"Jeff" wrote in message
. ..
Its time for me to pick a bottom paint for the coming season. I've
used Micron and Micron Extra for the last 7 years, but the price has
gone up to $225/gal. The boat is in Boston, and I'm planning to go to
the Vineyard early in the summer, and then hopefully spend a month in
Maine. But use after Labor Day will be limited.

Last year I didn't bother with fresh paint; I figured it was time to
ablate off some of the build up. It was probably worth it, but this
was the first Fall that I had any barnacles on the bottom. (The year
before I used paint bought cheap when a Boat/US shut down, so its been
a long time since I payed "retail," hence the sticker shock!)

The helpful folks at West suggested the house brand CPP, which is made
by Petit. It turns out there's a sale in a few days, and the deal on
CPP will be a $35 rebate on a $115 gal. With a $10 coupon, that
brings it to $70, much more tolerable, especially since I need two
gallons. Regular Micron will be on sale at $175, still pretty pricey
for me.

So my question is, is CPP a reasonable choice for my short season?
Does anyone have another favorite that can be put over Micron? Also,
is there a biocide that I can add to CPP to give some "anti-slime"
protection?


It doesn't seem sensible to me to use a self-polishing paint if your
boat sits a great deal. Self-polishing only works when the vessel is
underway and at speeds faster than the average sailboat. Micron Extra is
an excellent motor boat paint because of the self-polishing qualities.

For boats that sit a lot like yours you should remove all the Micron
Extra and replace it with something hard and scrubable like Petit
Trinidad SR. Saving a few dollars on cheaper paint is no bargain. Buy
the premium stuff and you won't regret it.

On my Allied Seawind 32, I applied four gallons of Blue Trinidad SR
which has 70% copper loading plus biocide for slime. I also added
tri-butyl tin in the form of closet paint additive that kills mold. The
paint is still going strong against barnacles after four years but the
slime resistance is about gone. I have to scrub it with a stiff brush
every couple of months to keep it in tip-top shape. But, even with all
the scrubbing, it has not worn thin. I go over it with wet-dry
sandpaper - very fine - semi-annually and that seems to expose extra
copper and refreshes the biocide properties.

The four gallons ended up giving me about eight coats in the high wear
areas like around the bow/bootstripe on down three feet/rudder/propeller
aperture and four coats everyplace else. Try it, you'll like it.

Wilbur Hubbard