Bottom Painting

RumRunner · Aug 6, 2015

I would like to hear some pros and cons on bottom painting. My boat has been in dry stack the majority of the time, but there are times when it's more convenient to keep it in a slip closer to my house. It is not bottom painted. Last spring, I left it in the slip for two weeks, and there was so much crap on the bottom of my boat, that it could only make 25 mph, when it generally can almost double that. When I put it on the wash rack, it took hours to pressure wash it back to original condition. Assuming I still want to put it in the slip for a couple weeks, am I better off bottom painting it, or working on it for a couple hours to clean it up? Am I hurting the value by bottom painting? Or am I hurting its performance by bottom painting? Like to hear some opinions, please. Thanks!

brhall22 · Aug 10, 2015

I have a 2006 2520 I use anti fouling paint on it I leave it in the water all summer It takes me about 15 minutes to clean the bottom when I pull the boat out of the water. There will be a little green slime on it that washes off very easy I re apply the paint every two seasons and I'm very happy with the look of the boat with the paint on it. It is very nice to leave in water and hop on and go I dont think you will hurt the value of your boat if you put bottom paint on it in my opinon it will only help with the value. Hope this helps
Brian
California

Lucky John · Aug 10, 2015

I don't think you would be hurting the value at all. I would think the majority is bottom painted. The only time you would hurt performance is many layers of paint.

TWOBOATER · Aug 11, 2015

Prime it and paint it. You're not hurting the value. Most people with boats that size don't trailer every time, and relatively few people have lifts. The rest of us have to paint the bottom. I think I'd paint it even if i HAD a lift just for the flexibility of leaving it in for a while.

B-Faithful · Aug 11, 2015

I mostly trailer my boat but have it bottom painted with ablative paint. This allows me to wet slip for a period of time without worry. To me, the less limitation with boat ownership means more use. More use means I am getting more for my dollar in ownership.

Ablative paint doesnt build up like the old epoxy paints and remains active even after you dry store.

Another plus to bottom painting is that it adds color to your hull.

Downside is the occasional repaint (I do it ~once a year and run my boat, mostly trolling, for ~300hours per year). It also slightly cuts down on speed. I dont think on a boat like a Parker that it would hurt resale value..