"Frogwatch" wrote in message
...
Perreta's thread about bottom painting got me wanting to rant on the
subject. My 28' boat is in a severe fouling area here in N. FL and
facilities for hauling are distant. Consequently, getting multi-year
anti-fouling is very important.
Over the years, I have found that surface prep is very important and
most people you pay to do the job do not do this. Sanding with 80
grit to roughen the old paint is necessary for the hard paints like
Trinidad. For multi-year use, ablative paints just do not work here.
Multiple coats are absolutely necessary to get maximum copper. I buy
a gallon and a quart and use the entire amount on my 28' boat.
3 years is about the maximum time I can go before the paint stops
working well although after two I have to occassionally scrub near the
bow.
I'd like to pay someone to do the bottom job but my sad experience is
that nobody does it my way and I have been unhappy with everybody
elses work. Worse, even finding a place to get her hauled is
difficult around here. There is one sorta-travel lift in very
questionable condition about 6 miles away that is rarely operable and
another 40 miles away that works about 50% of the time. So, getting
bottom jobs done is difficult making long times between hauling
necessary for me.



Trinidad SR is great stuff but getting quite expensive. Last time I hauled
was six years ago and the boat's been in the water in south Florida the
entire time. I added tributyl tin to the paint to give it some extra potency
and it lasted quite well for about three years. It's still acceptable after
six years though it's got to the point where it's wearing thin and gone
completely in a couple of areas around the LWL.

I used two gallons which resulted in about eight coats from LWL down about
two feet and four coats everyplace else except 10-12 coats on the rudder and
bows shearwater areas. The potency is not what it was during the first
couple years but it still stops barnacles from growing but the slime and
other odd growth needs to be scrubbed off with a scrub brush about once a
month now.

I figure I've saved about four thousand dollars on haul outs over that
period of time. The bottom line is the fewer haul outs you can get away with
the better. The more paint you put on at one time the better.

Wilbur Hubbard