Bottom Paint or Not?

[dpollitt]

Im in Colombia and about to set off across the Pacific. Before leaving Florida I put an ablative paint on my cat and this was OVER a hard paint that was put on previously.

Im now looking at over $2000 dollars to have this boat hauled and painted.

Question: What is the down side to not painting the bottom and just keeping it clean 'manually'? Underway, am I correct in making the assumption that barnacles etc will not adhere?

Is blistering a problem without adequate paint?

When I get to Australia Im going to have to paint it anyway and to doing it twice, once here and once there, is difficult to bear.

Thanks for any enlightenment.

[David M]

Without anti-fouling paint, eventually the growth will catch up to you. If you are in to it you could go down frequently and scrub the bottom yourself, but it will be a never ending battle that you will probably grow tired of.

Anti-fouling paint does not prevent blistering. What prevents blistering is having a truly water proof coating like an epoxy barrier coat between the fiberglass and the anti-fouling paint.

[Cheechako]

There was a thread about this a while back. If you dont mind scraping, I'm not sure today's bottom paint buys you anything. My boats in the carribean had to be cleaned regularly even with the bottom paint on there anyway. After sitting 3-5 weeks in one anchorage... I cant imagine the bottom being any worse without paint than with. On the other hand, if you can get that Jotun bottom paint like they sell in Trini, in Columbia...man that stuff actually works!

[S/V_Surya]

When did you paint with abalative? I have found that painting every 2 years is good enough. When I calif on my 32 footer I would go diving at least every month and after dive I would clean bottom. I think I could have gone more than 2 years with that method. Painting has no effect on blisters. I still got them.

[barnakiel]

It is not WHEN you get to Australia, it is BEFORE you get to Australia. Do not fool with Aus regulations or it will cost you.

2000 USD for 47' is not such a great deal, if it is all inclusive. Today I bought 20 liters (ca 5 US gals) of pretty cheap antifoul at 750 USD. Then there is the travelift, the hard, tools, hands.

Or else just keep it as clean as you can, haul out in NC and then you can sail into Aus without any fuss and with clean bottom. It won't be cheaper in NC but you can just do the job yoursel(ves).

b.

[dpollitt]

Thanks for your response.
What regulations are you talking about in Australia....do they require bottom paint?

Also...NC I assume is New Caledonia....you are recommending hauling out there and doing it? Can you give me a ballpark figure of what it would cost all inclusive in NC?

Many thanks for your help on this and also to the others for responding
david

[barnakiel]

Quote here:

"...
It is anticipated that the Australian Government will move towards mandatory risk-based biofouling management requirements for all overseas vessels arriving in Australia and that the requirements will remain consistent with AQIS's current recommended cleaning practices. These include:

• application of an effective anti-fouling coating suited to the operation of the vessel
• inspecting, and if necessary, cleaning your vessel including niche areas (including but not limited to internal seawater systems, sea chests, rudder stock and propeller shafts), anchors, chains and other ancillary gear immediately prior to arrival in Australia
• once inspected and cleaned at an overseas port, departing immediately and travelling directly to Australia to minimise re-contamination
• maintaining a voyage and biofouling maintenance log and other documentation that supports any biofouling mitigation activities undertaken...."

FULL TEXT HERE:

Operator Guidelines for vessels less than 25 metres - DAFF

Cheers mate,
b.

[barnakiel]

BTW

NC=New Cal (edonia).

I cannot give you a ballpark figure for NC because I painted the bottom in Auckland one month earlier. But seen cruisers doing their jobs in NC boatyard in Noumea. I bet you can google out Noumea Marina and boatyard. They will give you a quote.

b.

[maxingout]

The last time I was in Australia, inspectors came around and wanted to know the type of antifouling that I had on the bottom of Exit Only. They wanted to see a can of paint if possible. I suspect they were wanting to know if there was tin on the bottom of the boat.

Australia is becoming more agressive in this area.

I never liked scraping our Privilege 39 underwater, and I was glad for the help of other members of my crew. A Conser 47 is even bigger - scraping that amount of hull on a regular basis wouldn't suit me. I would rather do the antifouling.

[dpollitt]

Thank you to all who responded...very helpful indeed.

Another question: once a boat is underway, can, does growth attach to it or must it be stationery? Never had to think about it until now.

[maxingout]

When we sailed transatlantic, we had lots of gooseneck barnacles attached to the hull in Barbados that were not visible when we started across the Atlantic. That's the first time I have ever seen that happen offshore.

[barnakiel]

We had barnacles living in happy colonies towards the end of each Atlantic and already midway across the Pacific. I felt very sorry to have to detach and ditch them after I dived on the boat and saw how beautiful they are up close. In retro, I think we should have eaten them, as they are considered a delicacy in Portugal.

Other than barnacles we had nill growth. The paint we used in EU was Hempel Mild Dynamic and it did not deliver in warm water, then we had Micron 66 and it was very good under way but very poor when stationary. Now we have something Dutch made in Galicia (cr..) and next I plan on Jotun SeaForce.

b.

[Minggat]

One of the nice things about cats is, if it's small enough you can pull into the shallows and clean the bottom without having to tread water.

[dpollitt]

ok, so Im half way between galapagos and marquesas and I need to dive and clean the bottom...will I be eaten by sharks.....


only half joking!!!

david

[maxingout]

Originally Posted by dpollitt

ok, so Im half way between galapagos and marquesas and I need to dive and clean the bottom...will I be eaten by sharks.....


only half joking!!!

david

I don't particularly like jumping in water that is thousands of feet deep mid ocean. I have seen sharks out there, and splashing around on the surface doing a bottom cleaning in the middle of the ocean doesn't fit into my comfort zone.

I remember reading Thor Heyerdahl in Kon Tiki where they had to periodically deal with the sharks swimming around their raft out in the Pacific.

Sometimes I am afraid of things I don't understand. Until I get more data, I won't be frolicking in the water out in the middle of the ocean.

Does anyone have hard data on whether swimmers attract predators out in the middle of the Pacific?