Barrier coating

[Dan Arsenault]

Has anyone had any experience with Interlux's Inter Protect? I'm going to put a barrier coat on our 37.5 and would like to hear of other's experiences.Thanks,Dan on Serendipity Too

 

[Mark]

Interprotect 2000

As far as I can tell it is working just fine on our Hunter 30. It is a little bit of a pain to put on though. If you read the directions yuu will realize you have to put on successive coats during a certain time window depending on the temp outside. If you blow the time window you have to sand the last coat to provide tooth for the next coat. We were able to install all the coats in one weekend, but it took some thoughtful planning (No rain or too much dew) and ensuring the batch didn't cook off on us. After 5 - 6 coats the last coat is your bottom paint. That too has a time window which to install. I'm glad I did it just for the peace of mind. Thorough planning, weather window, right tempatures, free weekend, have other things to do on the boat when waiting for your next time window, you should have no problem.Best of LuckMark Whitson S/V Tequila

 

[Dan Arsenault]

Thanks Mark,

I knew I had to keep it all going once I got started, like doing West System, thanks for the advice. I'm still undecided about bottom paint, we mostly use VC 17 here but I was thinking about trying something else as we get a pretty good slime buildup by seasons end. I'm concerned about build up and subsequent removal at a later date. Any Thoughts? By the way how was your finish, smooth, rough or in between?Thanks, Dan on Serendipity Too

 

[Mark]

Dan, Not as smooth as VC 17

Dan, I use Pettit ACP-50 (one of the top rated by Practical Sailor) I like it because it IS ablative. As I mentioned before, my first coat after the barrier coat is my signal coat (red). My subsequent coats are blue. The only time I paint is when I start seeing red, which means a new coatabout every two years. (since it sloughs off, no build up) Now, every year I do hit the leading edges and water line since that gets the most abuse/water action. As for slime, fairly little if any (on the Chesapeake) but I do swim the bottom once or twice during the summer if the jelly fish are not out yet.As for smoothness, it is certainly no VC17 (I crew on a J-105 which uses VC17 which is almost baby butt smooth). I'd say it is about average in roughness when compared to other boats I see on the hard. But, I think some of that is because I wasn't too careful when I put on the barrier coat. Also another good thing about ACP-50 is that it doesn't loose any of its effectiveness when out of the water. Some coatings have to get wet soon after they are painted to remain effective.Hope that helps,Mark