Bottom Paint and Oil Spill

[sailaway78]

When I pulled the boat to do the rudder work, I was very disappointed in the bottom paint. There were a lot of barnacles, and the paint had been on there less than two years. Barnacles were all very small, like they had just started attaching. While sanding it I found that the paint is soft from about 8" or so below the waterline on down. Not gummy, but soft enough that it clumps up on a sanding disc. So, I'm thinking that there was something wrong with the paint, as I finished up the last bottom job by adding one extra coat at the water line, out of a new bucket, and that area seemed to be fine. Made sense to me. So, this morning I called Petit. Talked to the rep for this area. I wasn't asking for any kind of warranty, just wanted to know if there was something I did, or if they had had a paint problem. Didn't take long, and he had it nailed down. Oil in the water causes the paint to turn almost rubbery. While I didn't see any oil in the water coming back, apparently there is some oil below the surface, which the rep also told me is to be expected. Then he informed me to keep all my receipts, as there is an upcoming class action lawsuit, which apparently is going to happen very quickly, for those who have lost bottom paint. So I now have a financial dog in this hunt. While honestly I do not expect to ever see a nickel from it, will be interesting to see how this will all come out. Have never been part of a class action suit before.

 

[woodster]

When I pulled the boat to do the rudder work, I was very disappointed in the bottom paint. There were a lot of barnacles, and the paint had been on there less than two years. Barnacles were all very small, like they had just started attaching. While sanding it I found that the paint is soft from about 8" or so below the waterline on down. Not gummy, but soft enough that it clumps up on a sanding disc. So, I'm thinking that there was something wrong with the paint, as I finished up the last bottom job by adding one extra coat at the water line, out of a new bucket, and that area seemed to be fine. Made sense to me. So, this morning I called Petit. Talked to the rep for this area. I wasn't asking for any kind of warranty, just wanted to know if there was something I did, or if they had had a paint problem. Didn't take long, and he had it nailed down. Oil in the water causes the paint to turn almost rubbery. While I didn't see any oil in the water coming back, apparently there is some oil below the surface, which the rep also told me is to be expected. Then he informed me to keep all my receipts, as there is an upcoming class action lawsuit, which apparently is going to happen very quickly, for those who have lost bottom paint. So I now have a financial dog in this hunt. While honestly I do not expect to ever see a nickel from it, will be interesting to see how this will all come out. Have never been part of a class action suit before.

lol just dont sit by the phone and wait for your ship to come in it may start fast but it will take a long time for the results to come in regards

woody

 

[BobM]

You are at the end of a L-O-N-G line my friend...and by the time they get to you and pro-rate your paint life you will be lucky to get a free roller cover out of it.

 

[Don12364]

Information gleaned from the Chief Chemist of an antifouling paint manufacturer very many years ago is that most antifouling coatings have a rubber base and that they are always soluble in their own thinners.
I use this myself by not cleaning the brushes after use and simply immersing them in thinners the night before the next job. I simply tie them in a polythene bag and pour in a little thinners. Next morning they are perfectly usable.
Anyway it seems very probable that your paint would have been affected by an oil slick, but one would have expected the waterline and boot topping to be the most affected.

 

[sailaway78]

I don't expect a dime

I really don't expect to gain a dime from this fiasco, and sure not holding my breath. If it ever comes, will probably after I have long departed this earth. Just going to go ahead and do the bottom and get the boat back in the water. As far as having more effect on the waterline and boot stripe, that is what I would have thought. I have no visible oil anywhere on the boat. Just a lot of barnacles that shouldn't be there, and Trinidad that is soft, from six or eight inches below the water line, on down. The barnacles are all very small, so apparently hasn't been long since they started to attach. It's been approx two months since we started back and were way offshore. The rep told me this morning that I was more than likely in some submerged oil mixed with the dispersant they are using.

 

[tommays]

In my bad Perfection adventure about the last thing they wanted to do was admit fault with the product to the point that even when given lot numbers they swore up and down it was a good lot of paint

About the time i tryed the 5th can with the field guy and the only thing that would work was older paint with the same number as first can the recall became MUCH bigger and moved to THREE of the white colors

I

 

[BobM]

I finally has some sucess with Toyota and NHTSA after being on the Channel 5 news a few times. Ultimately they recalled 110,000 2000-2001 Tundras for rusty frames.

 

[zeehag]

problem here is not with the trinidad paint, the problem is with the oil under the surface of the water making the paint rubbery and ineffective where it touched the paint.

 

[themadscientist]

At the risk of sounding naive, I'm not schooled in the art of the bottom paint. Has anybody started looking at alternatives to common bottom paint?
If you are in the gulf, I think you can count on oily water being the new normal and investing in some coating that leans more towards defeating oil rather than resisting critters might be in order.
With all that is going on, it wouldn't surprise me if the area became a dead zone and marine life would no longer be a problem. :cry:

Anybody with general paint knowledge have some ideas on a coating that resists oil?

This sucks by the way, so much destruction and suffering. :cussing:

 

[Benny]

Seems to me you may have gotten a bad batch of paint. A lot of things will now get blamed on the oil spill. If you did not see oil on the surface I doubt there was oil 8" below it as oil floats in water. This is no oil plum being held by thermal and pressure layers thousands of feet below the surface. If oil was the case I see no reason why the 8" that were painted with paint from a different container did not suffer the same fate. What can be done? Probably nothing at this time but I would let that rep know that I do not buy his story about oil lurking below the surface.

 

[zeehag]

Seems to me you may have gotten a bad batch of paint. A lot of things will now get blamed on the oil spill. If you did not see oil on the surface I doubt there was oil 8" below it as oil floats in water. This is no oil plum being held by thermal and pressure layers thousands of feet below the surface. If oil was the case I see no reason why the 8" that were painted with paint from a different container did not suffer the same fate. What can be done? Probably nothing at this time but I would let that rep know that I do not buy his story about oil lurking below the surface.

there are folks who believe as do you and there are folks who have seen plumes when out and about---i cant say either way as i havent seen them myself, but with this mess, everything is possible, even probable.....

 

[betzhunter]

I was wondering if your boat was still at Lake Catherine Marina? If it is could I come out and look at what your doing to the bottom as I will be doing the same thing in the next couple of weeks or maybe a month and wanted to get a look at what I might expect. You wouldn't have to be there as long as I could get in and just be able to look around. I can pm you with my phone number in case your concerned. Also what rate did they charge you for pulling it out and how much per day do they charge?
Thanks Bub