Pettit Bottom Paint

[Tug]

Is anyone using Pettit Unepoxy Standard as their bottom paint. It is a resonably priced hard paint that also can be trailered. I was thinking on applying it over Interprotect 2000E.Tug

[matt_unique]

I have used Unepoxy, Unepoxy Plus, and Vivid. None of them worked any differently than the other.

I have never found a bottom paint that will last 5 months in the ocean, let alone "multi-season" as advertised. Not even close - I splash in mid-April and have a sweater on the hull by the end of August. My boat is kept on a mooring and I cruised over 1100 nautical miles this summer so it was not due to sitting still!

I prepped and applied the bottom paint myself - orbital sander all over the hull and excellent adherence (no flaking off).

I have one more paint to try with Pettit - their top of the line (and most expensive) paint called Trinidad SR. This paint received a lot of accolades (they all do) so we'll see.

[jennykatz]

Thats what we go through down here in Naples fl. I painted bottom in June/2010 .I touched it up in aug the (sides) I probably will have to paint again next spring I get around 9-10 months out of a bottom job . The bottom paint was on when I bought the boat used so I have benn just reapplying West marine best ablative every 9months or so .

I use my trailer for painting bottom crawling under boat is getting harder each year It would be nice to get a paint that lasts more then 9 months or so . Living in SW fl. is murder on boats ,cars houses because os the salinity of the Gulf of mexico

[Tug]

I am starting to think that bottom paint is a lost cause, there is no product that really works.A protective coating like Interprotect 2000E makes sense though, too bad you cannot just use InterProtect 2000E without bottom paint.Bottoming painting and having the paint slowly come off is a waste of money, plus you cannot put ( use ) a keel guard on if you have bottom paint for obvious reasons.If your boat isn't prone to blistering i don't see the point of bottom paint, periodic inspections and cleaning should work. I used to paint the bottom of my aluminum boats with Trimclad Rust Paint..( ha!ha! )..it the Fall i would pull my boat and the bottom would be covered in slime,scum but a powerwash would remove everything including the Trimclad Paint leaving a clean new bottom to repaint. Wonder if Trimclad Paint would stick to InterProtect 2000E, its only about $ 10/gallon and i know it will last a season.Tug

[matt_unique]

Me too Tug...but there are some products I have yet to try including Pettit's top products of Trinidad SR (hard paint) or SR60 (ablative paint). I am going to try one of those two paints for next season...probably the Trinidad SR based on my 22 knot cruise speed but I like the idea of not having to remove hard paints every few years.

One important point, bottom paint has nothing to do with blister protection. Blister protection comes in the form of two part epoxies (in addition to the resins used by the manufacturer).

Good luck with your efforts.

[patrick and linda]

while boating on inland lakes and water ways, (the ohio river) i can only manage about 2 or 3 years at the best. beyond that and you begin to operate your boat with heavy carpet like stuff on the hull. my boat is in the shop as we speak having new bottom paint applied. total cost is 645. plus tax.
pat

[Tug]

Thats about what it would cost for: www.coppercoat.com. ,this product is suppose to last about 10 years.Tug

[patrick and linda]

hi tug,
10 years! dude, that's a dream around my neck of the woods! where i'm located there are only a few facilities that have inside work areas large enough to suspend the boat off the trailer so that the hull is completely free to sand and paint. our weather here would not normally permit painting outside. so, if you want your bottom painted you've got to pay the man! don't you just love boating?
best regards
pat

[mjsiega]

I've used the Pettit Ultima SR on my sailboat with very good results (minimal growth, that washed off easily at seasons end haul out, south shore of Long Island). I think it performed well as the boat sat alot and when it did move, didn't go very fast. I'm probably going to try the Pettit Hydrocoat on my power boat this spring as the Ultima SR has gotten very expensive. The ablative works well, during the summer, what little slime would show, easily rubbed off with a sponge or rag.

[Aurelia]

We are getting ready to have the boat re-painted with Trinidad SR but the service place (Hylebos in Tacoma) recommends only applying one coat of this paint at a time. For obvious reasons, that sounds a little fishy but they said the first coat basically caps the second coat on hard paints like this and you don't get an increase of effectiveness unless the first layer is chipped out of the way. Makes some sense I guess. I know with ablative paints it is normal to stack it on thick for ablative reasons but how many coats of a good hard paint does a boat need? We have the boat scrubbed every three months so it gets good treatment.

Greg

[thataway]

Pettite recommends 2 coats of Trinadad SR. We do 3 coats along the waterline. I would follow the manufacture's recommendation. The reason for 2 coats is to build adequate thickness of biocide containing material. The old paint has lost most of its biocidal or antifouling property. At some point the layers of hard paint have to be removed. But this is many years.

[matt_unique]

I ended up going with Ultima Eco ablative this year. I spoke to a Pettit rep in person and he suggested this as the best solution. I applied 2 coats (with last years Vivid below that). I'll report how long it takes before I have the sweater

[matt_unique]

Well today I pulled Napoleon for the season. Boo...only cruised 640 nautical miles this year but was very busy with commercial work.

I can say I have finally discovered a bottom paint that actually works - Pettit Ultima ECO. I have been amazed all year and especially today. I had no sweater, no barnacles where I applied paint, and just a thin film of slime. (With the hull wet it looked perfectly clean before I actually power washed it).

I am absolutely amazed at how well this paint worked! I also had no flaking off even during the power wash.

[journey on]

Regarding Petit Trinidad:

We used this paint on our sailboat. Actually it came from the Catalina factory, when we bought the boat.

It's a good hard paint, and like all hard paints, it'll build up until it starts peeling off (about 5-6 years.) It doesn't wear off. At that point you'll have to remove all of the old paint and start over. We sandblasted it off, which is hard on the gel coat; actually, I'm not sure you'll have any gel coat left. You can grind it off, or use special paint remover.

Also, you can't leave it out of the water, it'll dry out and peel.

With Journey On we switched to Micron, an ablative. Works well in SoCal, but not sure how well it'll work in So. Florida. I power wash the bottom and touch it up on the trailer every other year.

Boris

[JamesTXSD]

Like Boris, we use Micron CSC Extra. I have used that on other boats, and it works well in the Gulf of Mexico, on the trailer, in fresh water, and up in the PNW. I do scrub the bottom every couple of months and rarely have to powerwash when we put the boat on the trailer (scrub and rinse). I had the bottom professionally done 5 years ago, put on another coat myself two years ago, and we are due again now. The place that did it for me previously said, "Oh, we can't do that - your boat is too heavy for us to lift." This was just a few days ago, and I reminded the guy that they did it last time. "Yeah, I don't think we should try that, it would be dangerous." I took that to mean: we have plenty of work and don't want to do it. There is another boat yard in our area that (in the past) allows you to work on your own boat there, for a fee. I'll check their price, buy the paint from them, and do it myself if they still allow that.

I find bottom paint is worth the extra effort and expense. We can get critters, fur, and slime on a boat bottom in a couple weeks down here. The ablative stuff makes it easy to remove it, does a good job of keeping the barnacles from sticking.

Best wishes,
Jim B.