Bottom prep and paint.

[Karyon]

I'm thinking of leaving my boat in the water for a season, before I just put her back on the trailer after a sail but last year I left her in the water for 8 weeks or so and the bottom turned brown.
The bottom never had any antifouling paint on it before, so the bottom is nice and smooth.
What is the best way to prep the bottom for antifouling paint?
What kind of paint should I use? The boat will be in fresh water.

 

[Sanfelice]

I would recommend Hydrocoat which is a water based paint. It is an ablative but is hard enough that you can trailer it. Since you have a trailer sailor, you can pull it out every so often and wash the bottom and just stick it back in. As far as prep, read the directions from Pettit. You could probably get 3 seasons with it given your latitude.