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repaint
Hi Morty, If there was a lot of marine growth on your bottom when hauled, it's time to paint. If you used an ablative paint and it's worn away, it's time to paint. If you don't paint, the bottom will quickly become fouled with marine growth. Just slime is no big deal, but barnacles are a real problem. On my Newport, painted red ablative over blue bottom paint. I see small blue spots on the bottom, so I believe the red ablative is just about gone. I recommend that the bottom be repainted in the spring before launch. I bought an O'day in November. When it was hauled the bottom had lust a light amount of slime on it. After powerwashing the bottom was clean and fair. So I don't plan on painting it this spring. Barry Lenoble Curragh, 1986 O'day 35 Mt. Sinai, NY
Hi Morty, If there was a lot of marine growth on your bottom when hauled, it's time to paint. If you used an ablative paint and it's worn away, it's time to paint. If you don't paint, the bottom will quickly become fouled with marine growth. Just slime is no big deal, but barnacles are a real problem. On my Newport, painted red ablative over blue bottom paint. I see small blue spots on the bottom, so I believe the red ablative is just about gone. I recommend that the bottom be repainted in the spring before launch. I bought an O'day in November. When it was hauled the bottom had lust a light amount of slime on it. After powerwashing the bottom was clean and fair. So I don't plan on painting it this spring. Barry Lenoble Curragh, 1986 O'day 35 Mt. Sinai, NY
Hard VS Soft Bottom Paint
If you have a soft ablative , 'multi-season' bottom paint such as CSC, even moderate scrubbing or pressure powerwashing will remove active paint. If you have a hard epoxy based or hard vinyl based paint scrubbing and/or powerwashing will result in a clean surface but the active ingredients in the paint may have leached out over the season and you may have problems next year if you don't paint (assuming it's NOT a Multi-Season paint). I used to race and use a hard vinyl Baltoplate finish in order to wet sand it to a perfect finish. However, I also have the typical Hunter Foss Foam rudder which is susceptable to delamination if you don't use light paints, so I paint that with Shark White CSC. Both grow slime in about the same amount of time. The Baltoplate can be scrubbed or even wet sanded during the season exposing more active paint and smothing the surface. The CSC gets worn away with light scrubbing, so in both cases I've needed to repaint every season anyway, and both are equally expensive.
If you have a soft ablative , 'multi-season' bottom paint such as CSC, even moderate scrubbing or pressure powerwashing will remove active paint. If you have a hard epoxy based or hard vinyl based paint scrubbing and/or powerwashing will result in a clean surface but the active ingredients in the paint may have leached out over the season and you may have problems next year if you don't paint (assuming it's NOT a Multi-Season paint). I used to race and use a hard vinyl Baltoplate finish in order to wet sand it to a perfect finish. However, I also have the typical Hunter Foss Foam rudder which is susceptable to delamination if you don't use light paints, so I paint that with Shark White CSC. Both grow slime in about the same amount of time. The Baltoplate can be scrubbed or even wet sanded during the season exposing more active paint and smothing the surface. The CSC gets worn away with light scrubbing, so in both cases I've needed to repaint every season anyway, and both are equally expensive.
thanks barry, but here's my deal. my bottom is painted with blue ablative paint that is obviously not a new coat, but with one season of use. our club has a diver who does our bottoms every other week and i have never had a hint of any kind growth at fall haulng. now what? people selling things and services. especially expensive ones, are not always, let's say, reliable.
Mortyd- The million dollar question. What Brand name and type of paint did you put on last season? If you put a multi-season ablative such as; Interlux CSC or Micron Extra, Pettit Ultima SR, or West Marine PCA your good to go for this season. If you put Interlux BK ACT or WM CPP, get the roller pan and some paint and start a rolling. The three multi-season paints mentioned above all did quite well in Practical Sailers testing. So you should trust the chemistry behind them as long as you think there is enough mils still on the hull. If you want to be safe lay up another coat. Trust the product. Rob Hessenius
ablative - scrub down or not??
Ok, I know opinions will vary, but I have an ablative bottom paint and I still get slime on the bottom - not sailing enough. Scrub it off, or not? I am a go out and enjoy the day guy, not a racer so speed is not key for me but I want no damage to the boat. Please chime in! Fair winds!
Ok, I know opinions will vary, but I have an ablative bottom paint and I still get slime on the bottom - not sailing enough. Scrub it off, or not? I am a go out and enjoy the day guy, not a racer so speed is not key for me but I want no damage to the boat. Please chime in! Fair winds!
Rob's right
If you are just doing casual sails, a little slime won't hurt you that much. I said a LITTLE, so don't jump down my throat you hard core racer boys. If you have a multi-season ablative, as Rob says, and there is enough of it on the bottom, then it will go several seasons, depending on conditions A very light spongeing will take off any heavier growth. However, the paint will tend to wear away faster in some areas than in others: on leading edges of the bow, keel, and rudder; and in high turbulence areas such as are found around the stern. So when you do repaint the bottom, apply an extra layer or two in those spots. West PCA has worked well for me, and though it has an anti-slime additive, the slime will be there after a while. When I can run my hand across the bottom and it feels "snotty slick" with no visual build up and the slime can just barely be scraped off with a thumbnail, the boat feels fast to me. The guys who polish their hard paint and dry sail their boats will argue with that, but it's a whole lot easier over the course of a sailing season to dive and clean the bottom a few times than it is to do it every week. The old time skippers used to say that a little slime made a hull faster (a hundred years before Teflon paints) and lab analysis indicates that slime algae are in "chains" like oil, and thus have lots of lubricity. For casual racing (if there is such a thing) or recreational sailing, I don't think it makes much difference.
If you are just doing casual sails, a little slime won't hurt you that much. I said a LITTLE, so don't jump down my throat you hard core racer boys. If you have a multi-season ablative, as Rob says, and there is enough of it on the bottom, then it will go several seasons, depending on conditions A very light spongeing will take off any heavier growth. However, the paint will tend to wear away faster in some areas than in others: on leading edges of the bow, keel, and rudder; and in high turbulence areas such as are found around the stern. So when you do repaint the bottom, apply an extra layer or two in those spots. West PCA has worked well for me, and though it has an anti-slime additive, the slime will be there after a while. When I can run my hand across the bottom and it feels "snotty slick" with no visual build up and the slime can just barely be scraped off with a thumbnail, the boat feels fast to me. The guys who polish their hard paint and dry sail their boats will argue with that, but it's a whole lot easier over the course of a sailing season to dive and clean the bottom a few times than it is to do it every week. The old time skippers used to say that a little slime made a hull faster (a hundred years before Teflon paints) and lab analysis indicates that slime algae are in "chains" like oil, and thus have lots of lubricity. For casual racing (if there is such a thing) or recreational sailing, I don't think it makes much difference.
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