Anti fouling paint for inflatble, to do it or not?

[paulg222]

Last season was my first with a sailboat and inflatable dinghy. I didn't treat the dinghy at all and by end of season boy did it have a ton of growth on it.

This year, I was going to paint the bottom with some inflatable anti-fouling paint. However, I was just reading that this stuff, once on, will always be there and can then get on other stuff, if say you put it on your deck, or roll it up for storage.

Is that a reason enough not to paint it? I will, this year be on a mooring so I would have more opportunity to dive in and wipe off growth, so I'm having second thoughts about the paint (also my dinghy has 2 tones grey/blue and I only have grey bottom paint, but that is sort of minor issue for bottom paint I guess).

Curious what people think. Thanks.

[Tupaia]

If you're on a mooring buy a hard dink leave it tied to the mooring when you go sailing. Haul it at the end of the season and scrape the bottom. Keep the inflatable on board.

[paulg222]

Thanks, not sure if I want 2 dinks though. Inflatable I most likely will leave in water. Just heard that anti-fouling paint can get all over stuff, so when I move it at end of season will dried paint get all over my car, etc.

Basically, does everyone use anti-fouling on their inflatable, or is it more rare?

[Island Time O25]

I bought my inflatable used and PO had anti-foul paint on it. It does create a mess if stored on deck. And its anti-foul properties are long gone. I may just try to scrub as much off as possible before launching this season. On the other hand I've had it for about 7 years now and kind of gotten used to this stuff. I keep it on the swimming platform so paint falling off is not a real issue. It's in the water only when used to go ashore or when I'm not moving but with the company onboard.

The mess on the foredeck from the dinghy was one of the reasons for installing the swimming platform which doubles up as a dinghy platform.

[tweitz]

When I had an inflatable, I used to bring it to the beach every couple of weeks and scrape the bottom with a rubber squeegee. It wasn't perfect, but not terrible either.

[rlg]

Exactly right, Just clean it every couple of weeks on the beach.

[jtsailjt]

I leave mine in the whole season and since it's a 12' RIB with a 20hp outboard it's too much of a job to keep scrubbed clean. I've seen lots of cruisers with good intentions of keeping their inflatable scrubbed clean but it's sort of a nasty job and most cruisers with the best of intentions seem to have trouble getting around to it, myself included. So, a few years ago, I was contemplating buying some inflatable bottom paint and the Petit rep was at the store so I asked him about it and what he'd recommend. He said that their bottom paint for inflatables was essentially the same as the ablative bottom paint I was buying to put on my sailboat. He explained that ablative paint can bend without flaking off like a hard bottom paint would on a soft tube at various states of inflation. Also, it doesn't hurt the effectiveness of ablative paint to be repeatedly dried out like dinghy's frequently are. So, I've been painting my RIB with first Petit Horizons and then I switched to Seahawk Monterey for both my sailboat and RIB and it's worked well.

Regarding getting bottom paint on the deck, I wouldn't want the bottom of my RIB to be in contact with my boats deck but if it's stored upside down, there's not any noticeable amount of residue leaching off the dinghy bottom.

On a very small inflatable that is not left at a dinghy dock for long periods and is brought aboard regularly at night, it's probably practical to keep it scrubbed clean, but for the way I use my dinghy, I prefer to keep it bottom painted. It's about a 1 hour job to prep and paint once a year or even less frequently. In the winter, I keep my RIB suspended upside down from a couple of long legged saw horses, so in the spring all I have to do is a bit of a scrub with a scotchbrite pad and rinse, then mask and paint with a 3" roller. Easy.

[SailFastTri]

I've used Pettit Hydrocoat on my dinghy for almost 20 years. It adheres well if you follow prep instructions and doesn't harm the fabric (Hypalon). That is for my larger (12 ft, 20HP) RIB that is never hauled on deck.

I have a smaller, lighter RIB that's used for cruising -- it's 10ft with a small electric OB and has never been painted.

As for marking decks; I think you either need to have two dinghies, or choose between hauling every week or two -- OR painting.

Perhaps a white, hard finish ablative such as Pettit Vivid would work? Call Pettit before you try -- it's solvent based, and might attack the dinghy seams and/or if it's too hard it might crack and fall off? I wouldn't want to risk my dinghy to be a pioneer.

[Boatguy30]

I recently used the hydrocoatSR and have used hydrocoat on sailboats and dinghies.
Also Seahawk sells an inflatable paint which is their Monterey water base. It seems like it dries and handles better than certainly then the hydrocoatSR. I would go with the Seahawk. Totally worth doing, because even if you do get growth, it will be relatively easy to clean off

[B-to]

I went through the same thought process last year. I keep an 8’ inflatable at a dinghy dock and boat on a mooring for several years. Every season was chore keeping bottom clean end of year haul out a mess, but I was also concerned if I painted the bottom it would get all over my deck. I mostly tow the dinghy for day trips but store upside down on deck for occasional longer trips/open waters. Last year I painted the bottom and it worked out great no regrets. Keeps bottom clean all season at the dock and did not rub off on deck for short 3-4 day trips, but just take care when lifting onto deck to try to keep bottom away from deck. Paint did not rub off or run onto deck for me, even during rain storms.

[jtsailjt]

Originally Posted by Boatguy30

I recently used the hydrocoatSR and have used hydrocoat on sailboats and dinghies.
Also Seahawk sells an inflatable paint which is their Monterey water base. It seems like it dries and handles better than certainly then the hydrocoatSR. I would go with the Seahawk. Totally worth doing, because even if you do get growth, it will be relatively easy to clean off

I actually gravitated from Horizon to Hydrocoat and now to Seahawk Monterey. Hydrocoat worked fine on my dinghy but I had some adhesion problems near the waterline of my sailboat. Last summer I had a couple of spots near the waterline where it flaked off within a few days of being painted and launched. With empty tanks I have about 6” between water and boot stripe so I emptied water tanks and lightly roughed up the bare spots and on a real calm morning got in my dinghy and touched up the bare spots with Monterey and 12 months later I’m having no adhesion problems. Not sure if the problem was with the prep or the Hydrocoat but in this case the Monterey seems be adhering better in the same location where Hydrocoat flaked off.

[paulg222]

I ended up using an anti-fouling inflatable paint from Total Boat. URL here: TotalBoat Antifouling Paint for Inflatable Boats

This was pretty easy actually, and I was able to get 2 coats on with 1 quart, with some left over. Just use some painters tape around your best guess as to the water line, and apply with a roller (brush is helpful for certain parts).

In sun or warm weather, first coat will dry in 1.5 hrs or less, then put on second coat, and wait 6 hrs before putting in water (although in the bright sun and 75deg I felt this was super dry much earlier).