Advice for bottom painting

[poet1971]

Hi Guys,

Last year I moored my boat for a month and a half. This year I'm going to Moore if again, so I figure I had better get the bottom done. But this is new to me. Can anyone make a recommendation on where to have it done, what I should have done, how long it takes, and roughly what if will cost. I have a 17 ft Arima that has never been bottom painted before. Pointers, tips, anything will help. Thanks for the help.

See you out there!

 

[Hookin'up]

Did you get much build up last year in that month and a half?
if not I would leave it as is, you will see much better resale value with no bottom paint if and when you go to sell it,
and once you apply it you will always be every year or so.
if your not full time moored I wouldnt bother

 

[Peahead]

X2 .... if you can avoid it - avoid it! I wish I could !
Month and half isn't that long and if you are using the boat regularly during that time I wouldn't think too bad. Also I think the growth is worse in the spring and directly under the boat where sun can't get at it you get less growth. If you could pull it out once during the six weeks and and do a quick power wash and pop back in again 30 min you are way better off.
I think profisher on the forum here had a thread/post about this. As I recall he moors in spring/summer and not in winter and doesn't use antifoul but just Pwr washes a few times during summer. Hes out guiding regularly so that much use and the build up of seaweed is limited.

If you do use antifoul I'd suggest doing proper barrier coats first then use ablative antifoul. The ablative is stays active after long periods out of the water where as the non-ablative stuff loses its activity if left only a few days on the hard so needs a new coat before going in water again. Ablative can also work two years or more without recoat where as with non-ablative its every season.

 

[profisher]

Do not paint it. Way less work and expense to pull it out for a couple of hours after 3-4 weeks and give it a cleaning. At the same time grease your engines pivot points, brush off the zincs and change any 4 stroke oil and filters then pop it back in.

 

[poet1971]

Thank you guys. That is exactly what I needed to hear. Profisher, I do the oils and filter every 100 hours and the plugs and fuel line filter every 200 hours. I bought the motor new in 2013 (a 90 Yamaha) and want to keep it in prime shape. I will follow your advice on the pull and clean method rather than bottom paint. I have it in the water now (plan on leaving it in until Coho aware done) but if I pressure wash it 4 or 5 times in that period, I should be OK. Any thoughts on waxing? What is the best way to restore a gel coat? Any recommendations of who to do it?

 

[profisher]

Just make sure you haul out no longer than 4 weeks or barni's will start to adhere to the hull. I use a garden sprayer to spray bleach on the hull first then just use a wand at the car wash to finish the cleaning. The bleach will dissolve the green stuff and all you are really doing at the car wash is rinsing off the bleach and any left over grime. Do the polishing yourself. I bought one of the 7 inch Simonize power polishers at Can Tire for about $80.00 and use Auto Glym Fine Cut for the polish. Fine Cut is now hard to get and I think Can Tire carries ultra fine,,,which I've not tried. I use Starbrite Marine wax/polish with teflon as my finish top coat.

 

[Sir Reel]

There is a bottom wax you can use. Suppose to eliminate growth for a few months.

https://www.auroramarine.com/store/vs721-bottom-coat.html

I have used this bottom cleaner and it works amazing.
http://www.spraynine.ca/product/boat-bottom-cleaner-26

i think even of you just wax the bottom it will make cleaning easier.

 

[poet1971]

Awesome. Thanks guys.

 

[profisher]

Any caustic hull cleaner will remove the yellowing that develops over time when a boat is moored. However this cleaner will also remove the natural wax that your gelcoat has from new. The effect is that the yellowing just comes back faster the more you use the cleaner and strip of this wax. You also have to weigh the inconvenience of applying any wax to the hull (working upside down in tight quarters around trailer parts) and the real benefit of doing so to a part of the boat you can't see once in the water.