Bottom Paint: A Love-Hate Relationship

I have worked on and owned boats for almost all of my life and part of that life is the annual ritual of renewing the antifouling paint. It has to be done but it is one commissioning job that I really don’t look forward to. I have sanded the bottoms of boats large and small and years ago we didn’t think about wearing respirators. How much copper dust I’ve inhaled is anyone’s guess and it is amazing that I and my sailing pals haven’t succumbed to copper and tin poisoning. We’re smarter about that now and wear full paper suits, respirators, goggles and gloves when sanding the boat’s bottom. Taping the waterline on a boat with a six-foot draft is a challenge; to get it straight you need a step ladder and two extra pairs of hands. If you haven’t put your cans of bottom paint in a vibrator fairly recently, then stirring thick, gooey copper laden paint by hand is no small task; a paint-stirring drill bit helps but is by no means perfect. Applying the paint with a roller and cutting with a brush along the waterline, around the prop shaft and rudder is straightforward but can be shoulder wrecking on larger boats. Then, to do it right, you need to apply at least two coats. Cleaning up rollers and brushes with solvent is another chemistry experiment with more uncertain health hazards but has to be done. Or, if you choose the new water-based bottom paints, clean up is simpler, which is the trade off for less effective antifouling properties. Finally, the only really good part of the whole job: you peel the tape off the waterline in long ribbons, like opening a present, and then stand back and admire your boat wearing a new, smooth and bright bottom. She’s ready to go and it’s a whole year until you have to do this again.