Bottom Paint

[Ambler27FC]

I am getting ready to strip all of the old bottom paint, repair, and epoxy coat. So I have a decision to make on bottom paint. One of my pier-mates pulled his sailboat today after a year in the water and it was pristine. This was in the Chesapeake Bay and after a quick power-wash he had a clean hull with no mollusk marks. I have been using what I thought was a high-quality ablative bottom paint with different results. Even while suiting up in the diving gear once or twice a year to clean, my hull doesn't come out looking so good. He said he uses a non-ablative bottom paint that has a higher copper content. Any opinions from the trawler types that stay in the water all year?

[Ed422]

My boat is new to me and hadn’t been hauled for 3 years before I did in the fall. It lived in Long Island Sound which is much more salty than its home now on the Chesapeake (Patapsco River). Except for select areas that had been scraped (past owner) or appear to have been not painted (like the ss rudder) the worst I power washed off was about 1/2” of fibrous slime. According to the logs, it had been painted with Petit Hydrocoat. That’s what I put on. After the West Marine discount and a rebate from Petit, it was pretty affordable. I’ll see how it does this year. That said, my brother has a boat in the same marina that he puts “not the cheapest, but the next higher priced” ablative paint on, and his came out looking pretty clean after his almost 8 mo season. It seems in ablative paints, there is a range from about 20%-47% or so of cuprous oxide. The Hydrocoat was in the 47% group.

Another thing I’ll throw in there, which a bunch of commercial crabbers seem to swear by, is to mix cayenne pepper into the paint. For years I thought a couple guys were doing the “watch what we can talk the city boy into”, but I’ve heard it in lots of places and seen folks do it. I figure it can’t hurt.

Good luck!

Ed

[DCatSea]

I'll have answers and pix to both your questions soon. Just repainted bottom and have removed wood on wheelhouse trim to re-stain (colour change) and apply Halcyon. Going to boat now and will send pix when I get back.
A) Ablative paint I've been using on the Bay for 5 years is excellent but I can't remember the name; it's on the boat. It's 174.00 a gallon and is used by many commercial fishers.
B) I've only had 1 minor leak in windows and it was fairly easily solved.

Doug

[Ambler27FC]

Many thanks for the responses and any future posts. This has spun my head a bit. I have been using a more expensive ablative. The paint wears off OK near the waterline but seems to be very thick now in the aft section on the bottom near the keel.

Table spices - that is new to me! You would think black pepper though, which I think has a bit more sting.

[DCatSea]

Here are pictures promised:
A) Stbd side of wheelhouse (Pt is same) and front of same. With all wheelhouse seams, i am loath to disturb them because there is no (touch wood) leakage. I've just cleaned out years of PO clutter and filled many screw holes. Wood trim is off for sanding and cleaning, and 5 coats of TotalBoat Halcyon being applied . I'll post pix of completed project soon.
B) The MarPro SuperB Ocean bottom paint. Hidden Harbour in Deale has it in stock for $174.00 inc taxes.

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[Ambler27FC]

Doug,

Thanks so much. That joint looks allot better than what I was expecting. I was envisioning a rougher joint with some gaps (especially at those tricky corners) and had assumed the boards were covering imperfect joints. If my trim boards were not set in place with 3M 5200 adhesive the job won't be too bad.

Thanks also for the bottom paint reference. I have some research to do.

Also planning to add a small lip at the back of the cockpit enclosure to divert rainwater. I've noticed that water will travel along the boards on the side go under any canvas on the back and into the cockpit. Most of this water goes straight down to the nearby drain, but some of it sneaks around and soaks the trim boards on the inside.

Erik

[DCatSea]

You should also PM Sprig1, Chris glassed in his joint a couple of years ago and would be a very good source for your project. I'll give him a call and let hm know you are considering the same.
The beauty of the unglassed joint is that you have the flexibility to remove your woodwork to restain and varnish without spillage. All my wood is held on with #10 screws (2 or 3 per piece) with Lifecaulk in the hole for watertightness. Seems to work, and LC comes off dead easily with a razor blade.
I'll post "after" pix once all is done.
BTW I have an answer to your rainwater issue. I'll post pix as well. (Not 100% but pretty close)

[DCatSea]

You should also PM Sprig1, Chris glassed in his joint a couple of years ago and would be a very good source for your project. I'll give him a call and let hm know you are considering the same.
The beauty of the unglassed joint is that you have the flexibility to remove your woodwork to restain and varnish without spillage. All my wood is held on with #10 screws (2 or 3 per piece) with Lifecaulk in the hole for watertightness. Seems to work, and LC comes off dead easily with a razor blade.
I'll post "after" pix once all is done.
BTW I have an answer to your rainwater issue. I'll post pix as well. (Not 100% but pretty close)

[Ambler27FC]

Thank DCat! I got a response on another thread from Sprig1 - very helpful. Seems like there is a bit of variability in this joint and I will have to deal with whatever I find. Full respects for maintaining the wood (a classy look), but I am just a selectively lazy person that made a decision to limit varnish to the interior.

Looking forward to seeing finished pictures. Very curious to see your solution to the rainwater moving down the sides of the trim problem. I am probably going to deal with this issue using fiberglass (because the materials will be at hand), but there are probably a dozen ways to do this, and your solution will certainly be more useful to most people.

[DCatSea]

As promised, here are pix of the finished wheelhouse windows wood, and some overalls of the side wood and Mazboot in general. Yes, that is the Capital in the distance. I used Total Boat Halcyon for the wood, five coats. I'll be doing the cabin handrails and the wheelhouse trim in the very near future.

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[Ambler27FC]

Very nice DCatSea!

Curious how you ended up handling those tough corner pieces. I remember that was a concern for you but can't see it in the pictures.

I have a later model with the metal windows and expect fiber glassing the joint will reduce future work. Less classy, but I need to start spending more time on the water than working in the boat yard. Your pictures remind me of the need for a new doggo. My Golden was too old to pick up boating, but if you start them early ...

[DCatSea]

Regarding the corners, Tego (Ben) gave me a very neat template for completing the corners in Bristol fashion, but like you I needed to get in the water, so the corners will be a longer term project. That said, I used a separate piece of rubrail on the transom, and one longer piece for the rest of the boat. The bow was the most difficult section, but the rest went on easily and is tight.. At the corners I used 2 x #10X1/1/2 screws on each section, with finishing washers, to hold the joint in place. Black Lifecaulk seals the corner,and looks quite decent. I'll send pix in a couple of days.
Regarding good boat dogs - Daisy Mae is a Boykin Spaniel - very smart, easy to train, and 100% water dog with a sense of humour. All-American breed and the State dog of SC.She jumped off the dock at 9 weeks and swam around collecting an audience. Shes a bit of a Princess, but super sweet. They are also great flushing retrievers.

[Ambler27FC]

DCat,

I finally pulled the boards off the center section and corners. A bit rough with a lot of peanut-butter and a couple rows of fiberglass to seal it up before the rains, but not too much work. The leaks were definitely at the corners. As you know, those corners can't be removed except destructively and so are probably usually poorly maintained. Impressed by the woodwork though. Whatever you do with the corner, it may be smart to seal the joint under the wood first, if you haven't already. My corners were ... challenged.

For the new rub-rail (entirely different now) I am using a separate section for the transom like you. I've seen boats with the rub-rail wrapped around 90 degree turns, but no thank you. I think that area wants a gap for water seepage anyway. The bow does seem like the hardest part - hope it doesn't require a heat gun.

I bet that is a fantastic dog. Mine was the best dog in history, except for boating. I found swimming and boating are two different things for a dog and need to do some research and planning.