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Bare Bottom?

Posted: Sat May 02, 2020 4:50 pm
by GregM
I found that I need to add some bottom paint to my 32 this afternoon. When talking to the marina owner he informed me the 32 that has been in the water for 30 years had a bare aluminum bottom. He said the guy had it stripped thinking the electrolysis spots are due to pin hole openings in the paint allowing the electric to focus on small spots instead of spreading out over an unpainted hull. Do you guys think there is any truth in that? Doesn't the coast guard run bare? Also I am thinking of going coal tar epoxy with the next round of bottom paint. That ablative stuff wears off way to fast and is very expensive. I am in the Ohio river so no salt issues, just muddy water.

Re: Bare Bottom?

Posted: Sat May 02, 2020 5:33 pm
by GB49
Bottom paint is primarily for keeping the growth away from the hull. Paint or no paint you should be protected with anodes and proper DC & AC grounding. Also make sure your shore cords and your neighbor shore cords are healthy. I had a neighbor 2 boats down cause my galvanic isolator to buzz. Found out his plug was blackened/melted, putting voltage to the ground.

Never used coal tar but the ablative paint wears off on purpose.

Re: Bare Bottom?

Posted: Sat May 02, 2020 10:33 pm
by jralbert
""...Paint or no paint you should be protected with anodes and proper DC & AC grounding. ..." Amen to that

Painting well will save you money. A cruddy bottom will make the engine work harder to maintain speed and that means fewer mpg. Get the appropriate paint with anti-fouling properties. Lots of past threads here on what's best

Re: Bare Bottom?

Posted: Sun May 03, 2020 6:29 am
by Fastjeff
..."Bare Bottom". I resisted, I resisted!

It all depends on where you boat. On interior lakes, especially in the South, people get away without A/F paint, but not where I boated! Even with a yearly coat of Trilux the boat would be covered with barnacles--one year--and a green slime the next, unless we took it out every week to rub it off at speed.

One time I left the boat unused for a few weeks, and it was mess: needing more throttle to maintain cruise speed, and it was logy and vibrating. Got so bad I intended to do something about it since we were on a trip at the time and this was lousing it up.

Anchoring in shallow water, I took my 1 1/2 inch putty knife and scraped the ENTIRE bottom of a 32 boat! It took an hour plus, and I swallowed a bunch of water doing it, but the boat was back!

Jeff

Re: Bare Bottom?

Posted: Sun May 03, 2020 10:27 am
by bcassedy
Jeff,

I'm guessing your anchorage to clean/scrape the bottom was in fairly stable conditions (no / minimal muck).

Starting a new thread on bottom cleaning processes used by members.

Bill

Re: Bare Bottom?

Posted: Sun May 03, 2020 1:51 pm
by Fastjeff
Dead calm water (Still Pond Creek) with a nice sandy bottom. Still, it was a dog of a job!

At the end of the season all boats hauled out at my marina got pressure washed.

Jeff

Re: Bare Bottom?

Posted: Sun May 03, 2020 7:30 pm
by Bryank97
Pluckebaum Custom Boats, also aluminum only paints around the sides just for looks. The bottoms are bare aluminum unless the boats were expected to be in salt water. Also Coal Tar epoxy is extremely durable and will probably be my choice when my paint starts looking thin. I see no issues leaving them bare, maybe just a little slime/growth