Bottom paint - Fresh Water (Lake Michigan)

S

stg099

Active Member
Jun 30, 2013
467
Chicago
Boat Info
2013 370 Sundancer
Engines
8.2L V-Drives
Looking to hear about fellow SR owners experiences with Bottom Paint in the Great Lakes. Last year was our first full season with our new to us 280 Sundancer and I used West Marine CPP Ablative Bottom paint. It worked very well throughout the season, but as it is a single season ablative, it's vanished after a season of use and a pressure washing before storage.
I like the idea of an ablative as it prevents the need for blasting, but I'm curious to hear what others are using in the Great Lakes area as I'd love to not have to paint every season. Looking forward to hearing other's thoughts and experiences on this.
 
Can't comment on Great Lakes, but can comment on Ablative. We dock in a river mouth and boat in the Atlantic.

I'm not trying to be snarky, but we have used ablative for the past 8 years after going the soda blast and epoxy barrier coat route. If you need to do an entire re-coat after one season either, you need better paint, or you didn't do as good a job as you thought. One thought is that you may have put it on too thin. Normally paint is spread out as far/thin as possible. With ablative you want to put on a good thick coat. Not running done the sides thick, but also not spread out so thin its only just covering.

Other than a waterline touch up, we only have to do an entire coat after 2-3 years, and then mainly for cosmetic reasons. Since the bottom job we've only done two full re-coats. I've used the Pettit Hydro-Coat family, currently on the ECO (latest) version.
 
I am using AquaGuard:
https://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=52245

The SeaRay OEM water based ablative (Hydro-Coat) is not readily available in Canada and the tropical stuff is overkill for colder fresh water.

I just rough scrubbed the remaining OEM paint on mine to get the scum off the old paint and remove any flaking, and painted over top. Was pretty easy and only flaked/peeled where I know I shortcut the cleaning too much and left some scum on the old paint before top coating.

I get two years out of it up here and we get similar water temps to you (maybe even warmer since I am in a shallow bay that gets water temps in the 80s from July to Sept.

From the JD site:

Aquagard bottom paint features water-based antifoulants specifically designed for fiberglass and wooden boats. It rolls on easily and dries quickly for outstanding results. This ablative paint exposes fresh anti fouling layers as the boat moves through the water, repelling barnacles and other growths.

Aquagard should be applied in multiple coats for multi-season bottom protection. It can also be used on inflatable boats without the use of a primer.

Because this environmentally friendly bottom paint is water rather than solvent based, clean up is easy and requires only soap and water.

All Aquagard paints are U.S. EPA approved, exceed V.O.C. standards, and have no toxic fumes. Paint comes in plastic containers for longer their shelf life.

Choose from quart, one gallon pails, or two gallon pails. Available in various colors.
  • Can be applied over ablative or hard bottom paints
  • Allows for year-round, indoor application
  • Boats can be launched up to 18 months after application
  • Water activated formula: De-activates on dry land and re-activates when launched
  • Can be sprayed and burnished for an ultra-smooth finish
  • Coverage is approximately 400sq. ft per gallon
 
Last edited:
Henry Boyd said:
Can't comment on Great Lakes, but can comment on Ablative. We dock in a river mouth and boat in the Atlantic.

I'm not trying to be snarky, but we have used ablative for the past 8 years after going the soda blast and epoxy barrier coat route. If you need to do an entire re-coat after one season either, you need better paint, or you didn't do as good a job as you thought. One thought is that you may have put it on too thin. Normally paint is spread out as far/thin as possible. With ablative you want to put on a good thick coat. Not running done the sides thick, but also not spread out so thin its only just covering.

Other than a waterline touch up, we only have to do an entire coat after 2-3 years, and then mainly for cosmetic reasons. Since the bottom job we've only done two full re-coats. I've used the Pettit Hydro-Coat family, currently on the ECO (latest) version.
Click to expand...


Putting it on thin could absolutely be the issue with my application. I used a gallon and a quart to finish the bottom last season, and felt like I had to stretch to get coverage. How much paint did you use to do the bottom of your 280 when you started with ablative?
 
I use ablative on the lake. Interlux I believe. I can get several seasons from one application. For a full repaint I'll do two coats.
 
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We used ablative bottom paints. It takes 1 gallon to paint the bottom of our 32 foot Tiara. It lasts 3 years. The past two years the smile and water line held up better than in the past. I've tended to use too much acid cleaning the water line in past years. The owner of our storage marina has cleaned the bootstripes the last two years and is more careful. As a result, we've not needed to touch it up. Here are two pix. One shows the effect of too much acid, and the other with a more refined approach to cleaning the water line. Lesson learned......go easy on the acid and you reduce the need for touch ups.
 
Henry Boyd said:
Can't comment on Great Lakes, but can comment on Ablative. We dock in a river mouth and boat in the Atlantic.

I'm not trying to be snarky, but we have used ablative for the past 8 years after going the soda blast and epoxy barrier coat route. If you need to do an entire re-coat after one season either, you need better paint, or you didn't do as good a job as you thought. One thought is that you may have put it on too thin. Normally paint is spread out as far/thin as possible. With ablative you want to put on a good thick coat. Not running done the sides thick, but also not spread out so thin its only just covering.

Other than a waterline touch up, we only have to do an entire coat after 2-3 years, and then mainly for cosmetic reasons. Since the bottom job we've only done two full re-coats. I've used the Pettit Hydro-Coat family, currently on the ECO (latest) version.
Click to expand...
I agree - I've used ablative for years and it was always a muti-year experience on Lake Erie - generally 2-3 years. I did have to touch up the waterline every season but that's because when I washed the hull I would always scrub about 2-3 inches below the water line. We're in the shallow end of Lake Erie where the water is relatively warm for the Great Lakes and we'd get a thin coat of algae on the west facing side of the boat.
 
stg099 said:
Putting it on thin could absolutely be the issue with my application. I used a gallon and a quart to finish the bottom last season, and felt like I had to stretch to get coverage. How much paint did you use to do the bottom of your 280 when you started with ablative?
Click to expand...

That was a while ago... I don’t recall how much I used after refinishing the bottom other than I bought a lot of paint and put two good coats of ablative on and had a partial left over. Since then I just bought a gallon as needed did touch ups from that and as the gallon emptied I just bought another and carried on. I don’t recall ever buying two gallons in the same season.
 
Captn TJ said:
I agree - I've used ablative for years and it was always a muti-year experience on Lake Erie - generally 2-3 years. I did have to touch up the waterline every season but that's because when I washed the hull I would always scrub about 2-3 inches below the water line. We're in the shallow end of Lake Erie where the water is relatively warm for the Great Lakes and we'd get a thin coat of algae on the west facing side of the boat.
Click to expand...
I never put anything on my 280DA. A couple times a summer I get into a shallow beach and then clean the hull. A little bit of slime is all that is ever on it and it comes off real easy. End of season when pull it out I go to the side right at the marina wash the hull, then clean the stain with muriatic acid and I'm done....sparkling white and clean.
 
Woody said:
I never put anything on my 280DA. A couple times a summer I get into a shallow beach and then clean the hull. A little bit of slime is all that is ever on it and it comes off real easy. End of season when pull it out I go to the side right at the marina wash the hull, then clean the stain with muriatic acid and I'm done....sparkling white and clean.
Click to expand...

Is your marina a cold water marina? My first two boats were not painted and if I did not use them, they grew green fur coats that took a lot of scrubbing to remove.
 
IMG_2098.JPG
I used to run my 260 WeekEnder up the Grand River to Grand Valley Marina (now out of business). The owner had a slip you would pull into and car wash like brushes would rise from below and scrub the bottom. Worked OK for the hard to reach spots. I would scrub the water line at the beach.
 
I put it on very heavy when I did it myself and used almost 4 gallons. It lasted well, probably 5 years before I needed a good touch up along the water line. Heavy is good when it comes to bottom paint.
 
Stg099, I use Interlux Bottomkote NT. I put a good coat on the whole bottom in spring of '17 and didn't touch anything in '18. This year I'm just going to touch up a few small spots. IMO Interlux is way superior over the West Marine brand.
 
Creekwood said:
Is your marina a cold water marina? My first two boats were not painted and if I did not use them, they grew green fur coats that took a lot of scrubbing to remove.
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Get some oxalic acid,, melts alge right off, 4 oz to one quart of water, can be mixed stronger if needed,just make sure you pressure wash your trailer good.
 
atrick said:
Get some oxalic acid,, melts alge right off, 4 oz to one quart of water, can be mixed stronger if needed,just make sure you pressure wash your trailer good.
Click to expand...

I am talking about slipped boats, not trailer boats. I did use the oxalic acid to take out the brown water stain in the fall on haul out after pressure washing the slime off. The algae is really a drag on the bottom and take a lot of speed/efficiency off the boat. Bottom paint is best for slipped boats where you get algae growth.
 
Creekwood said:
Is your marina a cold water marina? My first two boats were not painted and if I did not use them, they grew green fur coats that took a lot of scrubbing to remove.
Click to expand...
Yes the water is cold. I never get anything hairy growing on my boat, just a bit of slime.

Now that I'm thinking about it....my 420DA was in a slip in Sturgeon Bay for 3 weeks before I brought it home. In that time what looked like grass was growing on the trim tabs, never saw such a thing before. Between that and the billion bugs that took a shit on my boat, then crawled in it to die, I was never so happy to leave a place.
 
Petit hydrocoat eco on Lake Ontario for us. I love the stuff. Water based, doesn’t smell, and absolutely does the job. Emu recoat every 3 years. 1 gallon does our 290 with some leftover. I like hydrocoat especially because I can paint the drives with it. I repaint the drives every year since I take them home during the off-season.

This year I only had to power wash the sides and just above the waterline. The bottom looked new. We put about 45 hours on her, which is less than usual, but as long as you run the boat regularly I think ablative is the way to go.
 
Creekwood said:
I am talking about slipped boats, not trailer boats. I did use the oxalic acid to take out the brown water stain in the fall on haul out after pressure washing the slime off. The algae is really a drag on the bottom and take a lot of speed/efficiency off the boat. Bottom paint is best for slipped boats where you get algae growth.
Click to expand...
Mine stays in all summer then in fall spray bottom down with oxalic acid and pressure wash then in spring put good coat of wax on hull and its good to go. Alge doesn't start growing till mid summer when water starts warming. The oxalic acid doesn't do a good job taking the brown stains off but it melts everything else including the wax.
 
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