Which antifouling paint type should I use?

[mous]

Hi there,
I own a 2004 Grady White 228 for the past 7 years. It was trailer-stored only during the past 7 years. Now, I moved to the south Mediterranean and have to wet berth it for weeks/months. The boat was bottom painted by the original owner in Ohio but after 7 years and 350 hours of use, the antifouling paint is gone (just green tinge in some areas). I’ll be keeping the boat on the water for a few weeks/months and on the trailer for a few weeks/months. So it will be dry and wet stored interchangeably.
I am new to antifouling and appreciate your feedback about

1. Which type of antifouling paint should I use hard, ablative, or else?
2. what should I do to the antifouling when I dry store the boat for few weeks then wet berth? any special precautions?
3. Do I need to sand the bottom with fine-grit sandpaper such as 180 or 220-grit or apply paint remover before painting it? Almost all the antifouling was gone years ago?
4. Can I use ... Hempel Hard racing (https://www.hempel.co.uk/en-GB/products/hempels-hard-racing-white-76300) Maximum launch time 3 months.
5. Only some antifouling paint brands are available in the local market. these are Hempel, International paints and Jotun.

thank you for your support

 

[ScottyCee]

Bottom paint can be a religious issue - you are likely to get a wide variety of experiences and opinions. And this is expected. There are as many experiences as there are different sets of conditions including water temperature, marine life, time on and off of trailer, docking/mooring, etc., etc. You will be ahead of the game if you research what others use in your area.

I used ablative on my fiberglass boats for a long time. Each year I had to minimally touch up, and generally re-coat. That was reasonably priced paint and I had smaller boats, so I was happy. The we got the GW 226 and used Petit Trinidad hard paint and it looked very good after 2 years of sitting on a mooring. This year we got another that had never been painted, so we scuffed with 100 grit using a DA sander and multi tool, Petit epoxy primer, and then Trinidad SR. Carefully followed the directions, and it came out looking great - we're hoping for similar performance.

There are a thousand articles, but I found this one useful:

Favorite Bottom Paints by Region - Practical Sailor

Since 1974, Practical Sailor’s independent testing has taken the guesswork out of boat and gear buying.

www.practical-sailor.com

 

[Sully4755]

I have a 228 and because of the motor bracket being aluminum I use a copper free bottom paint. I use interlux Pacifica and paint the bottom and bracket. If you can not find copper free bottom paint you have to tape off about 1 inch around the motor bracket and do not paint this area. It is Ablative paint

 

[ScottyCee]

That's an excellent point. I masked off the motor mounts and used trilux 33 in those areas.

 

[SkunkBoat]

Use ablative because you will be wet sometimes and dry and then wet again. Can't do that with the old style hard paint.

 

[mous]

Use ablative because you will be wet sometimes and dry and then wet again. Can't do that with the old style hard paint.

Thank you for your comment but I found in another forum that hard paint can be used for dry storage ... see below post quoted from that forum

""""it is really just a function of the particular paint you choose for multi-season. Some hard paints can remain out of the water for extended times while others cannot. Same with "ablative" paints. - - Even with a hard paint such as Petit Trinidad which oxidizes when left out of water too long, you can get multi-season use with winter time hauled out storage. What you need to do is before re-launching the boat, you use a "scotch-brite" pad to thorough rub the bottom paint to remove the surface oxidized layer and expose a fresh active layer underneath. """


For Hempel Hard Racing 76300 instructions say,
"launching: Minimum: 24 hour(s) 20°C/68°F ; Maximum: 6 months"

so it can be outside the water for 6 months !!


Sorry to say but I am getting more confused !!!

 

[mous]

I have a 228 and because of the motor bracket being aluminum I use a copper free bottom paint. I use interlux Pacifica and paint the bottom and bracket. If you can not find copper free bottom paint you have to tape off about 1 inch around the motor bracket and do not paint this area. It is Ablative paint

That is a great point. if I can't find the copper free paint what should I do with the bracket should I leave without paint and brush it when I dry store the boat? also the tip of the lower unit of my heavy four stroke engine is usually beneath the water line .....

 

[Sparkdog118]

Thank you for your comment but I found in another forum that hard paint can be used for dry storage ... see below post quoted from that forum

""""it is really just a function of the particular paint you choose for multi-season. Some hard paints can remain out of the water for extended times while others cannot. Same with "ablative" paints. - - Even with a hard paint such as Petit Trinidad which oxidizes when left out of water too long, you can get multi-season use with winter time hauled out storage. What you need to do is before re-launching the boat, you use a "scotch-brite" pad to thorough rub the bottom paint to remove the surface oxidized layer and expose a fresh active layer underneath. """


For Hempel Hard Racing 76300 instructions say,
"launching: Minimum: 24 hour(s) 20°C/68°F ; Maximum: 6 months"

so it can be outside the water for 6 months !!


Sorry to say but I am getting more confused !!!

I believe that means you have to let it dry for at least 24 hours, but make sure you launch it within 6 months for it to work. Once you launch the boat, the conditions will change in that 6 months out of the water may not work. Here in fla, we recoat every year for effectiveness. Ablative with the scotchbrite method May work for a second season. Gotta test and see for your area.

 

[mous]

I believe that means you have to let it dry for at least 24 hours, but make sure you launch it within 6 months for it to work. Once you launch the boat, the conditions will change in that 6 months out of the water may not work. Here in fla, we recoat every year for effectiveness. Ablative with the scotchbrite method May work for a second season. Gotta test and see for your area.

Please see the table from Hempel manual ... it says suitable for dry berthing .... Is there any ablative antifouling that is suitable for dry berthing of say 8 weeks? Will an ablative paint going to sustain trailering and several launches per season?

Will the hard antifouling going to significantly affect boat performance? The 225 four-stroke Yamaha is hardly enough for the GW228 due to its weak torque at lower RPM ...


Can I forget about the antifouling all together and ensure that the boat won't stay on the water for more than a few weeks at a time?

 

[Sparkdog118]

Here in fla, you can leave it in for a week or so as long as you use it every day. If it sits at the dock, scub starts at 3 days. Make sure you have good zincs.

 

[Vlabruzzo]

I have a 228 and because of the motor bracket being aluminum I use a copper free bottom paint. I use interlux Pacifica and paint the bottom and bracket. If you can not find copper free bottom paint you have to tape off about 1 inch around the motor bracket and do not paint this area. It is Ablative paint

I think the clown that owned the boat ok just bought used copper based paint on the bracket. It pitted on the bottom pretty bad. And they painted over the zinc

 

[ScottyCee]

That is a great point. if I can't find the copper free paint what should I do with the bracket should I leave without paint and brush it when I dry store the boat? also the tip of the lower unit of my heavy four stroke engine is usually beneath the water line .....

Interlux Trilux 33 is metal safe and still quite effective. Comes in $pray can$ which are the bomb for tricky areas like the motor mounts.

 

[Sparkdog118]

Interlux Trilux 33 is metal safe and still quite effective. Comes in $pray can$ which are the bomb for tricky areas like the motor mounts.

Tropic 33 is great paint for metal.