[Mr. Mojo Rising]

after years of trailering, life finally presented me the opportunity to get a slip this season. Bottom has never been painted. What paints are you guys using and what is a good paint today? Last time I painted a bottom was 21 years ago and I was using Petit Unepoxy Plus which was a good paint that held up well.

 

[Creek Duck]

I'm a fan of Pettit products...... My go to for years was the Trinidad SR but that got discontinued so now the Trinidad Pro

 

[Triton99]

Sea Hawk Cukote. First application is a pia but the life you get from it is worth it. 5 years before i had to recoat.

 

[chaser]

Pettite hydrocoat eco. Waterbased ablative paint that’s goes on easy, use a little water to thin it I found if needed. Works great and also can be used to paint trim tabs as it doesn’t have copper in it so no dissimilar metal interaction. I have been using it for years on my Mako and have very little build up and I only need to do waterline, transom, and tabs every year. I don’t paint the whole bottom just touch up where needed and go. I pull the boat and the slime just blasts off with my electric power washer and looks great.

 

[chaser]

I will add that trim tabs require an initial light sanding and painting with pettite metal primer in a spray can then overcoat with the eco. The primer step never needs repeating though just repaint the tabs every year with the hydro. Also don’t forget those trim tab zincs don’t paint under them. Just sharing the system that works for me you will get many different responses.

 

[Vitalsigns]

I would check with the manufacturer, I haven't in years but it was always best to apply a hard bottom paint first in a different color then add several coats of an ablative in the final color. I've been using Interlux for years and had excellent results, Mesco stopped selling it and they used Pettit on my bottom last year, I'm not sure why but I had a lot of growth early and had to pull, wash and repaint. The theory is that my boat was spending a lot of time sitting in the mud do too very low tides early on, it did happen 1 time before using Interlux on my other boat, same slip.

 

[fish8]

I was always an interlux micron fan. Always had great results and would
Just touch up every year. A few years back west marine cpp ablative was on sale for 79.99. I figured I would give it a shot. My results are better than the $200+ micron. All
I do is touch it up every year. My boat goes in late March and stays till late November.

 

[Bigtee96]

Before you put on that first coat of anti-fouling paint, no matter what brand, you should look into properly preparing your bare hull with a barrier coat system. This is an sealer that prevents water absorbsion/intrustion into your fiberglass bottom, and also is the primer for the anti-fouling paint. There are several good companies in the area that can do the bottom for you and do it right. As much as I am a DIY guy, this is one task I don't mind paying someone else to do. To do it right, you should really take the boat off the trailer, blocked up safely. Not worth the hassle or the risk.

Where you dock your boat can also affect the paints effectiveness, near a strong current will wash away some of the ablative paints, so you buddy that is in a still harbor, may have good results, but a boat in the current may not fare so well. So when someone says that have always used brand "x", make sure the environment is similar to where you will be keeping your boat.

Best of luck on whatever you decide.

 

[Bigtee96]

FYI, also from Mickleton (Quaker Rd) now in Somers Point.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

FYI, also from Mickleton (Quaker Rd) now in Somers Point.

I’m in the development between Democrat and Quaker near Jeffrey Clark

 

[mmkmystic]

I would check with the manufacturer, I haven't in years but it was always best to apply a hard bottom paint first in a different color then add several coats of an ablative in the final color. I've been using Interlux for years and had excellent results, Mesco stopped selling it and they used Pettit on my bottom last year, I'm not sure why but I had a lot of growth early and had to pull, wash and repaint. The theory is that my boat was spending a lot of time sitting in the mud do too very low tides early on, it did happen 1 time before using Interlux on my other boat, same slip.

You can get Interlux from other jobbers, although I've moved on with Seahawk last year

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I appreciate everyones input. After researcing I decided that I am going to go with the Pettit products. I’m going to use Pettit protect as my primer/barrier coat and use the Trinidad HD as my top coat.

 

[Vitalsigns]

Thanks for filing your final decision, please let us know how that combination works when you pull her out in the fall. We all like to hear about the results because the paints are constantly changing. it gets really hard to decide what to use!

 

[ramairgt22]

just an fyi

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Got the boat blocked up on Friday and started the bottom prep. Used the Petit Bio Blue to Dewax the hull. Was a lot of work but nice product. Next step is to sand and apply a coat of the Petit protect barrier coat. Hoping for a good weather window next weekend.

 

[Vitalsigns]

I see that your already started and I'm sure that your at the water line but you may want to raise it a bit, the wave action causes a brown stain above the waterline. I had to raise mine on both of my boats after the original paint.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I see that your already started and I'm sure that your at the water line but you may want to raise it a bit, the wave action causes a brown stain above the waterline. I had to raise mine on both of my boats after the original paint.

I did raise it about an inch from where I originally marked the line when it was sitting in the water

 

[Retainer]

I did raise it about an inch from where I originally marked the line when it was sitting in the water

Hey Mojo, sorry I didn’t see this thread. But where we are on the creek is brackish. More so where you dock. I use a high copper paint, and have always had good results with the WM CCP ablative. It is made by Pettit for WM. This year I picked it up on sale from 139$ to 89$ then had a 30$ rewards.

I have also used Interlux ACT with success.

That Trinidad is not cheap and you should have good results with it but you need a slime fighter too.

 

[WannaLaugh]

Last year I bought WM PCA Reg 229 on sale 159 after years of using other paints. I was very happy with the way it kept the barnacles at bay, hardly any at all when I pulled the boat last winter. Not the cheapest but certainly not the most expensive.