"Dave" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 01 Aug 2006 16:25:52 GMT, "Maxprop"
wrote:

I like
the ablatives because they don't lose effectiveness out of water and they
don't build up.

Just to refine that a little: If you can believe the manufacturers'
propaganda the older ablative paints are good for just one season
unless you go over them with something like a scotch pad to remove
oxidation before you drop them in, whereas the newer copolymer
ablatives are true multiseason--just drop the boat in so long as
there's still paint on the bottom. My experience tends to bear out the
first part of that statement. Haven't had the copolymer ablative on
before this season, however, so I can't address the second part.

I've never used the older-type ablatives of which you speak, rather only the
copolymer paints. On my current boat I started with two coats of red
Interlux Micron CSC followed by two more coats of blue. As the blue
ablates, the red begins to show up. When the red is apparent in over 50% of
the surface area, I recoat with two coats of blue. This is generally a
two-year cycle, and I suspect it could be stretched to three if an extra
coat of blue were used.

Max