Carver Owners Forum

I thought the choice of bottom paint would be easy but there doesn't seem to be a straight forward answer online or with the "experts". Please give me your opinions.

My 444 stays in the water all year in mostly salt water with a very fast moving current. This is the first time I own a boat that can stay in the water all year and most at the marina only pull every other year to do the paint. Zincs are done once a year by diver. I do not use the boat that often to cruise so hours on the move are low. I bought the boat last year and was told the paint was new and ablative so I did not paint (the previous owner was in a marina with brackish water)......growth on hull is plentiful!

Pulling the boat to check zincs, paint, and wax. What type of paint, Hard, Ablative, Hybrid.

I was going to go ablative since I was told that's what the boat had, but after reading the website articles, seems hard is the way to go? please voice your opinions and experiences.

Pros and cons to both paints. A couple of things to consider:
- Hard shelled paints; they contain biocide within a matrix that leaches out though a porous surface of the coating. Once this biocide is depleted, the paint does absolutely nothing to prevent marine growth from sticking to the coating. You must re-coat to prevent growth again. The problem with hard shelled paints is that over time you accumulate layers and layers of paint which eventually start peeling, taking the new coating with it. You'd have to sand aggressively to get rid of the old layers. Time consuming.
- Ablative paints; these work by continuously washing away a very thin layer and in the process take the marine growth with it. Over time all the coating will disappear and has be replied such as the hard shelled coatings but there are no old layers of coating that need to be sanded off first. The more your boat moves through the water the more effective the coating is at keeping growth off your hull but you must use the boat, it's what washes the growth away. The more you use it though, the quicker you go through the coating as it will wear off quicker. For this reason, you put on several coats and more on leading and trailing edges that will wear the fastest. As long as there is a layer of paint, it will continue to work. They also make an epoxy version that lasts longer.

No anti-fouling will last forever. A hard shelled paint might still look good after a couple years but that doesn't mean it's still working. With either paint, you'll eventually have to get hauled out and repaint but you simply wipe or pressure wash the growth off the ablative paint, no sanding would be required to get off old layers of hard stuff like the other paint. I prefer ablative but I use my boat so nothing gets a chance to grow for very long.

Agree completely with Viper. Go with ablative paint from any major mfg, put on a first coat of different color, like red or green or black, then as many coats of your final color an you want. Eventually, when you see your original different color, it is nearly time to haul and paint.