Bottom Paint
Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2020 3:02 pm
I bought my PDQ 34 last year from Cape Cod, MA. The guy that had the boat hauled it out yearly for storage during the winter and then would get the bottom painted before launching around mid April. He used Petit Hydrocoat which is an ablative water base copper paint. Oil based bottom paints aree prohibited where he stored his boat, not so in Louisiana. I live on Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana and we keep our boats in the water all year. I would be interested to know what others are using on their hulls props and running gear in the warmer waters around the Gulf Coast. I was told if I use something other than a water base ablative paint I would need to strip it down to the gel coat. I rather not do this, but I don't want to haul the boat yearly for bottom painting. I find the props and running gear get a lot of barnacles on them in mid summer. At one point I couldn't do over 9 knots because of prop fouling after I just cleaned them 8 weeks prior. The Petit Hydrocoat is doing well, but will probably need to be redone this spring. Previously,I had a sail boat and used an oil base with 65% Cu. that I got from the Bottom Paint Store out of FL. I would get 5 to 6 years in between repainting using it.