what bottom paint?

[LiquidWrench]

I have always been a Great Lakes boater, but I am moving down to south-west Florida later this year and am wondering what bottom paint I should use. The boat will usually be kept in dry rack storage or on a trailer and probably not in the water for more than a week at a time. Any other items I need to change for use in saltwater?

 

[fwebster]

We have extremely good results with SeaHawk paints. I used Interlux for years, but switched to SeaHawk about 7-8 years ago. I"m getting 3 years out of a bottom job and could stretch that to 4 but the appearance gets a little shabby in the 4th year. The other thing is that SeaHawk rolls on easier and flows out better leaving a much smoother final finish…..enough that it makes about 1.5 its difference in cruise speeds.

As far as other items, your anodes will need to be zinc in salt water and Salt-A-Way is your friend for both flushing and washing down the boat after use.

 

[Westie]

Frank do you really want to support a company with business practices like this?

http://www.tradeonlytoday.com/2014/12/sea-hawk-paints-executives-prison-terms-banned-coating-case/

 

[Air O'Nautical]

Frank do you really want to support a company with business practices like this?

http://www.tradeonlytoday.com/2014/12/sea-hawk-paints-executives-prison-terms-banned-coating-case/

I was just going to do a search on where I can buy some SeaHawk paint.
No wonder it works so well.....it's illegal....

Bottom paint has to be a magical brew that kills everything that might touch our boats but, not harm anything else in the ocean. Can't be easy..

I like the idea of supporting a smaller family company that has a product that is equal to or better than the giants.
If Frank is experiencing that longevity in the warm FLA waters, I'm willing to try it up here in Long Island Sound.

 

[fwebster]

New Nautical Coatings, the maker of Seahawk paint advertised paint containing TBT on their website as containing Biocide Plus. As far as we can tell, the 4 (out of 26) products with TBT were not available and could not be purchased here in Florida. I use Seahawk Cukote on the hull and Seahawk Tropikote on the hardware, neither of which contain banned substances. I don't know about elsewhere because I only have to deal with the EPA and Florida DEP. Here, on larger boats, bottom paint has to be applied by a licensed applicator since the boat yards are responsible for containing all paint and paint residue for proper disposal. Nobody associated with bottom work is going to put their business or livelihood at risk by using or selling illegal paint.

As far as supporting Seahawk goes, I just answered the OP's question. I have had great results with their products, none of which were illegal. I certainly don't endorse the actions of their managers who pled guilty to violating Federal statues, but the misguided actions of a few isn't going to prevent me from using a superior product.