Bottom paint on a pontoon

[martys]

I like to get some opinions on what kind of bottom paint and primer owners are using on there pontoons. I boat in the Middle River area of the Chesapeake Bay and be keeping the pontoon in the water from May to October. I know from experience with a fiberglass haul, a good bottom paint is needed for protection.

[Heatman]

I don't know the answer but I'm sure BMR will chime in on this... he's from the same area and has painted the bottoms on his.

[badmoonrising]

Since you are painting on bare aluminum, you cannot allow any paint containing copper to come in contact with the aluminum. My marina used Interlux Primocon barrier coat followed by Interlux Trilux 33 black.

This will be our 3rd season without issues, barnacles will attempt to attach, but die right away and can be wiped off. You'll still get a little bit of marine growth, which I wipe off every few weeks while we are swimming.

Touch it up every spring and reapply every 4-5.

I am in the Bohemia River, which isn't as salty as down your way but does during droughts.

[wish2fish]

BMR,
do you think this is a job you could have done yourself?

[badmoonrising]

I let my marina do the first bottom painting because it was summer and nearly 100 degrees out when I first got my slip. Last season, I repainted it myself. It wasn't easy, but with a hydraulic jack and some 4x4's it wasn't that hard to do myself.

When I did, I painted 4 inches higher on the water line:

[FloterBoter]

looks good.

[wish2fish]

My toon sits on blocks over the winter so it wouldn't be so hard to to get at all the tubes!




What is cleanup like at the end of the season?

[badmoonrising]

A lot easier than not having it painted, just a quick scrub.

[partybarge21]

I keep my boat in the bay by Atlantic City NJ. It sits in the water from May to late October.
I painted the bottom with same paint BMR used. What I did different was use an apoxy coat as the primer. This way the aluminum is sealed. I like it because the apoxy is so hard that it dosn't wear off from the bumpers. I only have to touch up the anti-fowling paint.
Last year it took me 2 days to complete the process. 1st day for the apoxy and 1st coat of anti-fowling paint. 2nd day for the second coat of paint.
I too painted 3 inches above the water line. When the boat is loaded it sits right at the water line.

[badmoonrising]

Yeah the epoxy would work to isolate the aluminum from the antifouling paint. The barrier coat from Interlux is pretty durable though and supposedly is an etching primer..so far the bumpers haven't worn either off, just the one time I scraped the corner of the dock on a super windy day....

[FloterBoter]

you're supposed to say the wife was the captain that day..................