Bottom Paint Supply Chain Issues

[KelseyB]

Hey everyone—I'm having trouble finding the bottom paint I need due to supply chain issues and I was wondering if anyone had any insight.

She's a steel boat, so it needs to be metal-free. That's the main issue. We're also planning on doing the bottom job next week (my spring break off of school, so really the only time to do it)—we've been hunting for a while and haven't had success, and now time is too tight to reliably ship anything, plus it's too expensive because of the hazardous materials fees (we're also on a pretty tight budget, which doesn't help).

What we ideally want is PPG's ABC 3 in black, although blue would be fine, too. We've called every major supplier within a multi-hundred mile radius of the Hampton Roads area with no success—they all claim they haven't gotten a delivery from PPG in almost a year and PPG themselves say they're having major supply chain issues with all of their antifouling products. So if anyone knows of a supplier of ABC 3 even remotely close (a several hour drive is fine) to Hampton Roads that might have it in stock, please let me know—or if you for some reason have about 2 gallons of it sitting in your garage that you want to get rid of we will gladly buy it off you.

Our second choice is Interlux Pacifica Plus—that's what's on there now, it's fine but not amazing. It is almost $300/gallon, though, off the shelf at West Marine. It's in stock at all our local west marines, but if anyone knows of any other suppliers remotely near Hampton Roads that would have it in stock for cheaper, please let me know. All the online sites like defender will take too long to ship.

And third, if anyone has any recommendations on other metal-free bottom paints that could be cheaper or more widely available, I'd love to hear them. I've used Trilux 33 before but it's just more expensive than the Pacifica Plus.

Any and all advice or recommendations are greatly appreciated! And as I said before, if you ever over purchased any of this stuff in the past year or two and live within a couple hours of Hampton Roads (or anywhere between upstate NY and southern VA—we will be driving that road trip this Sunday), we will gladly buy it off you!

[pjShap]

If you're driving north, Fawcett Boat Supplies in Annapolis might have the Pacifica Plus in stock at $254/gallon. Website isn't clear about stock so you should call them.
Fawcett Boat Supplies

West Marine still has something of a price match guarantee, even if it's not as good as it used to be.
https://www.westmarine.com/CustomerService/Price-Policy

[maine50]

Defender has it for 225/gal and one scratch and dent can for 175. I would call them and see what expedited shipping would be.

[bdbcat]

If you are open to alternatives, consider BlueWater
https://bluewatermarinepaint.com/


After using both on and off for years, I consider their CopperShield 45 as good as, or maybe better than ABC-3.

YMMV, of course.


Good Luck
Dave

[boat driver]

having similar problems so trying Micron Navigator- did not really like Pacifica plus in the chesapeake.
It is new but the Micron normal is not available.
seems that the pigments and additives froze last year in Texas and supply has been difficult since.

[Mlp48]

It is just not a great time to bargain ! Locate what you need and happily pay for it and then carry-on ! I like the suggestion of calling Fawcett and/or Defender !

[MicHughV]

I'm not sure of your question.

Having owned a steel boat for many years, my answer would be that typically you'll have a zinc chromate paint as your first coat and then at a minimum two coats of primer, followed by the bottom paint. I have been a big fan of Pettit Trinidad. Never had an issue.

Paints for steel boats...ships...etc...are typically provided as a "system" by most paint manufacturers that cater to steel hulls..ie, the will provide all the coats that will be required.
Devoe is the brand I used.

Finally, One must presume, that being a steel hull you will have some type of zinc anode stuck the hull somewhere.

[PaulvR]

So here's a weird idea which I have done on 3 different boats over circa. 35 years....and still do!

I just do the bottom with a standard epoxy finish.
I paint hard antifouling or NO antifouling.
I have the boat dived, or I dive when cruising, every two weeks religiously (I'm in tropical water).
I wipe nothing but white fluff off the bottom with a sponge or broad scraper, and get an aerobic workout to boot, and survey the bottom constantly as a bonus.
It saves money too! The cost of hauling and antifouling far exceeds a two year spend on diving the bottom, really it does!
I know many will say I'm nuts, but it works for me, and uses no poison.

Have I started a fight :-) ?

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by KelseyB

She's a steel boat, so it needs to be metal-free.

What we ideally want is PPG's ABC 3 in black, although blue would be fine, too.

Umm... ABC3 is not a metal-free anti fouling paint.

[KelseyB]

Originally Posted by pjShap

If you're driving north, Fawcett Boat Supplies in Annapolis might have the Pacifica Plus in stock at $254/gallon. Website isn't clear about stock so you should call them.
Fawcett Boat Supplies

West Marine still has something of a price match guarantee, even if it's not as good as it used to be.
https://www.westmarine.com/CustomerService/Price-Policy

Thanks for this—I totally forgot about the price matching! They do it for products on Amazon, too. This might work well enough for my situation, thanks for the advice!

[KelseyB]

Originally Posted by Mlp48

It is just not a great time to bargain ! Locate what you need and happily pay for it and then carry-on ! I like the suggestion of calling Fawcett and/or Defender !

Trust me I happily would if I could! unfortunately my budget as a college student isn't too great :/

[KelseyB]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

I'm not sure of your question.

Having owned a steel boat for many years, my answer would be that typically you'll have a zinc chromate paint as your first coat and then at a minimum two coats of primer, followed by the bottom paint. I have been a big fan of Pettit Trinidad. Never had an issue.

Paints for steel boats...ships...etc...are typically provided as a "system" by most paint manufacturers that cater to steel hulls..ie, the will provide all the coats that will be required.
Devoe is the brand I used.

Finally, One must presume, that being a steel hull you will have some type of zinc anode stuck the hull somewhere.

I hear you on the system thing—the boat was a yard queen refit, and initially I spent a long time debating on whether to sandblast or not and decided not to. partially due to cost, partially because I didn't want to rebuild all the protective primer layers, and partially because the metal itself has a protective coating (possibly flame sprayed zinc) that I didn't want to lose. As a result I don't know what the base paint system is—something from the 90s or earlier, though. When I repainted I sanded, filled in bare spots with Amercoat 235 primer, and used Pacifica Plus on top because I couldn't get my hands on the ABC 3 at the time. I agree that a more mainstream bottom paint shouldn't technically be an issue, but out of an overabundance of caution especially considering the age of the boat ('74) and all the unknown variables about its previous treatment, I like to stick with the metal free just to be safe.

[KelseyB]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

Umm... ABC3 is not a metal-free anti fouling paint.

My bad- tin-free, steel-safe.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by KelseyB

My bad- tin-free, steel-safe.

Where would you find a tin-based paint in this country anyway?

[s/v Jedi]

I ordered ABC3 on-line but UPS was unable to deliver without busting open the cans. Delivery was retried 2 times at cost of supplier as UPS refused to pay for the damage they caused. Then they gave up and refunded my money.

I asked at the local Sherwin Williams and they told me the only way to get it delivered free of damage is on a pallet. Even then it’s a 50-50% chance of receiving damaged goods.