We used Sea Hawk products for the barrier paint and bottom antifouling and have been happy with them. One reason for buying them was some Florida boaters had been happy with them. The other was that their barrier paint, Tuff Stuff, goes on thicker, heavier build, per coat vs. some of the others like the Interlux so you need fewer coats. They recommend 2-3 coats....
... We put 2 on the Mac and 3 on the Endeavour. I'm sure Interlux is the number one seller but I felt very good about Sea Hawk's epoxy barrier paint.
We also put on 3 coats of antifouling. Two coats ....
... of one color and ....
... then 1 coat of a different color over that. All ablative. Once we see the first coat's color we know we need to add more.
The prep steps (very important) and actual painting of the Mac is documented here....
http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor2/outside-39.html
Be sure and follow the instructions about time windows between coats for proper adhesion. I was able to do all 5 coats of the Sea Hawk in one long day. On the Endeavour I had to go overnight on coats and with their product if you do that it is better to do it between barrier coats and that is what we did. You don't want to start painting and then break the cycle.
None of the antifouling is going to keep growth off for ever. In one month in the water late fall in Florida we had no growth on the bottom. In the spring though it was a different story. At the end of a couple months we were starting to see very small barnacles on the bottom when we pulled out. Maybe 50 or so that were 1/8 inch or less. I scrapped them off very easily with a plastic scraper. Now in the same period ....
... we cleaned the dinghy's bottom 3 times with barnacle growth like above so for sure the bottom paint helped the Mac. I'd plan on trying to clean the boat bottom at least once every 4-8 weeks once in the ocean as it would be quick and easy to do at that point.
Not sure about before then. Are you making the loop down the Mississippi or across the Erie Canal and down the east coast? Whichever be sure and post a trip blog. We wanted to do the Erie with the Mac and still might at some point. Ruth brought that up again the other day. We would trailer to the west end and then do the canal and down the Hudson and then to Long Island Sound where we have family living.
We have trip logs for Florida waters here...
http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor-trips-1/macgregor-trips-1-index.html
Sum
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Our Endeavour 37
Our MacGregor 26-S Pages
Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida
Mac-Venture Links
. Jeff