What paint / coating is best for the rudders, struts, thru hull guards, and shafts

[Vincentc]

Lilly Marie is hauled out, scraped and power washed. We dock her in brackish water, she spends too much time at the dock, and had had an impressive crop of barnacles and other growth on her metal below the water line.

At the last haul out I just touched up the bottom paint and tried Rustoleum Zinc primer on the shafts and props. I was going to use Petit Barnacle Barrier, but could not get it in time. I cannot say that the zinc did much good.

We will be painting the bottom with a copper ablative. I am pondering what to put on the metal, taking into consideration both reducing bottom growth and electrolysis.

In the past I've primed the metal with 2part epoxy and painted with hard copper paint. That was about three years ago and worked pretty well but blistered on the rudders. The rudders go thru zincs much faster than the shafts.

Look forward to reading your thoughtful opinion and experience.

Thanks

 

[rmatt]

Two years ago I used Petit barnacle Buster on my running gear and trim tabs with so so results. I had heard about the Rustoleum Zinc and decided to try it. I had some Petit left so I painted the Stb side with Petit and the Port side with the Rustoluem. In the fall, at haul out there was no decided difference. I used Rustoleum this year, just because of the cost difference and no difference in results. I sit in salt water,but shallow and the water temp gets pretty high in the summer months. I miss the Tempo two part spray of years ago. It was taken off the market by the Govt. Must have been because it worked. So, I'm waiting for a new breed of concoctions to try.

 

[Blaine Thorpe]

I was talking to a guy from California a couple of weeks ago, and he recommended a product called Miracle Cover. I don't have any experience with it, but it's probably cheaper than Propspeed and easier to apply.

I was going to try it, but I am currently without a boat.

Might be worth a try.

Blaine

 

[Jim saco]

Etching the metal parts before putting on any paint is the best advice I ever got. It's worked excellent for three years now. Its keep everything of my running gear. Pettit sells an underwater metals kit that has etch and tie coat primer all together. After applying that your ready to cover with whatever paint your Using on the rest of the bottom. Its a bit of work because you need to take it down to bare bright metal before you can apply it.

 

[TROUBLE]

Vincent,
I have used the Pettit Underwater metal prep kit for two years now and i love it.

Art

 

[jim rosenthal]

Vincent, we have good luck with BB here on the Chesapeake. Results on underwater AF paints seem to vary a lot by region, though.

 

[Vincentc]

Thanks for the comments.

Considering the simple prep involved, I think I will give the zinc coating another trial rather than deal with priming. If the boat store has Pettit BB in stock I will use that, if not go with Rustoleum Zinc.

We have two boat on the hill.

My son brought the Oday over, that is Mambeaux in the background as well as a 36C.





Almost to the Shipyard



We have enjoyed the sailboat since 77, lately just enjoyed our son using it.

Hope to be back afloat Tuesday.

 

[hancockjr]

I had excellent results last year on the Mystic River, CT with Petit Tie-Coat Primer and Vivid bottom paint. Not a single barnacle on the underwater metal the whole season.

 

[SereneWarrior]

I had good results the last two years using spray cans of transducer paint bought at a local marine store. At $15 per can the price was right. It took two cans to do the job. Really cleaned up the props/rudders/struts beforehand and the paint seemed to adhere very well. I didn't bother with the shafts.