Bottom maintenence before heading South

[David Sandowich]

I am looking for advice from those who move their boats south for the winter in regards to what maintenance they do on the bottom and running gear before they leave.

Some context...I have taken the ICW to Florida many times on other peoples boats. This winter I am planning on taking my boat a Catalina 42 south to Vero Beach. My summer sailing takes place in the Chesapeake. My Spring bottom painting ritual for the past 5 years is.... one healthy coat of Interlux multiseason paint .. 48% copperoxide. I have never put anti antifouling on the prop shaft or prop which is a three blade flexifoild. I usually clean it every 2 -3 weeks with the use of a Brownie resperator. Once the boat gets South it will be sitting a large percent of the time.

So... consideing all the above what would be your recomendations for the botton and running gear before I leave in November?

Thanks in advance for your input and thoughts

[fstbttms]

How old will your single coat of bottom paint be when you get to Florida?

[David Sandowich]

It will be 8 months since it was applied

[fstbttms]

Well, it's too late now but you probably should've had two coats of paint applied. I assume you will have the bottom cleaned every 3-4 weeks while the boat is in Florida?

[phorvati]

I've been down two winters so far and on both occasions i had 2 fresh coats of Jamestown distributors total boat spartan. This is on top of whatever hard bottom paint was under before i bought the boat. Both years it was very easy to clean the bottom in april after full winter in the water down south. This summer, i have not hauled out. I have set myself up with hookah type breathing apparatus with 50' hose. I'm not letting it get out of control, Spartan is all but gone. I was just under and half the bottom is spotless, the other half has some slime but nothing hard. We will see what the winter brings.

[David Sandowich]

thanks for replies... My thinking ..which may be faulty.. is by putting multiseason on every season I've built up enough to get me through till I haul out in April. Thats probably more my question while still interested in how others approach the issue.

[phorvati]

Originally Posted by David Sandowich

thanks for replies... My thinking ..which may be faulty.. is by putting multiseason on every season I've built up enough to get me through till I haul out in April. Thats probably more my question while still interested in how others approach the issue.

The issue is if you build up too much and it starts cracking, then you end up with craters or 90degree corners. and then you end up paying someone to sodablast or you find yourself spending many labor intensive hours scraping and vacuum/sanding to fair the bottom and get rid of what you put on few years back .
Keep the cracking away by keeping the boat in the water and have just enough paint to last, and when you do haul out, make sure you are back to level 1, original layer, and you are not adding more and more paint in spots that don't need it. What i also do is i stopped painting area abut 4-5" below the waterline because it doesnt not wear off. I probably shaved off a whole hour by not having to put the blue tape at the waterline to keep a "nice" edge. And i also just spot paint high "traffic" area like the skeg and rudder, and maybe few others, and then do one coat. bottom does not wear evenly. Many people think its like painting a room or a house, i.e needs to look nice and have full coverage especially just below the waterline. it doesn't matter what it looks like.