Bottom paint question

luvinlife

So.....I was off today and took a ride to my marina to visit my shrink wrapped "new to me" 2006 Rinker 270 FV. Was looking ahead to the eventual bottom painting project in a few months. The boat has black ablative paint on it and it looks to be in pretty nice shape. I can see the prior blue color barely coming through in a couple small areas at the water line but otherwise it's all black. Another boater at the marina told me I could just touch up the waterline and be good to go for another season. Not looking forward to the sanding and dust and painting at all. Does everyone paint every year or is a waterline touch up all you need if you painted last year? Never kept a boat in a marina before so all my prior boats were unpainted. This forum has been a huge help to me and I am sure more questions will arise!  Thanks in advance. 

Hamdog

I can't speak for being in saltwater but my 342 has been in freshwater for 7 seasons now. Bottom paint was applied for first time before 2010 season and lasted 6 seasons. Was re-applied before 2016 season. If your bottom paint was just applied last season, I am going to bet you are good with just a touchup but I will let the experts chime in.

Liberty44140

Depends on the paint. I use hydrocoat so I have to add 2 coats every 5 seasons. Of course I touch up each spring if needed. Other paints only last one season. Hydrocoat can be painted over most ablative paints so you could most likely switch to it and be good for 5 seasons. Can't go 6, I've learned that the hard way. 

luvinlife

Liberty it is painted in Pettit Hydrocoat. It was painted one seasin ago I believe. Not sure. 

Black_Diamond

You can touch up or do the 'smile'. Typical for ablatives. You can just scothbrite befor the repaint. No need to sand. Wear a mask/ goggles though!

reneechris14

I get two years out of mine,because I have to scrub bottom even with plant still get some build up.I use ACT by interlux.I don't believe you need to sand to much as you should use the same paint.

Liberty44140

If it was done with hydrocoat 1 season ago then you are good for 4 more. You can buy it in quarts to touch up if needed. Great paint. 

MarkB

I had micron CSC and I used to just touch up here and there before putting her in the water in spring. It was pretty simple. 

luvinlife

luvinlife

Here is what the bottom looked like brfore power washing 

luvinlife

Looked a lot better after they power washed it 

06Rinker270

That looks good @luvinlife for what I can tell.

What do you guys use to sand the chipping or flaking areas?  Do you hand sand or use a sander?  If sander, is it orbital? 

Liberty44140

I just hand sand.

dropout

For ablative bottom paint, I found it best to sand by hand with drywall sanding sheets while using the hose to keep it wet, no dust.

06Rinker270

Then do you roll on the paint?  

Old paint is Pettit Copper-Guard but thinking of switching to Hydrocoat.  Should I put on a full coat if its a new paint?  Or just continue with the copper-guard. 

EDIT - Answered my own question by calling Pettit but thought I would share.  Joe from Pettit advised me to sand off loose paint, and scuff up the rest of the bottom.  Use short nap roller, 3/16 or less, 80 grit, 2 coats of Hydrocoat.  1 gallon will cover 27ft boat with two coats.  4 hours between coats.    

Liberty44140

Yep, Pettits phone support is awesome, that's how I started using hydrocoat and their advice has always been spot on 

MarkB

Yes, just sand loose flakes off, until you get to the stuff that really sticks and then a light scuff everywhere else, if you want to refresh the bottom paint. Otherwise you can patch small areas, and leave the old stuff that looks good alone.

tniggel

You can get mohair blend 3/16 rollers at sherwin Williams. I use 80 grit on random orbit palm sander, every 3-4 seasons fresh water with petit vivid

06Rinker270

I go back and forth about just touching up with the Copper-Guard or give the bottom an entire coat of Hydrocoat.  I guess that depends on how much is flaking off...its only 1.5 season old.  

Also does the sander have to be random?

Thanks for the tip @tniggel

craigswardmtb

I use Micron CSC in RI waters and it works great.  I usually roll a new coat on each season.  Last season i did two.  It is flaking more and more each season so i'm about due for a total sand down.

Black_Diamond

Make sure you wear a GOOD dust mask. You may want a tyvek suit too. The dust off the Micron CSC goes everywhere and is toxic. Been there!  You can rough up with scotchbrite pads too. 

Just switched to VC-17 myself from the CSC. 

bry1429

Black_Diamond said:

Make sure you wear a GOOD dust mask. You may want a tyvek suit too. The dust off the Micron CSC goes everywhere and is toxic. Been there!  You can rough up with scotchbrite pads too. 

Just switched to VC-17 myself from the CSC. 

You are going to love VC17, I had it on my previous cruiser for over 20 yrs. Never have to do a total sand down after initial 1st application,  just put another coat on every few yrs. Goes on super easy and the bottom stays smooth and boat moves quickly with VC17.

Black_Diamond

I have heard it makes a difference in speed. Makes sense as blowboaters use it all the time. Not sanding ever is huge.  

craigswardmtb

I wish I could switch to vc17 but it doesn't hold up to the fouling conditions up by me. 

Liberty44140

Apologies for differing on this but I was a blow boater for most of my life and almost all of our boats used vc17. For a racing sailboat like we had it is the only way to go, it rolls on super smooth with no orange peel and it goes on so thin that it wears before you'll ever have to sand. For a racing sailboat always looking for an extra 1/2 knot of speed vc17 is the ticket. That said I would never use it on a power boat or cruising sailboat. It wears rather quickly, it is very expensive compared to hydrocoat, and it really is a 1, maybe 2 year paint. We used to pull the boats every week to power wash the bottom and half way throUgh the summer the Vc was nearly gone. Hydrocoat is easier, cleaner, cheaper, and lasts 5 full seasons without recoat. 

gack

Maybe a dumb question concerning bottom paint, but is there  a rule of thumb for painting the outdrive?  I always had mine painted on boats I've had had as I stay in a slip all season,  but I have seen other boats with bottom paint and none on the outdrive such as the boat I recently purchased.   Not sure if this is because it was trailered,  but if that's the case why bottom paint at all? 

Liberty44140

If your going to paint it you need to use the right paint. Either oem outdrive paint which does not antifoul or use an antifoulant specific for outdrives like trilux. I use Turilux on my drives. If you trailer, no need to paint bottom or drives.

MarkB

Do not paint the outdrive with an ablative (especially if it contains metal), it automatically voids the warranty, and even if you don't have warranty, there's a reason it automatically voids the warranty. You can actually cause bad corrosion.

We also left a 1" gap between the paint and the drive (where it was bolted to the transom).

gack

Thanks, I always had the marina bottom paint my boats, never asked what they used on the outdrive but looked like same paint as boat (non-ablative ).  

craigswardmtb

Being in Long Island you absolutely want to paint your drive with an antifoulibg paint if you leave it in the water for any period of time. Pick one that is meant for aluminum outdrives. The factory paint will not do well in SW. I have had much better success with Pacifica Plus over Trilux. It has a better biocide for our waters. Like Mark mentioned stay away from any antifoulibg that has copper in it, which is used in most bottom paints. 

randy56

On the question of bottom paint why does it have to be Black, blue, or some dark color? Why can it not be almond to match the boat!