Bottom Paint. It’s getting a little desperate

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by cherylchecheryl

I'm confused. I thought he was sitting on the hard somewhere.

No, my boat has been in the water for approximately the last six years or so.

[Wotname]

Moderator note - a bunch of posts have been deleted as being either rude or combative, maybe more will be after a closer look.

In the meantime, please stick the thread topic and and if you have a different opinion on the subject, please post your opinion in a thoughtful, respectful and considerate manner.

Thankyou

[Sailing55]

Originally Posted by Wotname

Moderator note - a bunch of posts have been deleted as being either rude or combative, maybe more will be after a closer look.

In the meantime, please stick the thread topic and and if you have a different opinion on the subject, please post your opinion in a thoughtful, respectful and considerate manner.


Thankyou

And a BIG thanks you!
Merry Christmas

[Chotu]

likewise, a big thank you from me for clearing this out and putting it back to normal, on topic discussion.

Apologies for any extra work on the holidays here.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by thinwater

The tidal range is only about 1.5 feet (2 feet on a spring tide, 7 inches on a neap tide). Subtract from that waves and room to get under to prep, drop clothes, and time spent waiting for the hull to dry and I doubt you have more than a foot to work with. Obviously you will need cribbing under the hulls to prevent it from sinking in, and the cribbing will have to allow for the slope of the beach. Much farther north you have real tides.



Obviously this will take a number of days (prep and painting). Power sanding on wet sand sounds sketchy. I imagine getting help will be difficult, because this is probably illegal on public property (the beach is state property). I would also be prepared for a visit from local law enforcement. Someone will call them (just being realistic).



If the based coat is not well adhered you may get big areas of pealing. As many things as you have struggled to get just right, this sounds like a poor deal.


You can't either scrub or hire a cleaner?

I’m seeing a 4 foot tidal range. i’m not sure if you are looking in the same place that I’m located. Tampa Bay.

Now, I’m not trying to do a good job here. There wouldn’t even be any prep. I just want to slap something on there so that it lasts until I can get out of Florida.

Basically, ground the boat, wait for the tide to go out, slather on some paint, tide comes back in and I’m done. I’d miss the very bottom where the hull sits on the ground.

if there are some things that starting to grow I would just brush or scrape those off real quick. There is currently no ablative paint to be getting anywhere so that wouldn’t be a problem. It’s all worn off.

contrary to fastbottoms heart attack over it, there would not be any prep or any kind of dust anywhere around the boat. I would never do something like that to the marine ecosystem. I enjoy it as much as everyone else.

so the idea is just to dry out and put an extra coat of ablative on. Since my old coat is really missing in a lot of spots. Just to carry me through the winter until I can do a proper bottom job up north.

and certainly, by all means, I would never do this on a beach. That would be crazy. Lots of unwanted attention. I would just dry out on some crappy spoil area.

The entire thing would probably take me 20 to 30 minutes per hull. I can put paint on pretty damn fast. Then it’s just a matter of sitting around and waiting for it to dry and for the tide to come back in.

it’s really not that complicated. I have certainly changed zincs and props and things this way before both on catamarans and monohulls. It sure is messy. And gross to stand in the dried out muck.

Finally, I do suppose I could hire divers a lot. I guess that could work out to scrub. But I was hoping to kind of get the growth under control. Or whatever growth is starting at this point now that I’m out of the freshwater. I’m sure it’s adding up pretty fast already.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by deblen

Solvent ablative https://shop.hamiltonmarine.com/prod...int-48992.html


Water based ablative https://shop.hamiltonmarine.com/prod...int-43725.html


Both work fine for about a year up here & ablate enough that you can repaint after just brush scrubbing next year. They both are "one tide " paints.


Suggest slapping a second coat on the upper 2ft,below the boot stripe,where the light reaches-on same tide.


Cheers & Happy Holidays/ Len

That's good stuff! Perfect for this idea. Also I was trying to remember what Hamilton Marine was. It sounded really familiar. And then I looked and it’s from home! Fantastic!

And that’s exactly the idea. You get it. Just slapping on some bottom paint to make it through until the real haul out once I get back up north.

Thank you for the post. Very helpful.

[MicHughV]

In the past, I've beached my boat at high tide, and painted the bottom as the tide went out, with trusty Pettit Trinidad, never had any issues. I usually find a spot that is out of the way of most of the public eye, many of those around.
Havn't done this in a while, so can't say if it's still doable.
Make sure the next high tide is higher than the previous one, otherwise you might be around for a while.

[Franziska]

Chotu, bottom painting is coming up for us too. We got our paint.
I'm planning to apply it in bands over several tide cycles. Lowest 30cm (about 1ft) first.

Steps as follows:
Clean thourough while still afloat. Fall adry.
Quick saltwater pressure wash followed by freshwater rinse (good to have a desalinator.)
One person dries with genset driven heat gun, second person rolls on antifouling.
Let the paint dry. Tide rolls in.
Repeat with the next higher level (you have more time because the 30cm below are painted already, so might not need heat gun to dry after freshwater rinse).
Repeat as often as required until complete underwater is done.
Btw. use a tarp underneath while painting.

Alternatively shell out lots of money for a yard haul out....

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Franziska

Chotu, bottom painting is coming up for us too. We got our paint.
I'm planning to apply it in bands over several tide cycles. Lowest 30cm (about 1ft) first.

Steps as follows:
Clean thourough while still afloat. Fall adry.
Quick saltwater pressure wash followed by freshwater rinse (good to have a desalinator.)
One person dries with genset driven heat gun, second person rolls on antifouling.
Let the paint dry. Tide rolls in.
Repeat with the next higher level (you have more time because the 30cm below are painted already, so might not need heat gun to dry after freshwater rinse).
Repeat as often as required until complete underwater is done.
Btw. use a tarp underneath while painting.

Alternatively shell out lots of money for a yard haul out....

That is a very nice process! Congratulations on coming up with that. Impressive.

in my case I just need a little Band-Aid to stick on there until I can get out of Florida where there are more reasonable situation‘s with marinas.

I do want a complete haul out so I can inspect everything. It’s been in the water for a long time.

but your method sounds fantastic.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

In the past, I've beached my boat at high tide, and painted the bottom as the tide went out, with trusty Pettit Trinidad, never had any issues. I usually find a spot that is out of the way of most of the public eye, many of those around.
Havn't done this in a while, so can't say if it's still doable.
Make sure the next high tide is higher than the previous one, otherwise you might be around for a while.

Exactly. That’s how I have done all of mine in the past also. But to be honest, I don’t do bottom paint that way typically. Just because I like to get it really perfect. So I typically do it on the hard. but I have done any number of other types of repairs like this. Seacocks, zincs, prop replacement, etc.

and I am with you on the Pettit paint. I like the 60% copper stuff. But this is just a little Band-Aid to get me through until I can haul out and do a good job on it.

[MicHughV]

Off course, doing it on the hard is the way to go, but many yards don't allow DIY-ers anymore, which can obviously be problem.

But let's be frank, I hate doing bottom work, sanding, scraping, painting upside down, etc, it's an unholy mess, despite my best efforts, I think every item of clothing I own has bottom paint on it.

At the end of the day, let the yard do it.

[JPA Cate]

@Chotu,

If the bottom has had no attention in FL for so long, there will be an AWFUL LOT OF mature "marine biofouling" on it. You won't be able to meaningfully paint over it. It won't do what you seem to be hoping. You will have to scrape it, and nowhere that I know of in the US will that be allowed. It will inevitably put some poison into the area.

I'm actually of the opinion that wherever you do this, if you are caught at it, heavy fines will apply. To Franziska: Don't know about the laws in Europe, at all, but in the US, what comes off one's boat is considered toxic waste, and there are many laws and fines attached to failing to dispose of it. Therefore, Chotu will invite all kinds of awfulness to rain down on his head if he tries to sneak this.

It is unfortunate that we can't really clean the marine biofouling off by just diving, and wiping away the larva, but once the stuff has made colonies, it is not possible to remove it without taking paint with it. The cruiser notion that it is only what lives in the sea is not correct, as anyone who has done the process once it is past the larval stage can attest.

I know it's not what you want to hear, and I'm sorry if it discomforts you, but there is a lot of personal risk associated with your present plan, besides its impracticality. It will be better if you just bite the performance bullet, and sail your bouillabaisse to where the job can be done legally.

Ann

[MicHughV]

The above is unfortunately true. Last time I hauled, the yard had a special spot for pressure washing the boat, which was a concrete slab with an inlet in the middle. All the detritus that came of the bottom was directed to this inlet, which in turn was connected to a "holding tank". What became of this detritus, I'm not sure, but it was likely hauled off to some spot.
There may be yards that sidestep this procedure, but off the top of my head, can't think of any. It's a royal PITA, but honestly, I think the way to go about it, is let the yard do all the work. It may cost of few more $$$, but will be worth it to not having to deal with the aggravation.

[Jim Cate]

but honestly, I think the way to go about it, is let the yard do all the work.

But mate, he has repeatedly said that there is no yard able to do the work in a reasonable time frame.

Seems like the best solution is in-the-water cleaning, however often it is needed, until a slipping is possible.

And BTW, my thought on the "toxic" scrapings is that if it was still toxic it would still be working to repel boarders and not need repainting. But I doubt if that idea has legs with authorities and busybodies.

Jim

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by Chotu

I wish. But there were no facilities to paint where I was storing my boat for the last three years. So that did not happen. No haul out. 25 foot beam is quite limiting.

I don’t know where people get the idea that someone would pull up onto a public beach to apply bottom paint. That’s insanity.

All wet beach land, below high water (where you will be working), is state land in Florida. So yes, drying out between tides is by definition, state land. The exceptions are the "orange states" on the graphic below. So while it is legal to dry out on the wet beach, you are on public property.



Some land owners pretend differently, believing they own the whole beach, when in fact, they do not.


The tides in Florida are so minimal it seems impractical to me. I'd scrape and scrub. A plastic scraper with a handle will make it easier and reduce the risk of gouging. A good bit of exercise, but not terrible.