Bottom Paint for Salt Water

We are fresh water boaters currently in heated winter storage. Planning to start the Loop next Fall from Lake Michigan down the river system. Need some bottom paint advice for salt water so we can paint over storage season. PO has used Interlux BottomKote NT in the fresh water environment. So for all you "salty" experts will this be OK for our time is salt water? Thanks.

sum escape said:

We are fresh water boaters currently in heated winter storage. Planning to start the Loop next Fall from Lake Michigan down the river system. Need some bottom paint advice for salt water so we can paint over storage season. PO has used Interlux BottomKote NT in the fresh water environment. So for all you "salty" experts will this be OK for our time is salt water? Thanks.

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There are many good brands of bottom paint out there.

I'm full time salt water and this fall I switched from Micron CSC (which was terrible paint), back to Pettit. I chose Pettit Ultra 60 for it's high copper content and it went on nice after pressure washing, right over the old Micron paint. And after 5 months it is as clean as a whistle, unlike the Micro which was already growing slime and grass by then.

sum escape said:

We are fresh water boaters currently in heated winter storage. Planning to start the Loop next Fall from Lake Michigan down the river system. Need some bottom paint advice for salt water so we can paint over storage season. PO has used Interlux BottomKote NT in the fresh water environment. So for all you "salty" experts will this be OK for our time is salt water? Thanks.

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You might want to send a personal message to Great Laker who left from Spring Lake MI. I asked him the same question. He didn't mention the brand he used but he had the bottom painted with the same ablative paint he always uses, only had his bottom scraped once in 5 months of salt water, and thought the scaping wasn't necessary. If you are on the move all the time, stuff isn't going to grow very well. If you plan to leave your boat at a marina for a few months, the paint becomes a little more important.

Have you considered the anodes on your boat? Magnesium won't last too long in salt water.

We've had good luck with Sea Hawk Bio-cop TF.

I used Pettit Hydrocoat eco this past season with great results. We cruise in the Newport RI area with some sitting at the dock in brackish water. No slime or hard growth at all.... much better than the hydrocoat I've used in the past. Big advantage is being copper-free, and water based. It can go over metal and transducer with no problem. Expensive, but worth it. Used 1.5 gallons on my 40ft. Albin.

+1 for Sea Hawk.

I've used Micron Extra for years with success on the Chesapeake Bay. Do not use Micron 66 as freshwater will ruin the paint.

I've had very good success with Bottomkote NT.

Ken

Anodes

[ Have you considered the anodes on your boat? Magnesium won't last too long in salt water.[/QUOTE]
Thanks, good point. I'll plan to change them out once we get in salt.