I don't know about taking off the VC17 - do any of the chemical removers work on
it?

I've used Micron for the last 12 years and have never sanded if off. When you
think its getting thick, you just skip a year, painting only the waterline and
leading/trailing edges. I alternate colors so its easy to tell where its worn.
The Micron worked pretty well on our trip, which included FL; We started with 3
coats and after a year we hauled for a quick clean (actually we hauled to do the
zincs etc.) and there was only moderate growth.


"katysails" wrote in message
...
On both O'Day's and on Chanteuse we've always used VC 17 every other year for
bottom paint and have never had much af a problem with build up, even when
moored last year, which really surprised me. A lot of boats on the moorings had
garden's growing around their waterlines where we didn't (but then, we sailed
and a lot of them just sat there). Now that we're fairly certain we'll be
moving this summer to the Gulf Coast of Florida, we have to change our regimen
to accomodate salt water. At present, we have two coats of VC 17 over the new
bottom. We asked at Torresen's and they recommended using Interlux Micron
anti-fouling paint but that we would have to sand off the VC17 (quite lethal
stuff) They quoted 2600.00 plus the cost of the paint to do it. When we go
down in April, we're going to get quotes from yards threr, too. Just how nasty
would sanding off 2 coats of VC17 be? Is Interlux Micron as thin as VC 17 or is
it a thicker paint? How many coats of Interlux can you put on before having to
resand? We'll probably be usiing the boat for live aboard the first year we're
there, so it will be sitting in a marina rather than on a mooring...seems most
of the marinas are on the river with flowing water rather than still. Will this
make a difference in the growth factor?

--
katysails
s/v Chanteuse
Kirie Elite 32
http://katysails.tripod.com

"Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax
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