Botttom Paint in Florida

[seadaddler]

OK my boat is now in Florida east coast and she is on the hard waiting to make the trip to the west coast so before she go's back into the water I want to bottom paint her.
Is Interlux Micron 66 really worth the higher price,does it really do a better job and last longer here in Florida.
What have you found to be the best bottom paint here iin Florida and how often do you haul,I will be diving to keep the bottom clean does the bottom paint you use hold up with regular cleaning.
Nick

 

[sailaway78]

Bottom paint

Seadaddler,
I live on the gulf coast, and am a big fan of Trinidad. It is good for at least three years, and is pretty much the standard for hard bottom paints. If you want an ablative I have talked to the Super Ship Bottom people, and they keep telling me it will last three years. It is made by a smaller company in Florida, and is a little cheaper than some of the others, I think mostly because they sell direct. Was tempted this time to try it, but ended up going with Trinidad, which I know works well. Lots of choices out there, but Trinidad is the only one I have actual experience with. It was 169 a gallon from Defender a month ago.

 

[Ed A]

trinidad seems to be the most popular in the tampa area, with regular cleaning i get about 2 to 21/2 years.

 

[Eric M]

Second The Trinidad Recommendation

I have 2 years and counting on the Trinidad SR on my boat in Jacksonville, FL. The bottom is cleaned by diving ~ every 3 months and there is very, very little if any hard growth to be removed.

 

[Bill Bell]

I use Trinidad and it lasts 3 years. Dive every month to clean.

 

[higgs]

Practical Sailor just printed up a bottom paint test where in a two year test they rated both Micron and Trinidad as the top performers, though Micron got only a "fair" rating from their Florida test.

In one year tests they found Micron to be the best.

 

[seadaddler]

Re: Second The Trinidad Recommendation

Thanks everyone so I guess I will use the Trinidad and save a lot of money.
Nick

 

[Honeyman]

Trinidad is the answer and definitely look for it online. I believe Defender has it cheap enough to ship and still save money.

 

[seadaddler]

When I look at the trinidad bottom paint there are some different things that they do so just to clear things up what model Trinidad paint are we using here in Florida.
SR,Ultima,Ultima40
Nick