ESTABLISHING BOTTOM PAINT LINE ON 2018 23SE w 250 4.2

[Charles In Maine]

Purchased used, boat always trailered. Will keep at mooring in Maine. What are your ideas on how to establish correct water line , type of bottom paint and required prep.

Does initial bottom painting need to be left to professionals?

your input much appreciated. Not a question to paint or not to paint, the answer is is yes for June through Sept on mooring.

any photos of a 23SE hull w bottom paint appreciated

Charles in Maine

 

[afitzray]

I've always heard to put it in the water for a week to figure out your water line. Then pull it back out and tape off the line about 1.5-2" above the water mark.

And consider how much extra weight might be in there once you're ready to leave it on the mooring. You don't want it sitting a lot higher than normal for the water line but then adding another 100 gallons of fuel and other stuff when you're ready to leave it in the water.

Also if you're only in the water June-Sept then there's bottom paints that do better in that scenario vs leaving it in year round. Something activates once it goes in the water and if it dries out then it doesn't do as well (or something along those lines). I don't have a recommendation on that but it's something to look into.

 

[Andy]

Purchased used, boat always trailered. Will keep at mooring in Maine. What are your ideas on how to establish correct water line , type of bottom paint and required prep.

Does initial bottom painting need to be left to professionals?

your input much appreciated. Not a question to paint or not to paint, the answer is is yes for June through Sept on mooring.

any photos of a 23SE hull w bottom paint appreciated

Charles in Maine

Some thoughts;
As for DIY or the pros. I've done bottom-paint jobs myself (22' Sport, 27' Albin, 35' CT). There is no amusement value doing bottom-jobs, but when I was young, it was no big deal, and it is mostly just grunt-work, not complicated. I had the pros do the Parker when we bought it 5 years ago.
Before bottom-paint is applied it's recommended to first apply 2-3 layers of a 'barrier' coating. (Many will say one coat's enough; some have said 4; The marina who did our Parker applied two 'barriers-coats' before adding two coats of the paint.
As for the water line. There's a number of ways to establish the line. You can check with similar boats, and just measure up from the chine on the sides and stern, and then use a laser-level to get the odd shapes around the chines near the bow area. I've also seen boats launched in calm, shallow water, and the actually water line was marked by hand, (a few strategic 'dots' with a magic-marker) while walking around the boat. After you establish the water-line, go HIGHER than you first think; at least three inches higher than the actual water line with both the barrier coat, and bottom-paint; the lower hull sides still get 'yucked-up' by water above the actual water-line....
Are you going to add a 'boot-stripe' ? If so, leave a 1" bare hull 'stripe' right above the bottom-paint.
The biggest issue I've had with the bottom paint, is the trailer bunks messing up the paint when the boat was pulled twice for hurricanes.... We had to have the bottom painted on this boat when we bought it, as I had no trailer at first, and it took a couple months to get the boat lift built; the boat had to stay in the water at our dock. Our last 4 boats have all been bottom painted, and we had always used Petit Trinidad, because it had the highest copper content; I do NOT recommend it for a non-displacement boats like our Parker; I'd use a hard paint.