Hard vs ablative.....

[malyea]

43’ monohull raced occasionally but primarily a cruiser....

Currently bottom painted with ablative ... thinking about switching to Petit Trinidad hard bottom paint...

Pros...Cons...hard vs ablative?

Thanks

[gamayun]

I've been very happy with hard paint (Petit Trinidad SR) on my 38-footer and about to put one coat on a 20-footer I recently acquired. The decision for me was because I scrub the bottoms myself and never liked the plume of paint that comes off with ablative even though I use a light cloth. Maybe some cons would be the accumulation over time is heavier than ablative and it's more expensive than ablative. I also use a respirator. It's very bad to breath the fumes.

[Privilege]

If you do switch, you'll have to remove all of the ablative. You can't put hard on top of soft.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by malyea

43’ monohull raced occasionally but primarily a cruiser....

Currently bottom painted with ablative ... thinking about switching to Petit Trinidad hard bottom paint...

Pros...Cons...hard vs ablative?

Thanks

You have to take all ablative off or sand way down, seal, and there cover to put the hard paint on. After a few years when the hard starts cracking and falling off you will have to sand/blast the hul again.

Pro - it's more cleanable in the water

[fstbttms]

As a professional hull cleaner, I only ever recommend two anti fouling paint products- Pettit Trinidad and Interlux Micron 66. Both are hands down the best examples of their respective types, IMHO but if I had to choose one over the other, I'd go with Micron 66. Is Micron 66 going to give you the same length of service as a properly applied, well maintained, high quality hard paint like Trinidad? Probably not. But the difference is not a deal breaker in my book. And you would have less prep work to do or pay for. The only real downside to Micron 66 (again, IMHO) is that it cannot withstand exposure to freshwater for any length of time.

[model 10]

[QUOTE=fstbttms;2. The only real downside to Micron 66 (again, IMHO) is that it cannot withstand exposure to freshwater for any length of time.[/QUOTE]


Wow, they sell it to the people with money down here. It's way more expensive than the local brand of ablative.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by Ecos

Wow, they sell it to the people with money down here. It's way more expensive than the local brand of ablative.

Guess what? It’s way better too.

[Bill O]

Would have recommended Trinidad after getting many years of service from each bottom job, EXCEPT after putting on one of the latest versions of Trinidad 75 Professional coating (Special Black) 1 year ago, we are already starting to get a good amount of barnacle growth. We properly applied 2 full coats and a 3rd on the water line as we normally do.

Have been noticing over the last few years the amount of copper is getting lower. Don't be fooled by the name of the product, Trinidad 75 doesn't contain 75% cuprous oxide. The data sheet for this product says it up to 60.9% CO (= 54.08% copper). The old regular Trinidad (not SR had 75.8% CO in the red and black colors while the blue and green had lower amounts of CO. Bottom line read the labels carefully for the copper content.

While I was a firm believer of Trinidad in the past (using it on various boats over the last 30 years), based on the recent disappointing performance it appears I'll be looking in the near future to find a new hard bottom paint that still works.


Bill O.

[model 10]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

Guess what? It’s way better too.

The Rio Dulce is sweet fresh water.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by Ecos

The Rio Dulce is sweet fresh water.

Well then Micron 66 is not a suitable paint for that environment. Boaters would do well to pay attention to what is being done to their boats.

[Dave_S]

These two hard paints they are have antifoul properties ? How long do they last and will they stand up to being beached.... not run into the beach but dry out on a sand flat.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by Dave_S

These two hard paints they are have antifoul properties ? How long do they last and will they stand up to being beached.... not run into the beach but dry out on a sand flat.

Hard paints typically cannot withstand prolonged exposure to air.

[Dave_S]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

Hard paints typically cannot withstand prolonged exposure to air.

Its not a regular thing, just occasionally, a couple of days at the most each time.

Is that ok, or still not good ?

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by Dave_S

Its not a regular thing, just occasionally, a couple of days at the most each time.

Is that ok, or still not good ?

A couple of days is all it takes.

[Dr. D]

According to Pettit you can haul a boat painted with Trinidad for a couple of weeks with no issue. It looked like I needed work on my boat earlier this year which would require a couple of weeks on the hard. I called Pettit and they no problem. Luckily, I didn’t need to have the work done.