint even with this short exposure?

Any thoughts?
 
I'm assuming you are in Jersey...there was a father and son who I met a couple years ago that had an older 25 ft Robalo (70's) without bottom paint at my marina on the Del Bay. He would keep it in for 7-10 days at a time. They would just take it out and powerwash and scrub and that seemed to work for them. I was personally very surprised but i saw it first hand. I imagine late July, August might require shorter duration in the water before you scrub.
 
Jim, did they pull the boat out solely for the purpose of cleaning it? Or did they take it out in order to trailer it somewhere else? I guess it's one of those thinkgs where it might be easier to keep something off the hull (gowth), than keep it on (paint). Interesting approach. But man, that's almost every single weekend, rain or shine.
 
Jersey Jim - The father and son rarely used the boat...seemed to be more of a transient slip approach. So, with that being said...they would drop the boat in during vacations or a week or two when they would be able to actually use it...then pull it back out to clean it up and store it on the trailer until the next round. But they did not have a problem with hard growth, just slime. If JC is going to do the same, might be an option. Would not work for me! I'm 90 miles away from the marina. But I was surprised that they did not have a problem. And this was their approach since owning the boat (70's Robablo).
 
I would recommend against bottom painting your boat if the most it will be in the water is 7-10 days in a row.

Aside from the (considerable) expense, most typical ablative bottom paints are applied with a roller. This will leave a relatively rough bottom surface which will slow the boat down 1-3 MPH at WOT. Also the added drag will slightly hurt fuel economy.

My 2310 was purchased used and came bottom-painted. I wish it wasn't. Once its been properly bottom painted you are kinda stuck with it. I have looked into removing it but the consensus seems to be that it would be more trouble than it's worth.

FWIW, bottom paint loses its anti-growth properties if the boat is kept in dry storage. It is designed to be continuously wet to maintain these properties.
 
Hey Baja dude,

Is this true with all bottom paint, or is there any that retains it's properties when in storage? This is a bummer to find out, since I have a nice fresh coast of paint and it's been in storage since the coat was put on.... ouch!

How hard is it to remove bottom paint? Does it stain the hull or do you have to repaint the hull to cover up the old lines?
 
There is an alternative to bottom paint. It is a wax that incorporates an organo-tin biocide. I have been searching for the product with no success.

jpg1969 your observation gives me encouragement to try a season without the paint. On a trailered boat the bottom paint is quickly damaged with rollers and bunks.
 
In FL waters there is no need to bottom paint for 7 day exposure. I do it on a regular basis when we go to the Keys and wash with a pole brush and boat soap....no issues.
 
ablative paint does not lose its effectiveness when out of water....

I would keep mine both in and out of the water for two years between
paintings..
 
JC,
I found this reference to a tin based antifouling wax called "Aqua-Tek".

Aqua-Tek, American Chemical Corp., 1115 Hamilton Court, Menlo Park, CA 94025.
 
JC,
Another point to ponder, if you bottom paint and don't like it you'll have to soda blast to remove it.
If you don't paint, and find too much growth you can still paint.
If you don't paint, and find little to no growth, you have saved some $$, time and have a nice clean bottom.
 
fishbaybridge said:
ablative paint does not lose its effectiveness when out of water....

He is correct Ablative is the way to go. Put one heavy coat on to start and I'm usually good for 3 years with a liitle touch up in the spring. I'm in a slip in the Upper Chesapeake where it's not to salty.

Anthony
Click to expand...
 
TonyAmalfitano":2wv8upca said:
JC,
Another point to ponder, if you bottom paint and don't like it you'll have to soda blast to remove it.
If you don't paint, and find too much growth you can still paint.
If you don't paint, and find little to no growth, you have saved some $$, time and have a nice clean bottom.
Click to expand...

Tony....You have made a good point.
 
7-10 days shouldnt be a problem, especially if you're running it during those days. Marine growth likes still waters, running it will help clean the hull. Any more than 10 days and your giving way to baby barnacles and not just slime.
 
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