Best place for bottom paint on the East Coast

[Hyprdrv]

Hopefully in a few months I'll be sailing up from Florida on my new to me Catamaran. Does anyone have any recommendations for a location between Florida and The Chesapeake for a bottom paint job? Also a paint recommendation for the Bay area would be great as well.


Thanks
Steve

[SCCatSailor]

The answer depends on your beam. Since this is in the multihull forum, I'm going to assume you have a cat. I'm in Charleston, have a 24' 1" beam, and my only reasonable choices are Thunderbolt Marine south of Savannah and Jarrett Bay Boatworks in Beaufort, NC (NOT Beaufort, SC). Going north from NC, I assume you would have more choices, especially in the Chesapeake. The widest travel lift I've found in Charleston is 24, but they'll only go to 23'11". I guess travel lifts don't give much.

[Pblais]

Also a paint recommendation for the Bay area would be great as well.

Depends on how far north you intend to stay. At the far north end just about anything works. On the south end the water in the summer while not as warm as Tampa, FL is still pretty warm at 85. If it's a dry year the salinity increases and that is good for growth - bad for your bottom. I would get more serious when you find a place to land. I've always used decent Ablative paint, two coats, and haul every other year. Some try to go three years on three coats. See what locals are using and what results they get is just a good rule of thumb. The professional grade Petitt used to be favored for a while as far as good bang for the buck. If you haul each year then you don't need to be so aggressive.