bertram31.com

Anyone with experience with any of these units?
Am very Interested, as am tired of paying divers, and doing it myself.

Do these things really work?

Kevind767,
A few years ago at the boat shows Bertram was using a high frequency sound device for keeping barnacles off the boat at the show, it seemed like a good idea but it was very expensive, I haven't seen or heard much about it since. I think it was called hull guard or something like that.
I have found that adding a 1/4 cup of cayenne pepper to the 3/4 gallon of paint that it takes to do the bottom of a 31 works pretty good. It has a lot to do where your located, a slip with fast current and cold water doesn't get much growth, on the other hand a protected slow moving water that's warm grows like crazy.
I agree with you on the divers, I have seen some boats that are serviced every month by a well known company here in South Florida, the paint that's easy to get to is always clean, but around intakes, exhaust ports and inside of bow thruster tunnels they don't get cleaned at all. I 've seen oysters that you would not have a problem putting on your plate they were so large come off the bottom of a very well respected name in boating.
I think the best way is to do it your self and use the best quality bottom paint that is made for your water conditions. People think bottom paints are all alike, I can tell you from my own experience that not true, not to mention brand names but M****n works in certain areas of South Florida but not in Mid Atlantic or in the North East. Good scrapping.
Pete Fallon

Thanks Peter,

Where I am the water moves quickly in and out, but is very warm and the growth is amazingly fast, for the summer months.
Cools off in the fall/winter season.

There seem to be some new models on market now, and I was curious if they were any better than the older styles.

Thank you for your reply

I buddy of mine was using the M****n for years. Hauled the boat and had all the paint removed and had this new fangled paint called Eco clad applied. It makes the bottom of your boat like fish skin or so they say. Supposedly nothing would grow on it. He picked up speed and RPM after launch. He was excited about it. 6 months later he was under the boat and the worm coral was worse than ever. He was madder than a sprayed roach. The boat went back to the yard and the original Micron went on again. I would like to hear more about the ultrasonic but I have my doubts.

Ultrasonic Antifoulant?

Horse Pucky...

" Horse Puckey"

That's funny Capt Pat.

I was only asking as I have never found any paint to be able to stay on the shafts and props, and when I don't use the boat, the growth takes 2 hours to scrape off.
Takes some of the fun out of it all.

I was hoping that someone had experience with the running gear staying "cleaner" for lack of a better word, with the newer style sonic transducers.

Sounds like it's not there as yet.

Thanks for your replies

I read a magazine article about bottom paints about a year ago, and the author said to get bottom paint to adhere to your running gear you should clean all the metal, apply a coat or two of good quality epoxy primer, and then one or two coats of bottom paint. The theory is that the epoxy adheres to the metal and the bottom paint adheres to the epoxy, but bottom paints usually won't stick well to bare metal.

I use Sea Hawk BioCop TF ablative bottom paint, and I called their customer service people and they agreed to the above, but said to apply the first coat of the bottom paint to the epoxy coat as soon as the epoxy had become tacky.. saying that the bottom paint and the epoxy would chemically bond, producing better results.

I used this technique last fall before I launched, and will be quick hauling the boat soon to install a teak swim platform I built. I will see then if this procedure really works. So far all I can see is the tops of my trim tabs, which do look pretty good compared to previous years.

Prop Speed is in my opinion still the best for running gear. Used it for 3 years now and the boat performs great. As for bottom paint the jury is still out. High copper content non ablatives work well if the boat sits but you get a paint build up over time. Ablatives are good only if you use the boat often. They have lower copper contents but in the long run are better for not leaving paint build up. I have heard of good results with Hydracoat.

IRGuy wrote:I read a magazine article about bottom paints about a year ago, and the author said to get bottom paint to adhere to your running gear you should clean all the metal, apply a coat or two of good quality epoxy primer, and then one or two coats of bottom paint. The theory is that the epoxy adheres to the metal and the bottom paint adheres to the epoxy, but bottom paints usually won't stick well to bare metal.

I use Sea Hawk BioCop TF ablative bottom paint, and I called their customer service people and they agreed to the above, but said to apply the first coat of the bottom paint to the epoxy coat as soon as the epoxy had become tacky.. saying that the bottom paint and the epoxy would chemically bond, producing better results.

I used this technique last fall before I launched, and will be quick hauling the boat soon to install a teak swim platform I built. I will see then if this procedure really works. So far all I can see is the tops of my trim tabs, which do look pretty good compared to previous years.

ill be all eyes frank
it will give me a good idea of what to expect
hope to run the boat at least onces a week so that should help.
I used the ablative paint for years up north, could be a different game down hear,
other boat owners tell me they have a diver scrub the bottom once a month

Prop speed

Horse Pucky!!!!

Nice shot, Col. Potter.

Frank,

Let me know how the running gear looks on haul out.

Am very interested
Thanks

About 11 years ago I took all the underwater metal down to a shine. I then did all the prep including the epoxy. Then coated with a top ablative paint. My boat stays in for 2 > 3 years. What happened is when the ablative wore off, the epoxy & metal primer gave a perfect "tooth" for all the underwater growth & barnacles to attach to. It was hell cleaning all that mess back down to shiny metal. Since then I have left the metal shiny & it is a lot easier to clean. Every fall before I put her to bed, I dive & install new zincs & do a general clean. In the warm south that is probably not an option.

Having said all that, this year I used the Pettit zinc metal spray paint. We'll see how that works out.

Likewise I am trying the Pettit Zinc spray here in VA. Dreamsicle lives in warm, relatively still water in a boat house. Am going to get her checked today as I intend to run to Baltimore next week for the Indy races.

I had good luck with this two part system followed by two coats of Ultima SR-60 ablative bottom paint. If you run it a lot hard paint would probably be better, as Lobsta pointed out. After two years the bottom paint was still good and only a couple very small barnacles on the blade roots.

http://www.pettitpaint.com/product.asp?id=82" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.pettitpaint.com/product.asp?id=154" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yea prop speed the best ONLY the first time there after you have sit under the boat and remove every single "spec" or nothing will adhere to the silicon finish of part two. No thank you ! The Pettit zinc spay is a easy application every year,and it will hold up on rudders,shafts,structs,and intake strainers.i don't bother with running surface of props just back side. I use non- ablative micron extra now save money and use Pettit just as good this year.