Do I need bottom paint??

[woodee148]

I never really thought of it to be honest. I guess I thought it just went on older boats with a different finish. I have an 07 with a gelcoat finish and this is my first year with her at a slip. Should I have had the bottom painted?? I never had a problem with it before but it was only in the water a couple of days at a time and then pulled out and sprayed down. Would a good coat of wax help?

thanks

 

[JoLin]

Re: Do I need bottom paint??

If your boat is going to stay in the water, you need bottom paint. It's formulated to inhibit plant and marine "critter" (like barnacles) growth. If you were to pull the boat every week to thoroughly wash the hull, you might get away without it. If you don't, you're going to be very sorry at the end of the season.

A coat of wax will do nothing to keep stuff from growing on the hull.

 

[woodee148]

Re: Do I need bottom paint??

Thanks, that kinda sucks, makes no difference fresh water or not

thanks again for the quick response

 

[bigb2008]

Re: Do I need bottom paint??

I leave my boat dropped in a slip in freshwater for the season. No problem, though you do need to clean the "lake crap" off when you pull it out. Really not that big of a deal, comes off pretty easily.

I thought you really only needed bottom paint for salt water.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Do I need bottom paint??

Fresh water..... a really good coat of wax and still be prepared to clean the bottom to get the slime and grime off. I have known people to carry a green pad and sponges with them to scrub the hull in shallow water on occasion.

 

[rs2k]

Re: Do I need bottom paint??

About fresh water boating... Just wait till the zebra muscles show up at your lake.

http://www.sgnis.org/publicat/wi2.GIF
http://aquafornia.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/quagga-propeller-300x224.jpg

 

[woodee148]

Re: Do I need bottom paint??

one yes and two for the nay sayers... anyone else have an opinion?

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Do I need bottom paint??

You're going to get a lot of crap on the hull of that boat. Sometimes it takes an acid wash to get the stuff off. Is there a lift at the slip you have? If you are able to put the boat on a lift when not in use, then that would save you from having to get bottom paint done. You should wax the hull at least once a year regardless of whether it is kept in the water or not.

 

[bowman316]

Re: Do I need bottom paint??

It seems to me that even bottom painted boats will still get barnicles on them, if they stay in the water for a year or so. They do come off thou, just a pain to get each one off.

Some people will scuba dive to clean the hull in the water.

 

[dave11]

Re: Do I need bottom paint??

Do you need bottom paint if you run the boat everyday?

 

[bowman316]

Re: Do I need bottom paint??

I don't think frequency of use makes a difference in how much growth you will get. The hull is still in the water.

 

[Ron-O]

Re: Do I need bottom paint??

I'm painting mine this year. Barrier coat then Pettit Vivid. Only being in a slip 3 months last year on the Ohio River it was extremely nasty at the end of the season. Just finished sanding yesterday and put the 1 st coat of epoxy paint on. Hopefully I can finish all the rest on Monday unless it rains. Petitt protect gives a 3 hour to 14 day window between coats of barrier paint. Then onto the nice bright blue ablative paint.

 

[BiggPops]

Re: Do I need bottom paint??

Yea I've got to paint mine to I was going to do it during the holidays but it is going to be raining all weekend so now i have to put it off even longer. I have old bottom paint on mine so i'm going to have to do a lot of sanding (yay)