Antiflouling Sea of Cortez

[carstenb]

We are hauling soon and will bottom paint. The marina here in San Carlos is recommending Hempel Olympic 76600

We have heard that PPG Amercoat ABC3 (Comex) is better.

Does anyone have an opinion/experience?

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by carstenb

We are hauling soon and will bottom paint. The marina here in San Carlos is recommending Hempel Olympic 76600



We have heard that PPG Amercoat ABC3 (Comex) is better.



Does anyone have an opinion/experience?

My experience is that boatyards will recommend whatever it is they bought cheap and will make the biggest profit on, whether or not it is the best choice for your situation.

That said, I have never heard anybody complain about ABC3

[distel]

What's the cost for a bottom job there?

[AndyEss]

I bought Comex ablative bottom paint in La Paz and had one of the Abaroa boatyards apply it for me (part of the haulout deal I made).
The previous haulout, the boatyard recommended and used another, “brand name” bottom paint (still inexpensive) for me.
I don’t know if the Comex paint I got was the same as PPG ABC3. I do remember that both bottom paints had about 45% by weight cuprous oxide.
By my unscientific observations, the brand name bottom paint seemed to have worked better. Then again, the second time around I was a couple of years older and in your mid/late 60’s, those years are hard. I very well may have been diving and cleaning my own bottom less for the Comex span of use.
When I get back to La Paz, I need to haulout and have my bottom re-painted. I have been sailing to the islands way less and what’s left of the Comex paint is barely working at all in the “highly enriched” La Paz harbor water.

[Marathon1150]

In January 2019 Marina Palmar (an Abaroa boatyard in La Paz) applied Interspeed 640, an ablative. We sailed to Tahiti a few months later and then the boat got stuck there until December 2021. We had the bottom cleaned a couple of times but the paint was remarkably good at minimizing bottom growth. By March 2022, the paint was still doing well back in La Paz. We replaced it then with the boatyard had laying around. Another International paint and it is doing ok but we have divers clean the bottom once a month.

Our previous experience with Hempel in La Paz was not great.