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Old 08-21-2019, 03:50 PM   #1
Knot Today
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Default Bottom Paint

So, I bought the boat on Friday...
Saturday I had it out at the sandbar...

As the boat had been sitting in the water for quite some time...
It had algae all over the bottom... so I began brushing it off with medium brush, (No Chemicals) then a soft sponge...

But as I scrubbed... I noticed what seemed like bottom paint coming off..
"So I stopped"

As I'm very new to all this... Can someone chime in on how much the bottom cleaning, and maintenance/painting of my boat is going to cost me out of the water
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Old 08-21-2019, 05:09 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Knot Today View Post
So, I bought the boat on Friday...
Saturday I had it out at the sandbar...

As the boat had been sitting in the water for quite some time...
It had algae all over the bottom... so I began brushing it off with medium brush, (No Chemicals) then a soft sponge...

But as I scrubbed... I noticed what seemed like bottom paint coming off..
"So I stopped"

As I'm very new to all this... Can someone chime in on how much the bottom cleaning, and maintenance/painting of my boat is going to cost me out of the water
You have left a lot of questions unanswered... If you're boating in fresh water only, or you trailer the boat and are using it in the ocean, there is no need to paint the bottom. The only reason to paint the bottom is if you are going to leave it in salt water for a long period of time. If you are a salt water boater, and keep it on a slip / mooring, then you would clean and repaint the hull every season. The only "maintenance" you would have to pay for now, is to clean it up if you are not leaving it in salt water. Most places would most likely charge by the foot, whether they are just cleaning the existing paint/algae off, and/or repainting it. You may be able to get a quote over the phone just by the length of your boat, but some may want to see it before they quote it.

Last edited by Cal Coon; 08-21-2019 at 06:38 PM.
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Old 08-21-2019, 05:16 PM   #3
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Default Salt water boat...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Knot Today View Post
So, I bought the boat on Friday...
Saturday I had it out at the sandbar...

As the boat had been sitting in the water for quite some time...
It had algae all over the bottom... so I began brushing it off with medium brush, (No Chemicals) then a soft sponge...

But as I scrubbed... I noticed what seemed like bottom paint coming off..
"So I stopped"

As I'm very new to all this... Can someone chime in on how much the bottom cleaning, and maintenance/painting of my boat is going to cost me out of the water
Hull paint for salt water is often designed to come off somewhat easily. It prevents barnacles from attaching for one reason.
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Old 08-21-2019, 07:56 PM   #4
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Hull paint for salt water is often designed to come off somewhat easily. It prevents barnacles from attaching for one reason.
It's called an "ablative" paint.

Some hull paints are so toxic, they are banned from salt water marinas. One paint type is banned everywhere—worldwide!

If it's flaking off with the described gentle cleaning, something's not right.
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Old 08-22-2019, 04:39 AM   #5
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It's called an "ablative" paint.

Some hull paints are so toxic, they are banned from salt water marinas. One paint type is banned everywhere—worldwide!

If it's flaking off with the described gentle cleaning, something's not right.
Just wondering what the "advantage" would be to someone that insisted on buying a paint that is banned world wide? Also wondering how a company can continue to make, and sell a paint that is banned world wide? I have no knowledge about bottom paints. These were just the first two questions that I thought of after reading your post. Just wondering...
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Old 08-22-2019, 04:49 AM   #6
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I had never heard of that paint until this year when somebody bought a really expensive boat and found out he couldn't leave it in the water because the paint would come off.

Also, don't they paint the bottom of the boats at Silver Sands because of the water they sit in there all the time?
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Old 08-22-2019, 06:15 AM   #7
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I had never heard of that paint until this year when somebody bought a really expensive boat and found out he couldn't leave it in the water because the paint would come off.

Also, don't they paint the bottom of the boats at Silver Sands because of the water they sit in there all the time?
Some paint their bottoms, others do not. Generally some of the water that stagnates at certain marinas leaves a brown stain on the boats that is worse than if the boat is docked in more open areas.

There are acid based wash solutions that usually take most or all of the stain off when the boat is out of the water at the end of the year. The stain comes off easier if the hull has been painted but even waxing the hull in the spring helps make it a lot easier to clean in the fall.

I had a boat that came from the Great Lakes with black bottom paint. I never liked the look of that. There are some decent white bottom paints available now. You can have it painted and if you have a white hull it won't show.
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Old 08-22-2019, 06:19 AM   #8
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Anti-fouling paint

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-fouling_paint



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Old 08-22-2019, 06:33 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by Cal Coon View Post
Just wondering what the "advantage" would be to someone that insisted on buying a paint that is banned world wide? Also wondering how a company can continue to make, and sell a paint that is banned world wide? I have no knowledge about bottom paints. These were just the first two questions that I thought of after reading your post. Just wondering...
It's called fake news, where you over sensationalize a story so that everyone thinks its a bad idea to use the product by leaving out an important detail or two.
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Old 08-22-2019, 08:34 AM   #10
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Originally Posted by Cal Coon View Post
You have left a lot of questions unanswered... If you're boating in fresh water only, or you trailer the boat and are using it in the ocean, there is no need to paint the bottom. The only reason to paint the bottom is if you are going to leave it in salt water for a long period of time. If you are a salt water boater, and keep it on a slip / mooring, then you would clean and repaint the hull every season. The only "maintenance" you would have to pay for now, is to clean it up if you are not leaving it in salt water. Most places would most likely charge by the foot, whether they are just cleaning the existing paint/algae off, and/or repainting it. You may be able to get a quote over the phone just by the length of your boat, but some may want to see it before they quote it.
So... I am at lake Winnipesauke (Thus Winni forum)...

Not trailering yet I am a DIY guy all day... but I don't have the means to pull it out of the lake just yet... was hoping to not need to so quickly...
as it is a Sea Ray 260 Sundancer 2005...

I am the second owner... not sure if the bottom was painted or the black grey water line is original to the boat... it is in a slip... and planning to store it heated...

Again... Looking for options for pulling it, to look at it...
Rent a trailer? or What some of the Marina's charge to pull...
Prices and such...
Also, are there any DIY places in the Winni area...
such as they pull it and you can work on it for a short period of time... things like that...
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Old 08-22-2019, 09:14 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Knot Today View Post
So... I am at lake Winnipesauke (Thus Winni forum)...

Not trailering yet I am a DIY guy all day... but I don't have the means to pull it out of the lake just yet... was hoping to not need to so quickly...
as it is a Sea Ray 260 Sundancer 2005...

I am the second owner... not sure if the bottom was painted or the black grey water line is original to the boat... it is in a slip... and planning to store it heated...

Again... Looking for options for pulling it, to look at it...
Rent a trailer? or What some of the Marina's charge to pull...
Prices and such...
Also, are there any DIY places in the Winni area...
such as they pull it and you can work on it for a short period of time... things like that...

I suggest that you plan on dealing with this at the end of the season.

You could get all the paint removed as you may not need it in the fresh water slip.

You could also get it prepped and repainted with new bottom paint.

I don't know what bottom paints are good or bad for the lake but I'd bet that can be researched easily or just debated ad nauseam here.
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Old 08-22-2019, 09:57 AM   #12
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Default Ablative wears off...

Congratulations on the new boat and welcome to the Forum.
Ablative paint should just wear off as you use the boat, no need to scrub unless the boat has been unused for a long time and has significant accumulation on the bottom. Not many people use ablative paint on freshwater as far as I know, but it seems that if you want to repaint with "regular" bottom paint you, or the marina will have to do special effort so that the new paint will not come off as the underlying ablative paint continues to cure. Your marina should have an approved wash rack to properly drain washing compounds, and it is elevated so it is easier to access the bottom. This isn't something you want to do on a trailer in your back yard, and you probably won't be pleased with DIY results.
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Old 08-22-2019, 03:49 PM   #13
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There is no need to worry about the bottom paint any time soon. The boating season will be over in a few more weeks, and nothing is going to happen between now and then in terms of harming the boat. You could have it in the water with zero bottom paint and it would be fine.

It would be helpful to know where the boat was used before. If it was salt water, you likely have an ablative paint. If it has been on Winnipesaukee the whole time I would expect it to have a hard paint, but it is possible that whoever did the bottom paint didn't know what to use.

Haul it out in the fall, pressure wash it, and see what you're left with. While you don't technically *need* to bottom paint it, stripping it all off will likely be far more work at this point than just keeping up with it.

Bottom paint can be a DIY thing, but you need to ask your marina about doing the work first as there are environmental impacts and some will not let DIYers do bottom paint at their facility. Not sure which marinas on Winnipesaukee care or not about this.
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Old 08-22-2019, 04:45 PM   #14
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Congratulations and welcome to the forum. Look forward to many years of happy boating.
You don't have to remove the bottom paint unless you wish to do so. It will wear off in time and then you could have the bottom painted if you wish. Most likely not a DIY project unless one is so inclined and skilled. When we lived on Cape Cod I decided not to repaint since the boat went back in the first of March. It slowly wore off and there was no problem with barnacles, thus it was never painted going forward.

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Old 08-22-2019, 05:43 PM   #15
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Also, FWIW, sometimes having bottom paint on a boat can turn a prospective buyer away when you go to sell it. If someone is looking for a used boat to buy, and they're only going to use it in fresh water, they may not even consider a boat with bottom paint on it because they "assume" it has been an "ocean" boat, and boats that have been used primarily on the ocean tend to require significantly more maintenance than fresh water boats. Just something to consider if, and when you decide to paint the bottom.

Last edited by Cal Coon; 08-23-2019 at 04:29 AM.
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Old 08-23-2019, 08:28 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cal Coon View Post
Also, FWIW, sometimes having bottom paint on a boat can turn a prospective buyer away when you go to sell it. If someone is looking for a used boat to buy, and they're only going to use it in fresh water, they may not even consider a boat with bottom paint on it because they "assume" it has been an "ocean" boat, and boats that have been used primarily on the ocean tend to require significantly more maintenance than fresh water boats. Just something to consider if, and when you decide to paint the bottom.
Bottom paint could also mean it was wet-slipped in fresh water, but you are correct that bottom paint, at least on a trailerable boat, detracts from the value. On a boat that's too big to trailer, bottom paint is pretty much a given
and does not affect value at all, but fresh water boats are certainly easier to sell than salt water boats.
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Old 08-24-2019, 07:38 AM   #17
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Bottom paint could also mean it was wet-slipped in fresh water, but you are correct that bottom paint, at least on a trailerable boat, detracts from the value. On a boat that's too big to trailer, bottom paint is pretty much a given
and does not affect value at all, but fresh water boats are certainly easier to sell than salt water boats.
If I had a boat to big to trailer, and kept it in fresh water ONLY, I would NOT paint the bottom. I'm talking primarily about boating on Winni here. I don't see what difference it makes that a boat is "to big to trailer", or not. I NEVER see bottom paint on boats that sit in slips for the entire season whether they are trailerable or not. Maybe there is a few that do, but I don't remember seeing bottom paint on too many boats on the lake. Now you're going to have me paying closer attn to the hulls of boats looking for bottom paint as a result of this post!!! Something else to do while out on the water... lol
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Old 08-26-2019, 05:16 PM   #18
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I took a break from working on my boat all day Sunday late in the afternoon, and I went to Alton Bay and sat at one of the picnic tables right next to the public docks to eat supper, and all the docks were occupied. There was one boat too big to trailer, and it was bottom painted... Score 1 for Dave R...!!
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Old 08-27-2019, 11:36 AM   #19
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Default Moisture level in FG?

I used to own a Sea Ray Sedan Bridge, 340. It cost $200 a year to wax the bottom. $600 to paint it with a life expectancy of 3 years. Break-even. At one point I considered selling and got a survey which showed a high moisture content in the gel coat/fiberglass. After drying over the winter, I had it painted, and that helped keep the moisture content within acceptable limits. Trailer or valet boats are less likely to have higher moisture content. Smaller boats are less likely to be surveyed, so you may never know moisture level.
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