Paints

The latest report on our ongoing bottom paint tests, this look at Practical Sailor's antifouling test panels includes 65 hard and ablative paints that have been submerged for 18 months. The test paints include those from Blue Water Paints, Epaints, Flexdel, Interlux, Pettit, Sea Hawk, West Marine, and Copper Coat. An experimental stick-on paint, BoatKote Laminate, was also tested. Some copper-laden perennial favorites again topped the ratings, but some eco-friendly antifoulants from Epaints also did surprisingly well. The report also compares the results of PS's long-term bottom paint test to those of a test conducted by the San Diego Unified Port District and funded by the Environmental Protection Agency. San Diego's “Final Report on Safer Alternatives to Copper Alternatives in Antifouling Paints for Marine Vessels” evaluated how well certain alternative antifouling paints (with limited or no harmful biocides) performed.

Earlier this year, reader and occasional contributor Fred Hatch found himself facing a quandary common among boat owners. The topsides of his 32-foot sloop were well faded, and small blisters were beginning to show along the waterline. Would he be in for an ambitious haulout and big yard fees, or might there be other remedies?

It takes practice to produce a perfect, mirror finish on varnished wood, but it is not so much a difficult task as an exacting one, where attention to detail and no short cuts are the secrets to success. Whether you are finishing new wood, refinishing old wood, or maintaining a finish in good condition, the basics are the same.

For hull bottom and topside repair, we love our Porter-Cable random orbit sander and WEST System Microlight Fairing Compound.

I’m the happy owner of a 31-foot sloop, a replica of a 100-year-old wooden Friendship. Her fiberglass hull was laid up in a mold made from the old boat. My boat is very traditional, with wooden mast and spars, and lots of heavy bronze hardware on her gaff rig. The mast and spars all need to be stripped and refinished this off-season, and the owner of the yard where she’s stored has recommended using Mas epoxy (www.masepoxies.com) as the base, then a coat of varnish, then a sprayed-on clear coat. The Mas people advised not to use an oil or mineral-based spar varnish, as it isn’t compatible with their product.

Testers rated dozens of wood finishes—including one-part varnishes, two-part varnishes, synthetic systems, and teak oils—after the test panels faced a year and a half of Florida weather exposure. Find out how the finishes ranked for ease of application, gloss, appearance, and durability. Still going strong in the ongoing long-term test are 20 of the original 22 one-part varnishes and all six of the original two-part varnishes. As a group, varnish alternatives such as Interlux Sikkens Cetol, teak oils, and teak sealers struggled to make the 18-month cut, but nine remain in the test. Products that were doing well 18 months after application include coatings from Interlux, Coelan, Pettit, HMG, and Nautiking. The report also includes a brief look at a new product, Vermont Natural Coatings PolyWhey, which was applied to PS's Cape Dory 25 test boat. This unique coating's base is whey, a byproduct of cheesemaking, rather than oil.

Letters to the Practical Sailor editors in December 2010 include: paint colors, sailmaker services, bilge pumps, pest control and the Wirie v. a DIY WiFi antenna.

Letters to Practical Sailor from our readers. November 2010's topics include cleaning products, sail hardware, galley stoves and anti-fouling paints.

In the interest of saving readers both time and money, Practical Sailor recently inspected six different sets of antifouling test paints that had been submerged for varying amounts of time in the waters of Florida and New England. Each fiberglass panel set was painted with more than five-dozen different bottom paints, including ablative antifoulings, hard paints, freshwater paints, eco-friendly bottom paints, and copper-free paints. This seasons report-we offer these in-depth looks at antifouling twice a year-reinforces what weve stated before: Most modern paints designed for salt water are effective against hard growth for 12 months, but some are clearly better slime fighters. Test paints included formulas from Interlux, Pettit Paints, Blue Water Marine, BoatKoat Laminates, Coppercoat, Sea Hawk, Epaint, Flexdel, and West Marine. The report breaks it down by performance, price, and niche so readers can decide which paint best suits their needs.

Gelcoat, particularly porous gelcoat, requires a more specialized wax than what youd use on your car. And while most of the liquid waxes we tested are liquid polymers designed specifically for gelcoat surfaces, we also tested some automotive waxes to see how theyd fare against the best marine waxes. These test products are designed to be the final layer of hull protection applied to a new boat or to a boat with oxidized gelcoat that has been thoroughly compounded and polished to a smooth, shiny finish. We tested liquid waxes from Star brite, Cajun Shine All, Collinite, 3M, Mothers, Restructure, Interlux, Imar, Nu Finish, Flitz, Yacht Brite, Woody Wax, Marine Shield, Meguiars, Flagship, Glare, West Marine, Turtle Wax, Island Girl, MP Pros, and Zaino Brothers.