Anti-fouling options

[jkmacleod]

Hi all, gearing up for painting the bottom on our new (to us!) 1979 Defever. We plan to live aboard in the winter in Florida and the boat is in the water in Maine the rest of the year. Some freshwater use is possible in the Hudson and Lake Champlain. A good friend recommended Petit Ultima 40 or 60 to me and the price tag naturally frightened me. I’m looking for any and all anti-fouling recommendations. I know that marine group is undesirable on all hulls, but is it as important on a displacement hull making 6-7 kts? Rust-o-Leum makes a bottom paint that is a quarter of the cost of Petit. Anyone have any feedback on it? Thanks, in advance, for your advice.

 

[DavidM]

I have mostly used Interlux and Pettit marine bottom paint over the years, usually the premium one with all of the biocides in it.

A few years ago I used Pettit Hydrocoat, a water washable quality bottom paint. I kept my boat in the somewhat brackish canal water in SW Florida and got three seasons or more life with it- three 6 mo at a time in the water. It was very good at keeping slime off as well as barnacles, which FWIW grow prolifically on the underwater piles there.

Hydrocoat makes clean up much easier than an oil based paint for a DIYer. But it ain't cheap!!

David

 

[rgano]

I have mostly used Interlux and Pettit marine bottom paint over the years, usually the premium one with all of the biocides in it.

A few years ago I used Pettit Hydrocoat, a water washable quality bottom paint. I kept my boat in the somewhat brackish canal water in SW Florida and got three seasons or more life with it- three 6 mo at a time in the water. It was very good at keeping slime off as well as barnacles, which FWIW grow prolifically on the underwater piles there.

Hydrocoat makes clean up much easier than an oil based paint for a DIYer. But it ain't cheap!!

David

I used it too on a saltwater slipped trawler. I do not remember having any issues with it.

 

[Woodland Hills]

We use Sherwin-Williams ablative paint and are happy with it. It is part of their commercial coatings line.We cruise from Bahamas/S. Florida to New England.

 

[FoxtrotCharlie]

We use Sherwin-Williams ablative paint and are happy with it. It is part of their commercial coatings line.We cruise from Bahamas/S. Florida to New England.

I've heard good reports about Sherwin-Williams marine paints - plan on trying that myself at next haul-out. Allthough I've been happy with Micron CSC.

 

[bgillroy]

We use Pettit ultima 40 dual ablative. Get super performance. I'd likely check first with PO and try to stay with same if performance was good so no compatability issues.

 

[Jeff F]

Modern ablative paints are worth the $$ IMO. And I'll put a plug in for water based as well. I've had good experience with Hydrocoat, and if you're doing it yourself it's a breeze to work with. I just put Aquagard on my new boat. It's another water based ablative that's got good reviews. It went on very well, good coverage, fast drying and easy cleanup.

 

[koliver]

In Salt water, I have used Petit Hydrocoat for the past several years. It does nothing at all on the grunningear, which are covered in barnacles after only a few months, but it keeps the hull clear of hard growth and it takes only a power wash to get down to the paint.
This year I switched to Interlux CSC, as its price was close to that of the Petit, for the first time where I shop. So far, it has adhered well, but since I hauled in June, not sufficient time has passed for a good test.
The running gear has Petit cold galvanizing paint on one side and CSC on the other, though I am not expecting better performance than I have stated above.

 

[Traumagas]

I have Sea Hawk CUKOTE on our Leopard 51 PC ablative nothing Grows on it. the Slime and some Spaghetti like White stuff Grows along the waterline easily removes with a Plastic scraper and microfiber cloth. Sea Hawk came on the Boat so far so good runs 210.00 Gal

M/V Persistance

 

[hmason]

+1 for Cukote. It’s now on for 18 months in warm FL waters. So far no hard growth. Some soft growth that is easily removed.