Do I need bottom paint over epoxy?

[Jimnkathy]

I am in the middle of openeing up many blisters in my hull mostly at the waterline. I am using a countersink bit to open them up it works perfect it keeps you from drilling to deep and gives plenty of surface area for the epoxy to adhere to.I am planning on using west system epoxy to fill the blisters after they dry. I am not sure if I should use the barrier coat additive in the west sys epoxy and coat my complete hull or should I use Intereprotect 2000? My other question is do I need to put bottom paint over the epoxy or interprotect 2000? I trailer my boat and I dont keep it in the water for more than 1.5 days at a time.

If I need bottom paint what is a good paint for a trailered boat? I am on a budget keep that in mind.

Thanks
Jim

[SURV1969]

I used that black, really hard bottom paint years ago and does it ever look good.

It lasts forever and on your boat probably longer.

The reason I bring it up is, will after all is said and done will your hull look like it's had the chicken-pox?

[Catigale]

With 1.5 days in the water between trips, I wouldnt even treat the blisters, let alone epoxy, let alone epoxy plus bottom paint.

My 2002 gets wax only and has been slipped 6 months of year for two seasons, trailered for 4 years in both salt and fresh - spends about 4 weeks in salt water and weekends in fresh when trailered.

[PatrickS]

With 1.5 days in the water between trips, I wouldnt even treat the blisters, let alone epoxy, let alone epoxy plus bottom paint.

My 2002 gets wax only and has been slipped 6 months of year for two seasons, trailered for 4 years in both salt and fresh - spends about 4 weeks in salt water and weekends in fresh when trailered.

Would there be less of a need for bottom paint in a colder climate,
such as e.g. in the Baltic, Finland (comparable to Alaska)?

I'm wondering myself whether bottom paint would be mandatory, if
the boat is only in the water 4-5 months of the year.

[Chinook]

Our boat sits on the trailer when not underway, and so I've never gotten started with the bottom paint cycle. I debated whether or not to paint before taking the Inside Passage to Alaska. After talking with our dealer, I decided against paint. I gave the hull a thorough coating of anti-fouling wax before starting out. Boat was in the water for 10 weeks, underway much of the time. Longest she sat in a slip was 4 days. Water temps were in the 40's and 50's much of the time, but got as low as the mid 30's in Tracy Arm and Glacier Bay. About 3 or 4 weeks out, the hull was sporting a pretty good growth of green at the waterline. I tried to get permission to use the grid for a thorough low tide scrubbing at a couple of places, but was told their insurance wouldn't allow it. I ended up scrubbing what I could reach from the dinghy. The biggest accumulation seemed to be within a couple inches of water line. Probably due to greatest sunlight penetration there. When we pulled out at the end of the trip, the bottom was pretty slimy, but the growth wasn't really all that bad. No barnacles at all, except for a few places like around the motor mount, where I hadn't touched with the antifouling wax, which suggests to me that it helped. The few barnacles I did have were small buttons, easily knocked off. I used a pressure washer on the drive home, which operated at rather low pressure, and was able to spray most of the slime off. After I got home I pressure washed again and did some scrubbing to get her clean. It's a bit of work, but then again, so is applying and maintaining bottom paint.

[delevi]

I considered bottom paint a while back and the guy at the boat yard said they often don't use barrier coat on boats that had ample water exposure (not new boats.) They typically test the moisture content of the hull, since fiberglass is a bit porous. If it's beyond a certain level, a barraier coat can actually caues problems by trapping the moisture in. After getting the estimate, I passed alltogether.

[Catigale]

Cold water will slow growth of stuff, no doubt. Chemical reactions are slowed at lower temperature, grossly speaking, but the effect isnt too large since it scales as absolute temperature (-273C as reference)

Thus 'hot water' at 30C is only about 7% warmer than 'cold water' 10C from a reaction kinetics standpoint[/list][/code]

[empet]

Hi - can you tell me what anti-fouling wax you recommend and where I can get it? Thank you.

[Jimnkathy]

I used that black, really hard bottom paint years ago and does it ever look good.

It lasts forever and on your boat probably longer.

The reason I bring it up is, will after all is said and done will your hull look like it's had the chicken-pox?

What did you use? I hope it doesnt look like it had the chicken pox. After I fill the blisters with epoxy I have alot of sanding to do.

[Jimnkathy]

With 1.5 days in the water between trips, I wouldnt even treat the blisters, let alone epoxy, let alone epoxy plus bottom paint.
My 2002 gets wax only and has been slipped 6 months of year for two seasons, trailered for 4 years in both salt and fresh - spends about 4 weeks in salt water and weekends in fresh when trailered.

Well I at least need to epoxy the blisters. Some are popping off by them selves and exposing the fiberglass. The previous owner sanded alot of gelcoat away when they prepped it for bottom paint. I figure the epoxy would help thicken up the thin gelcoat and fill the blister repairs. Maybe I can put the wax on the epoxy coat?

[Chinook]

I used Boat Armor Easy On Bottom Coating, by Marine Tex. I found it at the Seattle West Marine store. No one at the store seemed to know anything about it, and they had to do a bit of looking to find the stuff. I don't know what other similar products are out there. This is the one I used, and it helped. The label says it's for fresh water and intermittent salt water applications, and is particularly recommended for boat bottoms, outdrives, trim tabs and fenders. I think it's a good option if you don't have bottom paint, and your boat will be in the water for longer than a couple of weeks. However, if I were leaving it in a slip for the full season, I would then opt for painting.

[Terry]

I have used Aurora VS721 bottom wax for several seasons now and it also lays claim to anti-fouling properties. I may search out Chinooks' Boat Armor Easy On as an alternative option. One thing I have learned from various waxes I have used over the years is that they do not work as well as they claim, especially regarding the anti-fouling. I still have to haul out half way through a season and pressure wash that bottom, clean it, and then re-apply a couple more fresh coats of wax, no getting around it. The green slime always returns as do the barnacles and those half dollar coin size flat critters. What does not come off with the pressure washer does come off with a plastic windshield scraper or small arborite sample used as a scraper. I have always been a bottom waxer but once I retire (next year) I may seriously consider the epoxy & bottom paint procedure as it is only once every two seasons as oposed to 2-3 waxing jobs per year. Even though the water is cold here in the PNW that stuff grows and fast!

[empet]

Thank you Chinook and Terry - very helpful!