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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

Reasonable Price on Bottom Paint

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Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5370 Posts

Initially Posted - 11/11/2012 : 16:48:01

With nice weather today in the 60s I had an opportunity to inspect Passage fully after being hauled. I noticed that the bottom paint is thin in several spots and there were a few barnacles on the hull, so I need to repaint this spring.
I thought I'd get clever an look for a deal on bottom paint now - in the off season.
Turns out many brands, including West Marine's own ablative copper-based paints are north of $130/gallon, and a few were way norther than that.
I have always used West's CPP paint, and it holds up fine. It takes about 3/4 of the can when I paint.
I paint on average every year, however last spring I just needed a few touch-ups.

Anybody have any suggestions on a better deal? I checked Defender. Not much better. Where do you buy paint?

Bruce Ross
Passage ~ SR-FK ~ C25 #5032

Port Captain � Milford, CT

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panhead1948
Captain

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345 Posts

Response Posted - 11/11/2012 : 17:50:15

Check out Hamilton Marine. Last year I use a water based bottom paint call Aqua Gaurd. You can buy it by the quart,because it is water based there is to hazardous shipping charge. When I pulled the boat this fall the paint had held up real well.

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BCG-Woodbury
Mainsheet Editor

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USA
396 Posts

Response Posted - 11/11/2012 : 21:28:09

Bruce - Are you going to stay with the West product? Is there any issues with switching? Knot So Fast's PO used the ACT so I stayed with it. His bottom job was a few years old so I scuffed it well and wiped it down with the Interlux solvent as suggested. My paintjob held up well but was only in for 2-3 months in freshwater. I purchased the paint from a few different sources. There are a few spots to touch up but I think it will be fine for anothe season on the lake. Yours might be a different story. I'll look through my records to see who had the best prices.

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TCurran
Admiral

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USA
588 Posts

Response Posted - 11/12/2012 : 04:53:59

Besides the places already mentioned, take a look at Jamestown Distributors, they usually have pretty good prices.

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Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5370 Posts

Response Posted - 11/12/2012 : 07:43:37

Nice thing about Defender and Jamestown is I can drive there to get any closeout specials. Of course I won't really save any $$$ because I'll take my wife, use gas and we will buy more stuff and have dinner. But it will be a nice drive and a good excuse for an outing.

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Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5370 Posts

Response Posted - 11/12/2012 : 07:51:57

Brian
You bring up a good point. If I use water based paint over oil paint, will I be ok? Or do I have to completely go back to base coat (barrier coat) and then apply the water-based paint? Probably advises on the can……

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Stinkpotter
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Djibouti
9080 Posts

Response Posted - 11/12/2012 : 10:11:26

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Voyager
 Brian
You bring up a good point. If I use water based paint over oil paint, will I be ok? Or do I have to completely go back to base coat (barrier coat) and then apply the water-based paint? Probably advises on the can……<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">The manufacturers have compatibility charts--at least for their own products. If a manufacturer's water-based paint is compatible over his petroleum-based paints, then it'll probably work on another brand of petroleum paint too. (The solvent is long gone, and the old paint obviously can tolerate water.)

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bigelowp
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1776 Posts

Response Posted - 11/16/2012 : 13:04:57

With Defender check for their "Boat Show" sales or wait untill the Warehouse Sale in April. I think most bottom paint sales would have been in late June so inventory could be cleared out. That said, I think the West CPP and PWA? are the best values, and go on sale first in March and again in May.

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Arlington
Navigator

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USA
196 Posts

Response Posted - 11/18/2012 : 20:48:22

I found Micron CSC on sale at Defender or Jamestown, then called my local West Marine, they verified that they would match the price. West Marine ordered it and I went in and picked it up. No Shipping Charges either. Seemed like a good deal to me. (Why yes, of course I found something else to buy while I was there, that I am sure I needed).
Doug

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redviking
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1771 Posts

Response Posted - 11/18/2012 : 21:23:08

Bottom paint Is NOT a place to try and save money in my opinion. I use Pettit Trinidad. Expensive, but two coats three years ago has held up very well. A few thousand miles, and three years in the water. Worth every penny.

Sten

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Voyager
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
5370 Posts

Response Posted - 11/20/2012 : 21:18:53

Doug, now that's the answer! All I need to do is find a good price in an ad or online, then drive to my local West Marine. I can do that for the Trinidad as Sten suggests. My problem is that I've never gotten 3 years out of my bottom paint - 2 years is the max. Seems that I have to touch it up each year as some flakes off with the power washer at the end of the season.

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TakeFive
Master Marine Consultant

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2272 Posts

Response Posted - 11/20/2012 : 22:03:56

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Voyager
 Doug, now that's the answer! All I need to do is find a good price in an ad or online, then drive to my local West Marine. I can do that for the Trinidad as Sten suggests. My problem is that I've never gotten 3 years out of my bottom paint - 2 years is the max. Seems that I have to touch it up each year as some flakes off with the power washer at the end of the season.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">Bottom paint is something that I would never buy mail order. If you have a problem, it's just too difficult to send it back. As you said, WestMarine's price match is a great way to save money if one of their stores is near you. At my local store you don't even need to print out a website - they'll bring up Defender or Jamestown or whoever right on their cash register.

I think I have a suggestion for your paint that flakes off. After my first season owning the boat (with stale paint), I had a couple dozen spots that flaked off down to bare fiberglass. (Note no barrier coat needed because the C250 uses vinyl ester resin.) I carefully dewaxed those spots with solvent, then repainted the whole bottom. Last fall (2011) when I hauled the boat and pressure washed, the exact same spots chipped off again.

So this spring (2012) I went out and got a quart of Interlux No-Sand Primer and touched up those spots. You need to follow the directions carefully - allow the primer to flash off, then go over top with the bottom paint while the primer is still tacky. This fall when I hauled out and pressure washed, every one of those chips stayed adhered. Problem solved.

The only thing is that the Interlux Primer is REALLY nasty stuff. Be sure to wear gloves, because it's such low viscosity that it will run all over your hands, especially when using a paint brush with your hand directly below it. The Primer is an isocyanate chemistry which will sensitize you over time, and also has fine aluminum flake. (DO NOT EVER spray the primer - inhalation of isocyanate can be deadly.) I used to work in the automotive paint industry, and I know how the stuff works. The isocyanate makes a very strong chemical bond to the fiberglass, and by painting over it while it's still tacky (uncured) it makes a bond to the bottom paint. The aluminum flakes lie flat when the solvent flashes off, and create a barrier that prevents any wax from leaching out of the resin.

So if you have any stubborn chips that appear year after year, this may be the solution. If you have friends with the same problem, you might want to go in together on the purchase, because a quart is WAY more than you need for spot priming. You could split it 10 ways and have enough for everyone.

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Edited by - TakeFive on 11/20/2012 22:08:08

redviking
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1771 Posts

Response Posted - 11/20/2012 : 22:37:14

It's all in the prep... Do it right and it will last... Also, paint a different color first and then another color over it. When you can see the first color, you know what's going on. Poor prep and paint loading are primary causes of cracking and peeling...

Sten

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