how often?

[bobertobisonni@yahoo.com]

My 260 Hunter is in salt water all the time (Galveston Bay)
I am wondering how often I should do the bottom work.
What will happen if I never do it?
I will appreciate your advise.
Thank you all.

Bob.

 

[WTA]

I am in brackish water in Mobile Bay and I re-paint the bottom about every two years. The boats that are down in truely saltwater not only get re-painted more often they usually have divers that will clean the bottoms in between hauls. If you do nothing, your sailing performance will start to go downhill and rather quickly depending on how salty it is at your location. Barnacles are pretty quick to form up, I have seen boats here that have only been in the water for a month or so with no bottom paint and they already have a healthy coat of them starting to form.

If you want to see what your bottom will look like without any anti-fouling paint, take a look just below the waterline on the pilings in your marina at low tide!!

 

[Guest]

Paint

We keep our boat in sea water year around. I installed three coats of WM ablative in 2004 and other than new zincs, prop cleaning, etc. by a diver each year the marine growth will sluff after a few minutes underway. We use our boat frequently year around, which helps the ablative do its work. Our hull is due for new bottom paint.

Terry Cox

 

[RobJ74]

I am in salt water and pull the boat out every single spring for a paint, zinc, cut polish and wax. It's about a $600 week but I think its well worth it for preventative maintenance.