Does anyone know of a hard anti-fouling paint suitable for use in the Great Lakes. I have previously used VC17 and Micron CSC but these are both ablative paints and, as I discovered last summer, frequent scrubbing of the bottom removes most of the anti fouling. Mine was pretty much gone by the beginning of August. I am wondering if a hard (ie non ablative) anti-fouling would address this issue.
Anti Fouling help
- Thread starter djplatt
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I'm not familiar with these two bottom paints but years ago when I first decided to bottom paint my boat I bought some ablative bottom paint from WM and applied it. By August of that year, my hull developed a thick mat of soft marine growth that was causing my boat to move very slow in the water. I took her into a shallow cove and dove under her numerous times with a 10" putty knife and got rid of it.
In the fall of that year I pulled her out of the water and brought her home to clean and sand the hull. I ordered a gallon of Super Shipbottom ablative bottom paint in the spring and I decided to remove my centerboard and clean out the keel slot, check the pivot pin, and apply bottom paint to everything.
I've been using SSB for years and have never had a problem with it.
http://www.supershipbottom.com/PAINT SPECS.htm
This paint contains 62.5% copper. It can be applied to bare fiberglass and most bottom paints, and it only requires one coat.
I never have a need to scrub the bottom of my hull and I keep my boat moored in saltwater.
You don't want to scrub ablative paint. Ablative bottom paint is designed to wear off as it goes through the water. So you'll need to coat a strip of the waterline plus all leading edges with the paint and your boat is good to go. Find out if it's OK to use this paint in your area on the lakes where you sail.
I ordered my paint a couple of weeks ago and just received it in the mail last week. If you only need one gallon, they will ship it US Postal Service and you pay for the shipping cost. If you order more than one gallon and it goes by UPS, they charge a $20 hazardous waste fee on top of the shipping.
I'll have enough bottom paint left over to spot paint my hull next year where needed. A few of our YC members use this paint and they are very satisfied with it.
Joe
The gallon of SSB blue ablative paint that I bought wound up costing me $165. The break down price for me was $139 plus $26 for shipping.
Some guys like to use one color and change to a different color a year or two later. Then as the paint wears off if they see traces of the previous color it's an indication that it's time to repaint the bottom again. I don't ascribe to this kind of thinking, myself. As the paint wears off, you can tell real easy just by looking at it.
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