bottom paint

[MIRELOS]

I'm so confused by reviews of bottom paints, depending on the site it's 5 stars or two......I'm looking at ablative paints for my cat, last used SkyHawk water based, it was a complete failure once I got to Florida, I've had good results with SkyHawk regular ablative but up north. I'm looking at the other brands, loved Pettit Trinidad hard paint when I had a monohull, I would get over 24 months out of it. I don't want to sand everything off so I'm staying with ablative....going south in the winter.....which paint to choose, hauling out at the end of August
btw...they are all relatively expensive so saving $20/gallon is unimportant, keeping growth at bay is important.
Thanks all

[psk125]

We've had good results from Micron CSC, though we also have a diver clean the bottom every two weeks, for racing.

[Chotu]

Pettit makes high copper ablative as well.

That stuff has worked great for me in Florida over the years..

The problem with reviews is you kind of have to just read them all to get a sense of what’s going on. With user applied paint or even Boatyard applied paint, the application itself can lead to failure or poor performance. So people end up giving out a bad review.

Nothing has really changed in the bottom paint world in many, many years. Go with what you already know

and I agree completely. Trying to save money on bottom paint is a fool‘s errand. A haul out costs significantly more than the bottom paint so getting the absolute best paint is the way to save money no matter what it costs.

[sailorboy1]

So far the best performing paint I have had here in Florida is PPG ABC3 paint. It is also among the least expensive at $100/gal in a 5-gal paint last year. BUT it is kind of soft and the bottom cleaners will scrape it off!!!

The worst I have had here in Florida is Seahawk CuKote and BioCop. Far as I am concerned those are expensive house paints and I had hard growth start within a month

[Exile]

Another big thumbs up for PPG ABC3. Been using it for years, mostly on & around the Chesapeake Bay, and it's been consistently effective, durable, and reasonably priced. Only caveat is it's a commercial paint so can be hard to get.

[smj]

ABC3, #3 recommendation

[MIRELOS]

thanks Exile, did you have an ablative paint on before and what was you prep for putting the ABC on......thanks in advance

[MIRELOS]

Thanks SMJ, what paint did you have on before and what prep was dome before applying ABC
Thanks in advance

[MIRELOS]

sailor boy thank you.....what prep did you have to do and what was on the boat before
Thanks in advance

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by MIRELOS

sailor boy thank you.....what prep did you have to do and what was on the boat before
Thanks in advance

I had the yard do it last time as I am at the point that the job is just not worth it to me to save the $$$$

I had Seahawk Cukote and Biocop ablative paint on it prior (grew hard growth in a month). Yard just did standard power wash, rough sanding, wash and rolled it on.

My PPG ABC3 paint has not lasted as long as others and I think it is the bottom cleaners fault. They say it wasn't really dirty, but they still scrape it hard just to remove some scum.

But the cost savings of the paint acturally works out to just go to the yard more often.

[smj]

Originally Posted by MIRELOS

Thanks SMJ, what paint did you have on before and what prep was dome before applying ABC
Thanks in advance

If I remember correctly we had a different ablative on before and did a pressure wash and quick rough up with 80 grit. I believe some just do a good pressure wash and forego the sanding as it should bring new paint to the surface?
On our current boat we use a hard paint, Trinidad as I believe we are fast enough to knock the ablative paint of to quickly.

[SVTatia]

Originally Posted by MIRELOS

I'm so confused by reviews of bottom paints, depending on the site it's 5 stars or two......I'm looking at ablative paints for my cat, last used SkyHawk water based, it was a complete failure once I got to Florida, I've had good results with SkyHawk regular ablative but up north. I'm looking at the other brands, loved Pettit Trinidad hard paint when I had a monohull, I would get over 24 months out of it. I don't want to sand everything off so I'm staying with ablative....going south in the winter.....which paint to choose, hauling out at the end of August

btw...they are all relatively expensive so saving $20/gallon is unimportant, keeping growth at bay is important.

Thanks all

Be careful with compatibility as you now have a water based paint on, so you may need a thorough sanding or a tie coat.

[dhenline]

I am buying a new boat and I can get several types of bottom paint on the boat. The most expensive is copper coat. I will be mostly in tropical waters. Is that the best ? the cost difference between the copper coat and the other paint is about 5K which in the cost of a $900K boat is essentially insignificant

[MIRELOS]

I have two friends who applied copper coat,.....they still get some growth, they dive in very three weeks to wipe clean. The thing with the copper coat is the preparation, it has to be done exactly to the letter else it will fail, and it is a big preparation and application, in the end if applied correctly it appears to be better than the brand paints.
I am presently researching the PPG ABC3 or 4 or amercoat.....they are hard to find, better price by a lot and the CG and Navy small (not carriers) boats use, its a good endorsement

[HeywoodJ]

I will add a 4th for ABC3. We applied 7 gallons to a 50' cat at $110/gallon. That is more paint than some recreational paint manufacturers recommend (most yards quote us 4-5 gallons), but at least at the time was still considerably less expensive. The 7 gallons got us to PPG's recommended film thickness.

With the boat in SF Bay we had it cleaned every 8 weeks, with moderate use of the boat between cleanings. At two years we hauled for a survey and had zero hard growth, and also no soft growth. We had used an initial coat in an alternate color as an indicator coat and saw the indicator only on a few small parts of leading edges (which may be more wear, or less paint application because getting the edge is sometimes heavy and sometimes thin).

Our previous paint was a similar Jotun "self-polishing" that had been applied over a freshly sanded to barrier coat bottom, prep for the ABC3 was pressure wash.

ABC3 has become (IME) harder to find in gallons, but the yard where we hauled was able to find it in 5-gallon pails, although the price seems to have gone up a bit. We did not re-paint as the haul was part of the sales transaction, so I do not know if the bottom was left or how it held up beyond the 2nd year.