- Action: To Do List item A0058 – Research and obtain barrier and anti-foul paint.
- Completed: 17 October 2016
- Cost: $3,050.23
As a result of our initial inspection on the hard, we made the decision to remove all the paint from the bottom and start anew. Some of the onsite cruisers working their hull bottoms advised us to procure local paint since that was their strategy and they justified their recommendations stating - you need to do a bottom job every year or sooner due to the issues with the tropics - the paint just does not hold up and local paint is cheaper in cost than anything else. Indra had been painted less than a year before and whatever local paint that was used was literally falling off the bottom. We decided that despite the wisdom and advice of experienced cruisers, we would explore other options with the end goal of not having to do a bottom job every year. In the water bottom scrubs to minimize organic plant based accumulations (slime) was considered acceptable, but desired something that kept the growth of concrete encrusted barnacle pests to the minimum.
After reviewing many internet sites, reviewing paint performance studies, manufacture's propaganda or literature, and considering way to many folks personal opinions; we concluded no one knew the answer and each paint manufacture was interested in one thing, your money.
The importance of a reputable hull barrier coat to protect the fiberglass that the hull was made of was emphasized by most - don't go cheap here was advised. Based on a general internet consensus and good reputation based on user feedback, we selected Interlux InterProtect HS Epoxy Primer YPA420/422 Gray for our barrier paint. Next question was how much paint is needed? Found a formula on the internet for number of gallons of barrier coat paint where, gallons = (LOA x Beam x 0.85)/151. Substituting Indra's specs into this equation, (34.5x11.0x0.85)/151, answer was 2.13 or 3 gallons. As we also planned to do some touch-up painting of the interior of hull and desired extra (spares), just in case, so we felt comfortable with doubling that amount. We ordered six two part kits of this paint at $109.99 each, with a total cost of $659.94.
For antifoul paint, we ruled out the ablative type as this type of paint is rated as a yearly paint which did not meet our goal. The red paint that fell off Indra was of the ablative type. We eventually decided on a paint that still had some controversies, but appeared to have a growing following, particularly in Europe and in the Mediterranean. It also had the potential of fulfilling our goal of no yearly haul outs for bottom jobs, and had the potential for much longer than we thought was possible. We discussed this paint with cruisers onsite and some claimed it was all propaganda, to expensive, and a waste of money - it was interesting to discovery this advice was based on their opinion only, as none of them had even tried it. Found one catamaran cruiser that had attempted using something like Coppercoat, but later painted an ablative antifoul paint over it due to poor performance - he admitted he did not use the brand we were researching but a homemade batch of what he thought would be equivalent. By chance a French catamaran cruiser went on the hard, not for a bottom job, but to work mechanical drive and propeller issues. When pulled out he had minor slime and no (zero) barnacles when they lightly scrubbed his bottom clean. His bottom was a pale green throughout and the paint still serviceable. Asked when and what he had used on the bottom, his answers were revealing - he applied something called Coppercoat six years prior; he did state that in water bottom scrubs must be performed on a routine basis, but he was satisfied with its performance. He stated he had owned two previous boats with Coppercoat bottoms and both never needed another bottom job - he owned one for eight years, the other over 10 years, before selling them.
Despite advice and opinions to the contrary we selected Coppercoat for our antifoul. Their website has a quantity calculator which determined we would need 11 kits. We ordered 12 kits at a cost of $125.00 each, for a total, with shipping to our US based ocean freight consolidator, of $1,617.27.
As the propeller would also need painting, we chose a Velox Plus Prop Paint Kit at a cost of $129.99.
These items were ordered and shipped to our balikbayan box consolidator and forwarder in Los Angles, California, Manila Forwarder, and received on 17 October 2016.
UPDATE: Due to the issue with Indra's hull and slight osmosis, we delayed application of bottom paint to allow the hull extended time to dry out. Unfortunately, the cardboard boxes the Coppercoat were stored in softened up due to the high humidity in the Philippines resulting in five Coppercoat bottles of hardener (pack B) being crushed and leaking out. Reordered five Coppercoat bottles of hardener pack B ($100.00), three additional Coppercoat kits ($390.00), eight 9" Foam Rollers ($59.92), ten 4" Mini Rollers ($44.95), two quarts of 91% Isopropyl Alcohol ($8.00) from Coppercoat USA in May 2017, for total cost with shipping to Los Angles, California of $643.03. These were received in Naga City, Cebu, Philippines on 17 August 2017.
