Bottom paint: slippery anti-fouling advise.

[andy1canada]

Howdy!

Got about 5-hours on the old Zeta's new mill (4.3 MPI/Merc/Alpha).
So far so good. My Lowrance GPS says she's maxing-out @ about 42-mph @ 4700 or so rpm (short burst only w/mechanic on board during sea-trial).

All the Merc test-data (Merc marine website) I've read on this powerplant claims she should be good for about 50/mph or better in this boat. Yeah, there could be the possibility they've inflated some of their results. We'll see.

I'm going to re-prop with SS and repaint the bottom then see what happens.

The bottom is rough with a few layers of badly flaking old anti-fouling paint.

I'm going to block her up and do the work in my driveway (I know what I'm in for as I did boat bottoms for a summer as an apprentice mech back in the early 80's...)

She's a trailer boat but I haven't ruled out the possibility of the odd stint, perhaps a couple of weeks or months, moored at the (salty) marina during peak fishing season.

Can anyone recommend a good anti-fouling bottom paint that is truly smooth and slippery?

All advise appreciated!

Cheers!

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Bottom paint: slippery anti-fouling advise.

You didn't say what kind of boat has the new powerplant. It is therefore hard to judge expected performance. My '18 SeaRay BR has a Merc 4.3LX (205HP). It had about the same top speed at 4500RPM.


As for the bottom paint. Most run of the mill A-F paint has a soft finish. You can get some hard, performance A-F paint (VC offshore?) for a price. However, even if you strip off the old paint down to bare FG, sand to 1000grit and wax the hull, you will not increase your speed more that 2-3MPH,. IMHO.

 

[andy1canada]

Re: Bottom paint: slippery anti-fouling advise.

Howdy!

Sorry Chris... it's a glass hull with a good 'V'.

Thanks again!