The boat was very overdue for a bottom job. It had been maybe 25 months. I usually don't wait so long, but
money is tight. Last
haul out we used Pettit Vivid and did not have great luck with it. The
paint worked decently at first, but after about 15-16 months the
paint started to fail. I'm feeling that it was an application issue though. The paint was failing in perfectly straight delineated areas. It seems like maybe the yard needed 2 gallons for a full second coat and used 1. That is my best guess.
Being that I am in
Florida, it is actually a better deal to pay someone to paint the bottom than to do it yourself ($1 a foot per day lay days and buying paint from yard at $350 a gallon). So, I contracted Elite
Marine to do the job. I went with Sea Hawk Biocop gray on the bottom. I had a few projects to complete while the boat was out of the water. I wanted to replace both of my
galley ball valves with flanged sea cocks and I wanted to handle painting the
saildrive and prop. I also needed to get a
survey.
The bottom was in very good shape. No
blisters or other issues. The
saildrive on the other hand looked a little rough. When the saildrive was installed, I had the yard put on 5 coats of Sea Hawk Tuff Stuff
epoxy and then the Sea Hawk Smart Solution (no metal) antifouling. My plan going into this was four coats of Primocon primer followed by the Smart Solution antifouling.
Unfortunately the sail drive's paint and primer were in pretty rough shape. I sanded down the saildrive to about 65% bare metal and then applied 5 coats of
Interlux 2000e following the directions very strictly. Next we applied the antifouling. Luckily there was no signs of
corrosion on the unit. I guess I was lucky. I will be keeping a better eye on this in the future. I have a diver and I get a report every month. But, there was an error and the last six months of reports I got were the wrong ones. I also changed the saildrive
oil and installed a new zinc. I usually haul the boat much more frequently. I think I will shoot for 18 months on this bottom. I have also been considering
cleaning the bottom myself or at least
diving on it every month.