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I have a serious question about paint. Since we can't say negative things about vendors here on sailnet, and since I want the true scoop, please visit the question on anything-sailing.com, and then come right back here to enjoy more sailnet, as I do.
There is no negative connotation in comparing bottom paints. As the efficacy of any bottom paint is dependent largely upon your location, it is unrealistic to draw any valid comparisons which would be true universally.
You would be better served to find someone local whom you trust to give you guidance on which is the best paint for your area.
West Marine branded anti foulings are produced by other paint manufacturers, Petit being one of them. There may be others, I'm not sure. They are not unique formulations but rather existing products that have been re-labled. As such, you'd be better off finding out who makes the specific West Marine product you are interested in, what the comparable Interlux product is and then doing a comparison. But by and large, there are no major performance differences between the major manufacturer's products, as long as you compare apples to apples.
Someone correct me because I don't know the answer specifcally on Marine paint. I worked at a house paint mfg. years and years ago ( summer job ) and we private labelled for many different stores. It was my understanding that the private labelled stuff was not the same formulation that went into their own branded paint. I don't know if this is true for the Marine products or not.
Is that mail-in rebate US only or CDN as well. I know I need another gallon of Micron CSC ( it's whats on the boat now )
Sailnet does have a policy against using the forum for "bashing" or settling disputes.
However, negative comments about vendor products are permitted here on SailNet. They are all over the place. I have posted plenty of them myself. It is fine to share our personal experiences as part of the larger objective of helping out our fellow sailors. You and anyone else should feel free to express their opinion about the efficacy of bottom paint.
We have been using Pettit Trinidad SR here on the Chesapeake and I can't say that I'm particularly pleased with it. It seems to build-up a layer of scum pretty quickly, almost any time of year (worse in the summer). About the only good thing about it is that it's easy to clean the scum off with a brush or scraper.
Here's my experience for what it's worth. For the first 5 years I owned my boat, I used Trinidad SR. I found I still had growth well before the season ended and had to re-paint the next spring anyway. On the advice of an old salt in my club, I switched to the cheapest paint I can find (usually West Marine's BottomKote) and have a diver wash the hull once a month. I still have to paint every season, the bottom is cleaner thanks to the diver and my costs in total are about the same, maybe a little less.
I sail out of City Island, so conditions should be the same as yours.
About this time every year, Practical Sailor does a article on bottom paints. When they test the west products, they always mention who manufactured that particular paint.
When I worked in the paint business, I once got a chance to tour the Muralo paint factory. They made most of the commercially produced Spackle at the time... and you could see it in their shipping department. The containers were labeled for pretty much everyone selling Spackle as a part of their product line... the contents were the exact same regardless of the outer container labeling.
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