As I was saying… We painted the bottom with Epaint. Great stuff. Check it out at http://www.epaint.com.
I stole the following from their web site because I can’t do it justice with my description.
The main mechanism found in all ePaint coatings is a patented photo-active technology that is unique only to ePaint’s. Energy from visible light in the water column is used to combine water and dissolved oxygen molecules to form hydrogen peroxide that blankets around the boat hull, creating a surface inhospitable to bio-fouling animal larvae such as barnacles and zebra mussels. Hydrogen peroxide is very effective at deterring bio-fouling from settling yet quickly decomposes back into water and dissolved oxygen.
We splashed the boat for the ’08 season and used it sparingly. Infrequent use usually results in the boat’s bottom accumulating a good amount of “fur,” but we barely had to pressure wash it and probably could have gotten away without doing it all. Keep in mind, when you pressure wash your ePaint, you have no worries about leaching the copper into the yard or back into the water. Many marinas are facing tougher and tougher regulations from the EPA, making ePaint an even more attractive alternative. Plus, with the price of copper through the roof, going green isn’t really any more expensive.
In the ’08 season we knocked out some small projects between a run to fish here and a family trip there. The hard top was rough, and taking off the Gilligan’s Island flybridge had left some holes to patch up, and lights, radar and antennas needed to be remounted. Capping the 2nd station rigging had it’s own complications. These were all temporary fixes, and we knew she really had to be put in the barn and fixed up extensively. So I created “The List.” The guys at the office will tell you I’m a big list maker and this one was no different. I put 56 items on that list.
Upon seeing my list, Chris said “Cap, why don’t we just build a new boat?” That when I knew I kind of went overboard. From interior cabin, electrical, engine and helm work to exterior running gear, through-hulls, gunnel and gel coat, I pretty much covered it all. We didn’t choose to tackle them all, but next week, I’ll take you through an outline of the projects we will tackle and introduce you to C&C Marine, home of Northcoast boats. A great family-run boat builder right here in New England.