Bottom Painting

Anyone have any experience using Copper Coat? My Trawler is docked in South Florida and Copper Coat sounds like it might be cost effective, if I plan on keeping my vessel for 5-10yrs. I was also wondering if I used this product would I still need to have a monthly bottom cleaning. Thanks

Tail Winds,

Capt Mike

Capt Mike, you may want to check out a thead that was done on this recently. Here's the link. Looks really good, and really expensive.

http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s3/coppercoat-bottom-job-9712.html

LaBomba said:

Capt Mike, you may want to check out a thead that was done on this recently. Here's the link. Looks really good, and really expensive.

http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s3/coppercoat-bottom-job-9712.html

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Thank you, I appreciate it.
Capt Mike

drmnj said:

I was also wondering if I used this product would I still need to have a monthly bottom cleaning.

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Yes. Why would you think otherwise?

The copper I am familiar with is ONLY used on smaller racing sailboats , where the bottom is polished weeky.

Hardly a good deal for most cruisers as hauling is expensive , and hand work is required for the smoothest finish.

Most any ablating bottom paint like MICRON will last at least 2 and frequently 3 years.

The fantastic smooth bottom that can be obtained with copper will not save a dimes worth of diesel , even at slow crawl trawler speeds..

FF said:

The copper I am familiar with is ONLY used on smaller racing sailboats , where the bottom is polished weeky.

Hardly a good deal for most cruisers as hauling is expensive , and hand work is required for the smoothest finish.

Most any ablating bottom paint like MICRON will last at least 2 and frequently 3 years.

The fantastic smooth bottom that can be obtained with copper will not save a dimes worth of diesel , even at slow crawl trawler speeds..

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You understand (I assume) that most anti fouling coatings, whether they be a hard paint (like Pettit Trinidad) or an ablative paint (like any of the Interlux Micron line) or a copper-loaded epoxy (like Coppercoat) are all using some form of copper as a biocide and that the use of copper in these products has zero bearing on how smooth they can be made to be, right?

are all using some form of copper as a biocide

Very common on GRP boats , but never done on Aluminum .

The surface finish smoothness is of use (perhaps) to class racing boats , mostly a non event on a displacement boat.

Biocide is biocide , copper or whatever , the release mechanism , boat movement , or scrubbing more important and is is a personal choice.

Our current technique is to go from fresh to salty water and let nature do its work.

FF said:

Our current technique is to go from fresh to salty water and let nature do its work.

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I've heard about this technique many times. Is there a general rule of thumb for number days spent between fresh and salt water?

"Is there a general rule of thumb for number days spent between fresh and salt water?"

No idea , we store the boat at out dock and take an annual cruise of a few weeks.

Not hauled in a decade and still smooth as Micron is on most bottoms, no growth.

In sea water a non moving dock cottage / liveaboard is the hardest antifouling challenge.

Good paint will last for years , with little effort and sometimes the simple movement of the boat will allow the ablating paint to function.AS a liveaboard I would cruise for a week and decide if a scrub was in order.

Almost all the growth will be near the WL, so the scrub is easy.

If you get barnacles near the keel, the paint selected was crap, or is dead.

FF said:

Not hauled in a decade and still smooth as Micron is on most bottoms, no growth.

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I do not understand this preoccupation with "smooth." Why would the paint become less smooth with age?

FF said:

Good paint will last for years...

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Not for ten years it won't. If your paint is truly that old, it has long ago leached out the last of its biocode.

"Why would the paint become less smooth with age?"

Things grow on it .