Repaint Hull?

[traveler]

Hello all,

I purchased an 81 Com-Pac at the end of last summer from an owner who kept her on a trailer.  He'd previously painted the hull with Interlux Micron CSC.  I put her in the water (Chesapeake) late August and pulled her out in December.  She has some crap on her hull but it's actually pretty clean.  After I clean her off, how can I tell if I should add a new coat or two of paint?  If there are no areas obviously missing paint should I wait until next year? Anything wrong with touching up little areas that need it vs a whole new coat?  I'm launching her as soon as I can and she'll be in the water until next winter. 

I am very limited in space to work on her so if I can get another season out of the current paint job that would be great. 

I've read some people put a coat of hull pain on the rudder.  Is this a good idea?  I tilt the rudder up when she's at the dock but the edge of the rudder still sits in the water. 

Thanks

[JBC]

I had Micron bottom paint on a previous 16, but only trailer-sailed the boat other than a few days at a time left in the water, and then only in fresh water. It held up very well for that use. But I did look up the paint online and read what others said about how it held up when slipped, because I was considering slipping it for a season. As I remember, their experiences were mixed about how long the paint lasted for that purpose. I do remember a clever tip though: When you do paint the bottom again, change color (black to blue, or whatever). From then on it will be easier to tell when it's time to refresh.

Jett

[brackish]

Keep in mind the only purpose of anti fouling bottom paint is to retard the growth of marine plant and animal stuff on your bottom.  It will keep working as long as whatever the active ingredient used to do that is still present.  If you only had minimal growth in the period of time you were in water, then it is still working.  With a 16 that can be hauled, trailered and cleaned at any time I would push it to its limits.  The only down side to "overusing" the paint job is you have to haul and clean to remove the growth and keep the boat from slowing down to a crawl when you try to sail it. 

My 23 stays in the water all the time, only hauled for short periods for maintenance and a bottom job.  I use Blue Water Marine SCS 45, similar to the Interlux you mentioned, and push three years out of it by doing in water cleanings in the shallows at least once a year. 

I don't think a touch up does much good, although if you have the paint handy, a full coat six inches or so from the waterline down will help.  Growth of barnacles and marine plant life tends to concentrate just below the waterline.

The color change is a good idea.  I have epoxy gray barrier covered with black initial ablative anti fouling, with red anti fouling over the black.  Now when I see any black it lets me know that the antifouling top coat has ablated off.