Conference unifix::sailing

Woolsey Blue Streak Racing Formula (200SR) gets through the summer in 
Marblehead with only a little slime by the end of the season. Practical 
Sailor found that KL990 was pretty good too. 

Alan

I have been using KL990 for the past 4 years and have had good success. This
past spring I didn't even sand, I just used an abrasive pad with lots of
water to clean up the bottom. I'll let you know how the bottom held up as I
am hauling out this weekend. I'd love to throw away my sanding gear for
good. (Sanding gear: Gloves, Mask, paint clothes, visine, etc.)

Well, the weekend is over. So is the threat of the hurricane. I hauled my boat
on Saturday and found the bottom to be in good shape. Good shape means not
any worse (or better) than previous seasons when I sanded the bottom prior
to painting with KL-990. There was the usual slime, but no BIG stuff. As
I usally do, I used a power wash (pressure hose) to rinse the slime off. I'm
now ready for the spring paint job. I am planning on sticking with my
no-sanding technique from here on in. I will not regret the dust in my eyes
and in my lungs!

One year prior to using KL-990 (I think I used "CopperPac" or something like
that) it was suggested that I get a shell fishing license from the amount of
mussels found on my keel!

I've also heard some negative things about "SuperVinylast" (or however you
spell it). That is, after a couple years it begins to chip off. A friend
of mine had to scrape the entire bottom last spring and start over again.
That was one hell of a messy and tiresome job!

P.S.   I forgot to mention earlier that I keep my boat in Beverly Mass., a
popular breading ground for these "beasties". 

						Bill.

	I hauled my boat a couple of weeks ago, and found that the PETTIT
Atlantic Formula Uni(poxy or lux?) did a very good job.  A quick power wash 
was all she needed.  I checked with some other folks I've met, and they've 
also had very good luck with PETTIT.  Some seem to prefer the black, but the 
red that I used did as well.  I heard that blue wasn't so good.  By the way,
I spent the season in Casco Bay, So. Portland, Me.

I used the International MICRON 33 this year. I pulled the boat a 
couple of weeks ago. The boat only needed a power wash. It was the
cleanest boat in the yard.

I moor the boat in Boston Harbor. Where I'm at is very muddy and shallow.
Typically all of the boats have a lot of growth when pulled. 

I sanded the boat down to prime this spring. Follow the directions exactly
as stated on the paint can. I used the correct grade of sand paper as 
recommeded (50). I also the all of the products recommended by the 
manufacturer. I put two coats of paint on. It was expensive, but worth it.

The bottom will need some sanding in the spring, mostly the steel keel. There
are some signs of white showing through, therefore I will put an additional
two coats on. It's supposed to last three years. I wont't go more than 2,
and this year I'm repeating the process. 

The boat was noticeably faster this fall than last year.

While the debate over preventing bottom-yuck persists (I like Gloucester Sea
Jacket Red Copper, but then I sail out o' Gloucester, and anyway, Rule 
Industries has bought the company and rumor has it the paint soon will be as
good as their bilge pumps!), if you've got it, spring sanding need not be
dreaded.

For those who haul where pressure washes aren't available, try a bucket with
a healthy (2:1?) mix of household bleach in fresh water.  First use a hose &
nozzle if you have one, then scrub with the mix, and hose off afterwards.  If
you've never tried it, you'll be amazed.    If the scrubbed stuff is allowed
to dry on the hull, it'll be tough to remove later, so one way or another,
rinse.  An acquaintance who lives in SW NH hauls his boat and heads straight
by a do-it-yourself carwash -- the hot water hose is perfect.

If you're using one of the more complex chemicals, i.e., long chain
polymers or whatever the hell they are, would the bleach damage
them?

I like the carwash idea!!

Ed

yeah, but try getting a 32' boat through the carwash!

re.7:
Good question...I use the "cheap" stuff (works fine, and I don't race), so it's
not an issue.

re.8:
How 'bout a truck wash if you tow?  I guess one way or another, running water
is an important part of keeping the process reasonable.

J.

Here, Here. I also applied Micron 33 Last Spring (1985). I did the same
prep work and followed all the recommendations of International. The boat
went thru the season with one bottom wash (Im very fussy about a clean
bottom) and when pulled was rinsed with just a garden hose (power/hi-pressure
wash is not recommended by International). Except for some scrapes caused
when Gloria pushed the floating dock under my boat I can replace the shaft
zincs and drop her in next spring.

Slime has always been a serious late season problem in upper Narranganset
Bay and I have never run into a paint I was happy with untill this stuff.

Walt 

    I think I get the booby prize for being the first one out this year.
    Can anyone beat 29-sept?
    
    Sounds like more kudos for Micron 33 are in order. The bottom
    was pressure washed and came out clean as a whistle. I did the two
    different color routine and the only thing visible is the top color
    so it looks like it's a no paint year for the kid!!!! 
    
    Alan, have you scheduled the truckwash yet? I wouldn't want to miss
    that!!  8<)!
    
    Ed

    Life without tin goes on, but not as well . . . at least not with
    Petit Horizons II.  I've just put Encore to bed for the winter and
    had a good opportunity to survey the bottom.  I had used Horizons
    (TBT) in the past and was quite satisfied.  Horizons II, is a different
    story. 
    
    The stuff goes on like painting with cold honey.  Brushing is about
    the only I found to glop it on.  It was too thick and gooey to roll.
    I tried thinning it, but the thinner evaporated within minutes, leaving
    me no better than I started.  I even wrote Petit and they responded
    that I was the only person in the entire world who had complained
    about their wonderful tin-free ablative paint.
    
    Well, at least they weren't lying about being ablative.  When I pulled
    my boat there was practically nothing left from Horizons II, just the
    good base of Horizons.  In all honesty, I didn't get much of any
    growth - just some slime, but it looks like I'm back to an annual
    full painting of the bottom, not just a touch up..
    
    Did anybody have better luck with the tin-free Micron?

    Sounds like your problems started with the application. I rolled on
    three coats in very early spring (don't remember the temp but it wasn't
    real warm) and had no problems with it flowing at all. Didn't need thinner.
    
    No noticeable difference from the older Micron 33/44 TBT I've used in
    the past.
    
    John

    I couldn't tell, but it sounded like you used Micron CSC????

    No, Pettit Horizons II. A fellow noter made me an offer I couldn't
    refuse and so I switched from Micron to Pettit.
    
    J_R

    Re: Horizons II
    
    Your not alone, I have never seen paint so hard to put on. I was
    thinking of using a bondo spreader instead of a brush. I had my
    boat on the beach several time to clean the outdrive as well as
    the slime on the bottom. I'm going to try Micron new spring.

    Given that we are seeing completely opposite experiences with
    Horizons II it might be worthwhile to figure out why.
    
    I bought the paint from fellow noter Jeff Rudy, who needs to tell us
    how it was stored. My son picked up the paint from Jeff, I drove up
    from MD, met my son and we went to Marion to paint the boat. Except
    for a couple of hours in a warm station wagon, nothing special was
    done to facilitate paint flow.
    
    Then, except for manually shaking the cans, stirring with a stick, and
    blending two gallons at a time using a third container, I did nothing
    special. Couldn't tell any difference between Horizons II and Micron
    except the copper particles which give it a metalic look.
    
    J_R

    I bought mine the day I put it on.  Shook it on the machine.  Temp.
    was about 50F.

    I got mine mailorder in April. Used a machine to shake it. Temp.
    started out around 50F, ended up around 38F by the time I finished.
    
    Steve

    Now that we have had some additional time without TBT, hopefully
    we can get some reports of how the bottoms did last season.  The
    new organization of the notes made it easy to find note on bottom
    painting, but there is little data on recent results.
    
    Those of you who have their boats out, how about some inputs on growth
    and the paint used?                    
    
    Have all states baned TBT or can it still be purchased legally
    somewhere?
    
    I am going to pull in March and want to get everything ready.  It
    has been two years and the barnacles are very heavy on Second Wind.
    The mild winter of 88-89 didn't help.  I would like to avoid this
    next time without having to pull yearly.
    

    In answer to -1, the Federal Governement, the Environmental 
    Protection Agency I think, has banned TBT nationwide.  Many other
    contries had banned it before the U.S.   Some states had
    initiated their own ban earlier.  For those who had a supply of TBT based 
    paint, the last time it could legally be applied to the type and size of 
    boat most of us own, was June 1989.
    
    I had white TBT on my boat in Salem Harbor last year.  My mooring is
    not far from the power plant, so the water is usually warm.  I had no
    barnacles on any surface I had painted, but plenty on the blades of the
    prop and the prop shaft.  I had plenty of slime, though.  We scrubbed
    the bottom with a DriDiver nearly every Wednesday from early June until
    early September.  There was always a dark slime on the bottom.  The
    boat stayed in until mid-October.  When it came out the bottom looked
    black.  
    
    I don't know if the slime is caused by the warm water, or if it is
    something which grows on light colored bottoms.  The people at
    Marblehead Trading, where I had the boat hauled out, said it is their
    experience that light bottoms have more growth than blue.  Blue is the
    color they feel is cleanest.  Since they pressure wash the boats when
    they are hauled out, they may have some empirical data to work with.
    
    I have thought about using a bottom paint formulated for tropical
    waters, to see if I get less slime.  Most of those paints are dark.  I
    have been partial to light because it makes it very easy to tell when
    the bottom needs cleaning.
    
    djc
    
    
    

re .21:

Well, TBT is and isn't banned. It is if you own a smallish yacht. If you 
own an aluminum yacht or a big yacht (over 70 or 80 or so feet) or a big
commercial vessel TBT is still legal. I guess the reasoning is that 
pollution by the wealthy and by business isn't as harmful as pollution by 
the not-so-wealthy.

We used blue Pettit Trinidad (two coats) on our boat last year (kept in
Marblehead) and didn't scrub the bottom even once. Only minimal slime and
no barnacles when the boat was hauled. After pressure washing the bottom
was ready for repainting. 

    TBT has been banned over here for a couple of years now and I think
    that the copper based anti-foul paints are as good as the TBT. I
    have now used International Paints Cruising Colpolymer for 2 seasons
    and am well satisfied, I do though have to make sure I give a good
    scrub mid season.....( The boat that is not me although....)
    
    Pete   
    
    

    	We used Micron CSC "shark white" by Interlux last season and 
    while it did accumulate slime, no barnicles were found on the hull
    at haul-out. After a good pressure wash, the surface was ready for
    another coat which will be applied as soon as it warms up. We did
    not follow the manufacturer's recommendation that two coats be
    applied and think that we could probably get away without painting
    this year but are going to try a dark blue to see what that does 
    for the slime problem. 
    	The advantages of this product as we see them are ease of 
    preparation(just needs to be scuffed up), good adherence,(all
    the paint was still on at haul out with no flake-off), excellent
    barnicle "abode rejection" (they did grow on the unpainted prop
    and shaft, however),and the ability to go more than one year without
    haul-out.
    	The disadvantage is the cost...at over a hundred bucks a gallon
    one can think of a lot of other things to do with the money.

    For you fresh water sailors out there I found an inexpensive bottom
    paint that works well... It's the cheapest bottom paint that Sears
    sells. The stuff is designed to sluff off as gunk grows on the bottom
    of the boat. It was a primer red color and I put on two thick coats.
    The last coat is to dry for 20 minutes then you drop the boat in the
    water while the stuff is still tacky. After 14 months I yanked my boat
    to find only a light (1/8 inch) thick scum on my boat's bottom. This
    easily blew off with a pressure hose. 
    
    There's still enough on the boat that I feel comfortable in recoating
    it with a single coat and re-launching. I don't know how this stuff
    will work in salt water, but for $25 - $30 a gallon, you may wish to
    experiment.