Bottom Painting in Baja

[sail2bluesue]

Hello!
We are heading to the Sea of Cortez from San Diego next month and will be needing to paint the hull this year. We're trying to decide whether to paint in California or Baja. Obviously we've heard it's cheaper in Mexico, but do we need to bring our own paint? We're thinking of getting it done in La Paz. Any other cruisers have info or experiences to share?
Thanks,
Sue
s/v Happy Dance

[Redcoat]

Plenty of yards in La Paz. Paint is expensive 200 to 250 a Gallon.If you are going to be in San Diego pm me and I will send you to the guy. 5 gallon bucket of the real for $300.00 can only be applied in Mexico though.

[zeehag]

guaymas is less pricey--paint is universally high, but haul and launch is more in some areas than in others, with fornatur guaymas as least expensive on listings of fornatur haul and launch pricing. there is a list obtainable online if you call fornatur marinas. there are other yards, and fornatur i have found is higher than the independent ones, but is a good guide.

[seamaster]

Originally Posted by Redcoat

Plenty of yards in La Paz. Paint is expensive 200 to 250 a Gallon.If you are going to be in San Diego pm me and I will send you to the guy. 5 gallon bucket of the real for $300.00 can only be applied in Mexico though.

What kind of bottom paint is your guy selling? Can you PM me the contact info?
Thanks

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by Redcoat

Plenty of yards in La Paz. Paint is expensive 200 to 250 a Gallon.If you are going to be in San Diego pm me and I will send you to the guy. 5 gallon bucket of the real for $300.00 can only be applied in Mexico though.

Originally Posted by seamaster

What kind of bottom paint is your guy selling? Can you PM me the contact info?
Thanks

Sounds like he's hawking a tributyl tin paint and if so, selling it, buying it and using it is uncool. Not to mention illegal in the United States and Mexico.

[seamaster]

Originally Posted by Redcoat

Plenty of yards in La Paz. Paint is expensive 200 to 250 a Gallon.If you are going to be in San Diego pm me and I will send you to the guy. 5 gallon bucket of the real for $300.00 can only be applied in Mexico though.

Originally Posted by fstbttms

Sounds like he's hawking a tributyl tin paint and if so, selling it, buying it and using it is uncool. Not to mention illegal in the United States and Mexico.

Wow! Did I ask you?
Really? How do you know? Are you the bottom paint police?
I read a lot of postins from you... You are not only pretending to be the bottom paint police, but also the hookah police...
I also noticed that all treads turn to schaise once you start replaying to them - there goes that one...

[fstbttms]

Well, why all the secrecy? Is it a tBt paint this guy is selling or isn't it? If it is, are you going to use it? You seem a tad defensive.

[zeehag]

seammaster.
guaymas , san carlos , la paz., mazatlan, san blas...many yards in and near gulf of california. fewer as you go south of there.
paint...comex sells bottom paint at 200 usd per gallon. make sure it is well mixed. comex is available everywhere. seems to do a decent job, as per cruisers here who use it.

[ranchhand]

My daughter is sailing from Puerto Vallarta to Guaymas for bottom paint and repairs. Must be a $$$ reason for the trip.

[senormechanico]

If it's good enough for the Navy, it's good enough for the rest of us.

[zeehag]

ranchland..i had my boat haul paint and launch estimated in banderas bay. YES THERE IS A REALLY GOOOD REASON she is sailing north to guaymas for this work. guaymas has the lowestpublished pricing for haul and launch in mexico.
the estimate in guaymas is less than1/3 the hit in la cruz yard....lol..and a couple hundred dollars less than opequimar
paint here is not a concern of a bottom scraper in san francisco bay. there is no way to purchase allegedly illegal paint in a socialist nation practicing napoleonic law.
get real fstbttms and stop breathing so much nitrogen. it is befouling your brain. thankyou.
the mexican national `paint company is comex. it will be regulation.
comex paint is approx 2000 pesos, or 180usd.

[rebel heart]

I'd go with La Paz unless you have plans to go up further north, and to the mainland. San Carlos and Guaymas are not exactly hot spot destinations other than the yards and haul out facilities. Usually people are there to get work done, haul, or launch, not hang out in between for protracted amounts of time. You certainly can and some do, but there are of places in the Sea that are generally more enjoyable.

Regarding TBT paint, I doubt you'll find any unless you're best buddies with someone who works on commercial boats. You can also buy the additive to mix into your paint. Personally I don't see copper based paints as being that much worse, you stay legal, it's better for the environment, and it's less nasty stuff for you to potentially ingest when doing your own cleaning.

Even with copper bottom paint a good friend of mine got copper poisoning from the stuff by diving the bottom in the first month. I'm sure tin poisoning is equally as nasty.

Banderas Bay is a pretty crummy place to haul, funny enough. La Cruz has a terrific marina and is a terrific town, but the yard is a notorious rip off. And since not a lot of people use the yard, the workers themselves don't have a lot of experience and there's a lot of turnover.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

If it's good enough for the Navy, it's good enough for the rest of us.

Sorry to ruin your justifcation for poisoning the ocean, but the U.S. Navy doesn't use tin-based paints.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

You can also buy the additive to mix into your paint.

You can't mix the tin additive with copper-based paint. They are incompatible.

Originally Posted by rebel heart

Even with copper bottom paint a good friend of mine got copper poisoning from the stuff by diving the bottom in the first month.

No offense, but that seems fairly unlikely. I think you'd have to drink the stuff out of the can to get poisoned by it. It simply doesn't release copper off the hull in the kind of quantity to do that. I have certainly dived plenty of fresh bottoms and have never had a problem or heard (until now) of anybody running into trouble doing it.

[zeehag]

local friend of mine attend to my boating needs in mazatlan for a fraction of what most places charge..i just have to get there, and i cannot sit in the yard for a month repairing my interior, so ...could end up in old harbor at stormy time, which is unacceptable even for locals.
san blas is an excellent albeit buggy , place for a cheap haul out for paint. bring your own. might be good to bring your crew, also.
the least expensive yard fornature owns and operates lists all their marine ways and yard prices along with their marina pricing. the yard in guaymas is least pricey. is also mostly native.
gringos go to san carlos.
gringos go to la paz.
prices are accordingly higher.
i am aiming at guaymas.