Best Bottom Paint-Florida Keys

Terry in Naples · Aug 24, 2012

Best bottom paint S Florida

Here in Naples the best results are from Micron 66. ( I think interlux) I get 3+ years out of it. Far better than anything else and I have tried. this is also recommended by the Yard I use.

jrowan · Aug 25, 2012

Capt. Ron lives on Florida so I would definitley trust his advice as well.
We use Petit Trinidad which has a super high cuprious oxide/copper content
but its expensive, & probably will soon be made illegal. Trinidad has lasted me up to 3 years fighting off slime & barnacles in brackish southern water. But I have a tendency to sell my boats right around the time they need to be hauled out for a new bottom job, lol.
I'd rather put the bottom work into the next boat. Both Micron & Trinidad work fine. I'd buy what you can get for the best price. But don't expect standard bottom paint from W. Marine to last more then a season in Florida. To me what extends bottom life is getting a good diver in at the beginning & middle of the sailing season to clean her up. Although isn't sailing season year round in Florida? Jealous.

heritage · Aug 25, 2012

I put Copper Shield on last year and it is still working well. Doesn't ablate that much when I clean the bottom. Practical Sailor had positive comments about it in their tests. Best of all, it is comparatively inexpensive.

http://www.ipaint.us/coshhagafuse.html

gettinthere · Aug 25, 2012

Heritige...in the fl keys?

fstbttms · Aug 25, 2012

jrowan said:
Petit Trinidad which has a super high cuprious oxide/copper content... probably will soon be made illegal.

Love to know what you base that opinion upon.

jrowan said:
To me what extends bottom life is getting a good diver in at the beginning & middle of the sailing season to clean her up.

+1

The secret to maximizing the lifespan of any anti fouling paint is to clean it gently. To ensure gentle cleaning, it must never be allowed to become even moderately foul. If you can't see the color of the paint underneath the slime, you've waited too long.

BTW- Pettit Trinidad is the best all-around anti fouling paint available, IMHO. Interlux Micron 66 also excellent.

Joe · Aug 25, 2012

fstbttms said:
Love to know what you base that opinion upon.

Heh, heh...... around here, in somewhat cooler water than florida, wiping, not scrubbing, the bottom every 3-4 weeks by a trustworthy diver will save you a lot of money in the long run...

fstbttms · Aug 25, 2012

Joe said:
Heh, heh...... around here, in somewhat cooler water than florida, wiping, not scrubbing, the bottom every 3-4 weeks by a trustworthy diver will save you a lot of money in the long run...

I thought I just said that. :dance:

Terry in Naples · Aug 26, 2012

As i read the entire thread and the recommendations i can only speak for me and 25 plus yrs of bottom painting in sw florida. I tried all those others. Tried pettit, west marine and other cheaper alternatives as well. Interlux micron 66 was and is by FAR the best here. Boat sits in backyard on a canal, no regular diver scraping and still get 3 plus years. I do occasionally put on the diving mask, plug in the hooka and scrape the shaft, prop and around the waterline. I would think your location in key west is similar. Good luck, most of the better paints do a pretty good job but i think they are temperature and lovcation specific.

Anonymous 121765 · Aug 27, 2012

Guys,

I agree with JR & Terry on Pettit Trinidad & Interlux 66.
Personally, I have not used 66, but other owners tell me it's about the same in longevity as the Pettit brand.

It's a shame we cannot use the European paints here. I will let you guys know if I can find a way to smuggle it in.

I will be doing mine this winter so right now I am doing fact finding on the newer paints. Those that are water based etc. When I get enough info, I'll start a thread for discussing the pros & cons.......

CR

jrowan · Aug 27, 2012

fstbttms said:
Love to know what you base that opinion upon.

+1

The secret to maximizing the lifespan of any anti fouling paint is to clean it gently. To ensure gentle cleaning, it must never be allowed to become even moderately foul. If you can't see the color of the paint underneath the slime, you've waited too long.

BTW- Pettit Trinidad is the best all-around anti fouling paint available, IMHO. Interlux Micron 66 also excellent.

I base that opinion on the fact that California, Oregon & I believe that Washington state are all in the process of banning copper based ablative bottom paints. If you don't believe me then look it up in any issue of Boat US printed in the last 3 years. It may take longer in Florida though, but in the end the manufactures will all follow suit & stop making it all together. Wait & see in the next 5 years, it will likely disappear from store shelves. Interlux & Pettit have been pushing for "greener " alternative paints for the past 10 years. I personally like Pettit Trinidad & if it saves me from hauling out & scraping junk all over the shore line in a bottom job less often I think that this has its own environmental benefits.

fstbttms · Aug 27, 2012

jrowan said:
I base that opinion on the fact that California, Oregon & I believe that Washington state are all in the process of banning copper based ablative bottom paints.

Well, you clearly haven't followed events regarding SB 623 (the legislation that was to have banned copper in anti fouling paints in California) which is currently, for all intents and purposes, dead. Not saying that someday, copper may fall by the wayside, but soon and nationwide? I wouldn't hold my breath. If they can kill a ban in California, they can kill it anywhere.

jrowan · Aug 27, 2012

I thought that they were intending to still allow copper paint for big commercial boats (that already come into their waters from China Inc.) but were intending to ban it for recreational boaters. Even though the commercial vessels do all the polluting (by discharging Zebra mussels from asian boats from their bilge water in the Great Lakes, etc,) but they always stick the environmental regulations on the lil guy. Can't blame zebra mussels, asian carp, & all the other nasty asian bourne algae & crap brought in on a Catalina 30.

fstbttms · Aug 27, 2012

jrowan said:
...they always stick the environmental regulations on the lil guy.

You don't understand the issue. The reason recreational boaters contribute a signifcant percentage of the copper that comes from anti fouling paints is because recreational boats congregate in marinas, often numbering many thousands of boats in a relatively small, often poorly flushed basins, where they spend the very great majority of their lives leaching copper into the water 24/7/365. This is not the case with commercial shipping. Further, discharges from commercial shipping are already controlled under federal regulations, not at the state level.

jrowan said:
Can't blame zebra mussels, asian carp, & all the other nasty asian bourne algae & crap brought in on a Catalina 30.

Of course you can. And many invasive species are transported by pleasure craft. Trailerable boats are especially liable to transport mollusks like quagga and zebra mussels. In the Bay Area, the asian kelp Undaria is being moved from marina to marina by pleasure craft.

jrowan · Sep 3, 2012

I think I understand these issues just fine. If the feds did such a great job of controlling discharge from commercial vessels then why do we have all of these invasive asian species? Do you really think that Asian Carp & zebra mussels originated from the bilge of a boat like a Catalina 30? That is ridiculous. Sorry but that is crap, and you're full of it if you believe that. Invasive species such as asian carp & zebra mussles originated from the hulls & bilges of COMMERCIAL tankers bringing in all their plastic junk from China Inc. & oil tankers. The environmental footprint of a sailboat is almost non existent compared to commercial tankers, commerical fisherman, oil driling, & refineries. Punishing recreational boaters for this is a drop in the bucket. As a a diver you're also a contributing factor to the acceleration of copper botom paint leeching into out waters, every time you scrape one of our hulls. If you're so concerned for the environment maybe you should quit your job.

fstbttms · Sep 3, 2012

jrowan said:
Do you really think that Asian Carp & zebra mussels originated from the bilge of a boat like a Catalina 30? That is ridiculous. Sorry but that is crap, and you're full of it if you believe that.

Invasive species can be, and are, transported by pleasure craft. Are they responsible for every species or even the majority of them? Of course not. But pleasure craft do contribute. Just as in-water hull cleaning activities contribute to copper loading in marinas. Does that mean we should not use pleasure craft or should eliminate in-water hull cleaning? Of course not. But these are issues that you and I as boaters and marine maintenance professionals can do something about and try to reduce as much as possible. Just because there are other, larger sources of invasive species and water pollution doesn't mean we should ignore the part we play in it.

Jack - La Paz Mx · Sep 3, 2012

We have been using Interlux Ultra Kote (76% Copper) on our Cat 30 since 1995. The bottom has been repainted 3 times. This in the quite warm waters in La Paz, Mexico. A diver cleans the bottom monthly. The boat has only been out of the water for those repaintings. Interlux Ultra Kote at 76% copper is no longer produced by Interlux and not available anymore. Lesser copper-loaded paints are. Contacts with the company get a simple answer that it is no longer produced. Costly, yes...but so is a haul out. So we are paying attention to a replacement paint in a few years. Our diver, who works the four marinas in La Paz, says that the Ultra Kote is the best of all the paints he works with for longevity.

Bob4203 · Sep 3, 2012

I lived aboard a Coronado 35 sloop in St. Augustine, Florida back in the mid-80's at Comache Cove marina. Back then St. Augustine in the winter was not a tourist destination and I got to know many local fisherman including shrimpers who gave away there secrets to long life bottom growth repellents. Many claimed that those red pepper flakes which you sprinkle on pizza's and suchl were successful in "burping" off the barnacles when placed in a mortar/pestle and ground down to a fine powder and added to any bottom paint. Added years to clean boat bottom life. I tired this back in the copper paint days and I have to say the bottom of our boat stayed cleaner longer. Not an old wife's tale, but you should research for yourself. Just an additive that seemed to work.

Interesting.................

Bob

fstbttms · Sep 3, 2012

Bob4203 said:
Many claimed that those red pepper flakes which you sprinkle on pizza's and suchl were successful in "burping" off the barnacles when placed in a mortar/pestle and ground down to a fine powder and added to any bottom paint. Added years to clean boat bottom life. I tired this back in the copper paint days and I have to say the bottom of our boat stayed cleaner longer. Not an old wife's tale, but you should research for yourself. Just an additive that seemed to work.

That's the oldest one in the book. Have never seen it work in real life. If improving your anti fouling paint's performance was as easy as adding some ground pepper, everybody would be doing it. But nobody does.

jrowan · Sep 4, 2012

Well I've never hear of the pepper flakes before - that's orginal! But I beleieve that everyone has the right to post their advice, and we should all keep an open mind to new ideas. Otherwise we will keep repeating the same mistakes. That's why I post here to help others with the experiences that I have been through as a sailor, so that others can benefit & not have to repeat costly mistakes. I like to see this forum remain light hearted & cordial, so I don't want it to become a finger pointing session. You may be a pro diver & have a lot of experience with bottom paints, obviously, but let everyone have their say without being overly criticized. Cheers.