TOPIC: Boat hull paint help.

The boat: 1965 Boston Whaler. Never been painted.

Wants: I want a bottom paint that will help protect the old hull from water penetration. There has never been water blisters with this hull.

Problem:

I purchased this hull for $900. I want to have a boat I can fish hard out of. I will use this boat in fresh water only. It will not be in the water more than 3 weeks at a time. "Quality" paints are expensive; I don't want to have $400 in paint in a $900 dollar hull. I have been searching the net and am quite confused on what paints do or don't do. Some say you need a barrier coat, some say you don't. Some say you can get by with inexpensive 1 part paints. The 2 part paint crowd screams bloody murder. I don't think I need anti-fouling paint.

What do I do? Is there a hard, inexpensive paint that is impervious to water penetration? Or do I need something like Interlux 2000E as a barrier coat? I find it hard to believe that osmosis can penetrate a hull. Especially since this is a Whaler, I have nightmares of waterlogged foam.

If people could give me their feedback or experiences, I would be grateful.

Thank you!

AaronM,

FIRST, let me welcome you to the forum. There are MANY experts here; I am NOT one of them.

Nonetheless, IF i was worried about a bottom paint for your purposes, I would hand sand the hull (to give it some "tooth" to adhere to), buy & "paint on" the least expensive penetrating liquid epoxy industrial coating that i could order & then sand the hull enough to "break the shine" & paint over that with any quality "porch & deck paint".
(Unless i truly believed that the hull's surface integrity was compromised, i would simply sand & put on a good coat or two of the paint.)

yours, satx

i can answer this question for you since i did about 13 boats bottom this year so far from bostom whaler.grady white,campion,king fisher.larson etc....we up here in Vancouver b.c canada most of the boat stay in salt water all the time that is why they have to put bottom paint on to protect it from muscle and what ever don,t want to grow on to the bottom and from it getting blister.yes some of this boat do have 2 or more coat of interlux 2000e and micro scs or what ever kind of bottom paint there want to put on.for your boat i don,t even worry about painting it cause you don,t even leave it in the water for so long i worry more on scratching it up.just my thought hope it help you.

My boat is fished hard, scrapes, bottoms out, across mud sand ,rocks, you name it. Most of these guys would not do with their boats that I do. And for good reason. If mine was really collectable I would not. If it were as factory I would not. I've opted to go with cheap paint and re-do the boat every 3 or 4 years. I have a source for PPG Ditzler sraight enamel. It is hard to get. They gave me my last gallon because I've recommended it to so many. Last time I checked they were down to very few colors and not much at all. But $10 a gallon was cheap. I have also used Rustoleum with great results.

Thanks much everyone. I really appreciate it!