Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
On Fri, 10 Sep 2004 02:54:15 GMT, "Phil DiVincenti"
wrote:

When I bought my new 30 ft express cruiser and after sea trail I had bottom
anti foul paint applied.

It seems that the performance including top end is different. Is it my
imagination or will bottom paint actually make a difference.

I now have a lift and keep my boat out of the water. If I thought there is
a difference is it pratical to remove the bottom coating. Wasn't the bottom
sanded prior to application? so will I have a less than smooth bottom?

Any comments appreciated.

Good question and here is an answer for you.

The bottom of my 20 foot Ranger is painted - no barrier coat. It
performs about the same as it did when the bottom wasn't painted.

However, my plans changed when another boat came up that the deal was
just too good on, so now the Ranger has it's bottom painted, but it
spends it's time on the trailer.

The best estimate I received on the bottom paint removal (soda blast,
smooth, compound and wax) was $3,500 for a 20 foot boat. And that was
from a friend. The highest was $5,800. That was in the CT/MA/RI
area.

Add about 30/40% to that price for your Express Cruiser.

Later,

Tom


I really dislike bottom painting on smaller boats, which is one of the
reasons why I prefer storing them on trailers or on racks. The painting
does involve a performance hit, plus boats age more quickly when they
are kept in the water.

There's a couple guys at the small boat marina where I keep our Parker
who have slips with boat lifts installed. This seems a reasonable
compromise, in that the boat is just abvout ready to go, but it isn't
sitting in the water. Maintenance is a lot easier, and so is
electrolysis prevention. But, of course, you pay a premium for the
lift...about the same price as an annual bottom painting, actually.

Off on the Pax River's creeks, you see lots of very large boats...40
footers and larger...on lifts.




--
Not dead, in jail, or a slave? Thank a liberal!
And don't forget to pay your taxes so the rich don't have to!