Sea Hawk Smart Solution Bottom Paint

[mikefp60]

Anyone with experience with this product? And any comments on applying it over Island 44?

Island 44 is not legal. It was put on in Trinidad but I am hauled for paint in Portsmouth.

Regards all,

Mike
S/V Vivo

[alnmar]

Mike
Seahawk has an excellent compatibility chart for down load on their web site.

Try Sea Hawk Paints Premium Bottom Paint and look for the chart.

al

Now that we've opened the can, so to speak, on Seahawk's paint are there any comments, pro or con on their products?

Last time I did a bottom job on my boat one of the pros in the yard had very good things to say about it.

thanks

[JusDreaming]

I use Sea Hawk ablative, and am getting two years, between haul out

[mikefp60]

Thanks for both of your comments.

JusDreaming, funny, your end of message quote by Eric Hiscock. I am reading Around the world in Wanderer III and the book was sitting right next to my laptop as I read your message.

[mikefp60]

Thanks for both of your comments.

JusDreaming, funny, your end of message quote by Eric Hiscock. I am reading Around the world in Wanderer III and the book was sitting right next to my laptop as I read your message.

[alnmar]

Originally Posted by JusDreaming

I use Sea Hawk ablative, and am getting two years, between haul out

Hello,

What was the product name?
Was it a DIY project? If so what was it like?

Last time I painted a bottom I swore I'd not do this again, but times change and memories fade so I'm considering it again.

But I want to go into it knowing what to expect.

I'm trying to find the right mix of; effectiveness, warm Biscayne Bay water, tidal flow, longevity, 2 years would be good, more would be better, ease of application, and then availability.

Thanx to all

[osirissail]

The Sea Hawk products are as good or bad as are most other bottom paint brands. The proper bottom paint for your boat is a decision based on the regional waters you are going to be sailing in; the speed of your boat; how often you take the boat out sailing; and a few other factors.
- - A particular type - hard versus ablative - high copper versus zinc oxide - TBT versus local laws - make the decision of which paint brand/type a personal decision rather than a world wide blanket decision. Paints that work well in Florida do not work very well in New England or the Pacific coast. The best way to choose a bottom paint is to ask around to everybody you can find who does the same type sailing that you do and see what the consensus is on what they are using.
- - And the bottom line factor is - how was the paint applied to your boat. The best paint put on by a lousy applicator/yard worker is going to not perform as well as the cheaper paint put on by a applicator/yard worker who really knows what he/she is doing.

[JusDreaming]

Originally Posted by alnmar

Hello,

What was the product name?
Was it a DIY project? If so what was it like?

Last time I painted a bottom I swore I'd not do this again, but times change and memories fade so I'm considering it again.

But I want to go into it knowing what to expect.

I'm trying to find the right mix of; effectiveness, warm Biscayne Bay water, tidal flow, longevity, 2 years would be good, more would be better, ease of application, and then availability.

Thanx to all

I did do it myself and it was not bad at all. I did end up being stained green from sanding previous paint. :0 And the name I think was Biocop

[Pblais]

The best way to choose a bottom paint is to ask around to everybody you can find who does the same type sailing that you do and see what the consensus is on what they are using.

Salinity and temperature play a huge part. Asking around is just the best way to judge. Here, I find my Sea Hawk paint has lasted 2.75 years with 2 coats. Not bad except I know the it is that long because it is only now just starting to fail. Last month I would have said it with more excitement. When I applied it I had to scrape 2/3 of the hull with thick barnacles. I really don't want that again.

[DRSandbo]

Bringing this old thread back to the top with a new related question.
SeaHawk's "Smart Solution" touted as a metal free anti-foul, anyone have any hands on with this product. TIA.

[aboutgone]

I work at a boat yard in Marathon , Fl. I see a lot of boats hauled and pressure washed on a daily basis.IMHO I must say that the cleanest bottoms that i see are the charter fisherman.They run there boats daily.They have hard paint on there hulls, with a lot of copper 60 % or better.You can tell a boat that sits at the dock versus one that is being used. I have a CSY 44 with Trinidad Pro on the hull. 70% copper hard paint,I has growth on it but take her out past the reef and come back and her bottom is clean again.There are a few barnacles on her sunny side but easily scraped off. what my point is, use your boat or have growth. hard bottom paints are for longevity, ablatives are for seasonal re coating.........................Ed

[msulc]

We bought Smart Solution a in September. I don't think it is that great. Supposedly, the paint is supposed to build a film that growth won't stick to. However, you need to use your boat often in order for this to work, since stuff will still grow but should come off while you are underway. If you don't use your boat, you will get growth that sticks. In order to get the growth off, you are only supposed to use a rag, nothing else to get it off because anything harsher will take the paint off. This makes it pretty difficult to get stuff off that is sticking.

We had the bottom cleaned two weeks prior to heading south from Annapolis. We made it down to the Exumas in about 1 1/2 months. I spent the last two days (about 2-3 hours a day) getting growth off with a rag. I had to press pretty hard at spots and saw our second/third coat appearing (different colors). So after about 3 - 4 months, we are already down to our second/third coat. Doesn't seem to be that great to me from what I have heard from other people.

[osirissail]

It seems a "new" antifouling agent has come to market - "Econea" - which is the name of a new non-metallic chemical "Tralopyril" that exhibits the ability to retard or inhibit sea growth and is the active ingredient in the Sea Hawk "Smart Solution" paint. See: http://www.janssenpmp.com/content/ho...pdf/Econea.pdf

But as with all "new" things I suspect it will take some time (years) before the best formulation of Econea within a bottom paint is perfected. But at least the work has begun. What with the impending ban of copper containing paints by some west coast U.S. States hopefully the "perfection" of this new paint will not take too long.

[HopCar]

The paint companies think that copper will be banned soon. They are hoping that Econea will work as a replacement. Right now the best paints contain two biocides. In the Miami area Trinadad SR with Ingoral is the favorite hard bottom paint and Micron 66 with Biolux is the favorite ablative. Copper is a good hard growth biocide but a paint that also contains a slime fighter will last a lot longer. The reason that paints with copper and TBT work so well is that TBT is a slime fighter as are Ingoral and Biolux.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by HopCar

The paint companies think that copper will be banned soon. They are hoping that Econea will work as a replacement.

In California, the proposed legislation banning copper in anti fouling paint (SB 623) which was introduced earlier this year first was ammended (at the behest of the paint manufacturers) to merely require a reduction in copper content and leach rates, not eliminate it completely. Then, finding that the bill didn't have enough support to pass even in that watered-down version, it was tabled until next year at the earliest, with no garauntee that it will ever rear its head again. I do not believe the paint companies think copper will be banned. I think they are prepared for such an eventuality, but are fighting (successfully) to make sure it doesn't happen.

As far as Econea goes, I have been involved in some product testing of zinc/Enonea paints here in the Bay Area. None of the products I've seen can come close to duplicating the anti fouling performance of copper-based paints.