Bottom Paint

[Bgreener83]

I have a wet slip on Lake Erie in Cleveland Ohio. I'd like to avoid a $25k+ lift and wondering if anyone has bottom painted their inboard boat. What are the affects of the surf system and Stern thruster?

[srock]

On the backside, you are going to kill the resale, and the bottom paint does not eliminate maintenance. Do they have a haul-out service and dry storage? You can pay me now or pay me later...

[bturner]

Let me start with.... As with any of these types of questions, it's your boat and you are free to do whatever you want to it and should enjoy it however you want. At the end of the day it doesn't matter what me or anyone else thinks about what you do with the boat you own. Now that, that's out of the way.....

Agree 100% with srock on this. Friends don't let friends paint the bottom of their ski boats. IMO, you'll easily lose 10 - 20% of the value of the boat and lose 90%+ of the potential buyers during resale. It's just not the kind of boat that you put bottom paint on. If the lift is not the answer for you I would highly recommend racking the boat. There's a lot of upsides to keeping a boat like that on a rack especially if it's indoor rack storage. No UV, no birds or pollution exposure, better security and the list goes on. And it's not like you're spending the night on it or anything. That's why the "go fast" guys do it.

I mean think about it for a minute. Your starting your quest to buy the boat of your dreams and start pouring over all the boats available. With all things being the same (price, hours, condition, etc.) which one are you going to choose? The ones that are totally stock or the one with the bottom paint that's been on there for a couple years or with a couple layers of bottom paint? Don't believe me? Go ask the Nautique dealer what he'll give you for trade before and after the bottom has been painted. Or if you want the real number tell him you want to trade it now, then after he gives you a ballpark number mention to him that you've painted the bottom and see what he says. Also watch his face when you drop that nugget of information on him.

As to the question..... I doubt bottom paint, applied correctly would have any noticeable effect on either system however I doubt there will be many members with first hand knowledge as to if that would be true or not.

[srock]

Bturner makes some outstanding points. I will add that the bottom paint should have no impact on the performance of the boat, but any growth accumulated while sitting will 100% impact performance. How quickly that happens? I would ask your dock neighbors what they are doing. What type of antifouling coatings are applied, how well do they work, how long can they go without brushing the hull, and are parasitic stay currents an issue? You will quickly obtain a lot of information on your local conditions.

I can tell you that if you were in saltwater, you would need to pull it or have a diver scrub the bottom monthly. In warm Florida or South Carolina freshwater lakes, weekly pulling and bottom scrubbing keep the nasties away from an unpainted hull, but that becomes a pain in the ***.

Finally, I never sleep well with a non-self-bailing boat in the water during heavy rains. A failed or blown-off cover will result in a lot of pumping and potentially dead batteries, so power to the boat is a must to keep it afloat.

You have asked an interesting question. Keep us posted on your findings.

[SilentSeven]

I feel your pain. My OCD self hates bottom glick and it's one of the reasons I have a lift. Buy once, cry once.

This however is an interesting option. A guy at my marina has one and it's pretty slick. Not sure what they cost.

SeaPen In-Water Dry Dock System — Solstice Docking Solutions

I believe you can reduce the effects of bottom growth with a ceramic or even wax bottom treatment. Glick has less stick. Stash a few brushes in the boat and have a guest hull cleaning swim party.