Prospective new ODAY owner with a question please

[Md80max]

How often do you do bottom jobs for these if the boat is in lake water?

 

[Davidasailor26]

Unfortunately there’s no one answer for that. There are many factors that determine the right answer. Some of the factors are: type of bottom paint, lake temperature, lake nutrition levels, amount the boat is moved, if the boat is ever dived on to clean it in the water, tolerance for slime build-up vs needing a perfectly smooth bottom, etc. Your profile says you’re in Texas so I assume you’re not planning to stay on the hard each winter. If that’s the case I’d say 2 years as a rough starting point, to be modulated by all the answers to the above.

 

[Md80max]

Yes, I am in Texas and you are right, would be leaving it in the water during the winter months, we sail her during the winter sometimes, was almost 70 today. I may purchase this boat tomorrow and was told the bottom was done just 2 years ago.

Thanks, David

 

[Richard19068]

I'm in salt so don't have an answer but your question is not specific to O'Day's so I might suggest posting the question to the ask all sailors forum where more people might see it. I would also suggest putting something like "fresh water bottom paint question" in the title.

 

[JRT]

This answer may not be correct but there are tons of boats in our lake that I seriously doubt have been pulled out for new bottom jobs in a long time5-10+ years. I was talking with a local reputable marina, he doesn't do many sailboats but lots of cruisers / house boats and he usually recommends every 4-5 years to pull and redo. That is his experience on the lake, racers do pull every year, but most don't.

 

[Justin_NSA]

More important to buying a boat that sits in the water is the condition of the hull below the waterline. Is it blistered? Condition of the keel? Prop? Cutlass bearing?

 

[Kings Gambit]

In seawater the rate is typically between 2 and 3, perhaps 4, yr; although, I'm sure (as noted above) there are many examples of boats going longer than 3-4 yr between bottom jobs. Just know that bottom paint/coating has two functions--anti-fouling and water barrier.

The short version is, if you pull the boat at the proper intervals for painting it will keep better on the long term. I'd say that interval should not be greater than about 3 yr unless you have good reason to know that going longer causes no "deterioration." With boat maintenance it's definitely the old and familiar equation: pay me now, or pay me later, etc. One of the first questions often asked when you're seeking a quote for a bottom job is: "How long since the last bottom job?"