Anyone heard of West Marine "Boatshield" bottom paint?

[RhythmDoctor]

I asked the seller of my future boat what I thought was a simple question: What kind of paint is on the bottom? Here is his response:

It's West Marine " Boatshield."
The product code is painted out but it's copper based.
All the codes are painted out.
Feels like its @ 3/4 gal or so.

I am trying to figure out whether it's ablative or not (I hope not, since nothing ablates onto my hand when I wipe it), and what its compatibility would be for overcoating with some other type of paint. You know, never put hard paint on top of soft paint, what else will adhere to it, and other standard paint stuff.

I've searched West Marine's site, and the rest of the web, and I cannot find any paint product called "BoatShield". Have any of you ever heard of it?

[EDIT: Turns out it was probably a typo from this guy. It must be West Marine's BottomShield. Any comments on its performance, and what else I could/should cover it with? I'll go search this myself now that I have an appropriate search term.]

[RhythmDoctor]

To start to answer my own question, first place I looked is my latest issue of Practical Sailor. Looks like WM Bottomshield (Unepoxy LD) is a hard (nonablative) paint and got a "Fair" rating. However, that is listed as a "new" proeuct, and this paint is at least 2 years old. If anyone can spoon-feed me a link to a review of a prior version of this paint that would be great. Meanwhile, I'll continue to search myself.

[sailingdog]

RD—

If the boat has been out of the water for any extended period of time, the paint is toast. Most hard epoxy paints deactivate if left out of the water for any length of time.

[RhythmDoctor]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

RD—

If the boat has been out of the water for any extended period of time, the paint is toast. Most hard epoxy paints deactivate if left out of the water for any length of time.

Oh. That's what I was afraid of when I saw "Recommended Usage: Low-to-moderate fouling waters; year-round immersion of fiberglass, wood, steel hulls"

Can it be recovered by just putting on another coat (preferably something else like an ablative paint), or do I need to strip it all off?

Either way it's a real bummer because I was planning to survey on the hard in the morning (with some minor touch-ups to the bottom), launch mid-day, complete survey/sea trial in the water, then within a couple days sail the boat to my marina and leave it in the water for the season. Now it looks like I'll have to pay for a haulout to paint it this spring.

[sailingdog]

You can probably put an ablative over the hard epoxy with only a light sanding... but you'll have to check depending on what paint you go with.

[deniseO30]

RD the river is very very nasty for boat bottoms.. you will have slime within 3 days of launch.. with expensive or cheap bottom paint! I've not seen one boat kept in the river that did not get slimed in short order. It's just the way it is in the Delaware River. I see racers using high end paint and they still have to clean the bottom mid season. Most of us don't bother. And power wash it off as soon as the boat comes out for the winter. nasty smelling stuff too the slime is! BTW I've only used WM ablative. i

[RhythmDoctor]

Thanks for the info, Denise. Sounds like it will be slimy no matter what I do. How long would you suggest I wait before hauling, cleaning, and repainting? Should I do it within a couple of weeks, or do you think I can make it to midseason? How bad will it be if I keep it in with epoxy paint that's been allowed to dry all winter? (Showing my lack of experience here!)

[sailingdog]

It will pretty much be as if you don't have any bottom paint on your boat at all, since the hard epoxy paint has probably fully deactivated over the winter. Getting a bottom paint with an anti-slime additive, like Iragol, will help.

Originally Posted by RhythmDoctor

Thanks for the info, Denise. Sounds like it will be slimy no matter what I do. How long would you suggest I wait before hauling, cleaning, and repainting? Should I do it within a couple of weeks, or do you think I can make it to midseason? How bad will it be if I keep it in with epoxy paint that's been allowed to dry all winter? (Showing my lack of experience here!)

[RhythmDoctor]

Originally Posted by deniseO30

RD the river is very very nasty for boat bottoms.. you will have slime within 3 days of launch.. with expensive or cheap bottom paint! I've not seen one boat kept in the river that did not get slimed in short order. It's just the way it is in the Delaware River. I see racers using high end paint and they still have to clean the bottom mid season. Most of us don't bother. And power wash it off as soon as the boat comes out for the winter. nasty smelling stuff too the slime is! BTW I've only used WM ablative. i

Aside from slime, what else grows on the boat bottom in the Delaware? I assume that barnacles do not grow in the fresh water, but is that correct? Some friends have suggested that if there is no barnacle growth, I can probably get away without repainting right away. Obviously I can live with stuff that would merely discolor the old paint, since I'm going to have to sand and paint over it next fall. But barnacles or other growth like that could damage gelcoat.

So bottom line question, if I keep the boat in the Delaware for the first year and completely avoid salt water, am I likely to see any growth that penetrates through to gelcoat and/or can't be sanded off and painted over?

[mstern]

RD: Assuming the hard shell paint is in good shape, its generally not a problem at all to apply ablative paint over the hard shell paint. A light sanding, and Bob's your uncle. I did this about 10 years ago, and have never had a problem with the old hard paint undercoat.

However, my two cents is that unless you are able to use your boat a lot or it will be moored where there is a good current running, you might want to consider using hard shell paint if slime is a particular problem in your area. The one time I used hard paint, I found it more effective than ablative at keeping the common slime at bay. Nevertheless, I continue to use ablative because its just so much easier to deal with. I only have to do touch ups in the spring, and completely repaint the bottom every three years. Even then, I don't have to remove the old paint. I think the extra $ for the multi-season ablative paint is well worth it. I've never used one of those "slime away" additives, so I can't comment on their effectiveness.