Pettit Trinadad SR Hard Bottom Paint

Hello,

Does anyone have a comment about Pettitt Trinada SR Hard Bottom Paint, and a good source for this?


Larry
s/v Galileo

Larry:

If you are hauling out each winter then I would go with a good ablative. If I was going to keep the boat in the water I would go with a good hard paint for multi-season coverage.

Bobby

Hello again,

Well, prepped the bottom down to its original hard-bottom paint and applied two coats of Pettit Trinad SR. Moved the stands last week and have so far placed one coat on those patches. Will place second coat on those patches next week after storm passes by east-coast.

The thing I noticed about this paint versus previously used soft-bottom paints on two boats now over 23 years is that it applies a lot easier in that its consistency seems to be thinner than soft-bottom paints. Will be able to cover our IP-37 with 1 1/2 gallons when finished.

It may be more costly initially, but it may balance out in long run with less paint needed and ease of application (helps my old back and arms).

I am impressed and it wasn't significantly more costly.


Gerry & Larry Rossi

Hayden,

How did your bottom paint experiment go this Spring?


Gerry & Larry Rossi
Galileo

We have used Petit Trinidad SR black on our vessel in Florida and it works very well. The paint usually lasts for about a year before the next bottom job.

However, if you sail to the Caribbean this same bottom paint is ineffective and should NOT be used. We tried to use Petit Trinidad SR black and it was covered with barnacles after 1 month south of St. Thomas. It was totally useless. Petit gave us 6 gallons of paint as compensation and it too was useless after we applied it in Trinidad.

I hope this helps.

Steve
S/V Aspen
IP380-122

Does anyone know the underwater surface area of a 440 (I assume it is the same as a 460) I need to know this so I know how much Pettit Trinadad SR hard bottom paint to order. It will be expensive as I need to ship it to NZ and cannot afford to ship more than I will need.

We use Pettit Trinidad SR red. It was on the boat when we bought it after serving duty in the BVI. The selling brokerage had a diver scrub the bottom every month for a year and the paint was well worn by the time it came to us so we applied two fresh coats with an extra coat on the wear surfaces. Our boat has been in the water for three straight years now. We have a diver give her a scrub as needed but the paint is holding up well. We plan to add a coat this Spring during her first haul-out since we bought her.

When we painted the bottom we bought three gallons from West Marine. After two plus coats we had a half gallon left over. This is on an IP420.

Tom Ward
IP420-35
"La Vida Dulce"

Here's an update on the condition of our Trinidad SR bottom paint. We just pulled the boat for the first time in three years and was only power-washed. It's been 18 months since we had a diver scrub the bottom and replace the anodes. The overall condition of the paint is very good but does show some wear around the water line which is understandable since that gets scrubbed more often. The only barnacles were attached at the forward part of the keel where we had scrubbed the paint off completely by running aground . We plan to do a light sanding and add a single coat to the hull and two coats at the water line and other hard wear areas. We'll have to put on a barrier coat and two coats of Trinidad where the fiberglass is exposed.

I also want to report on an anti-fouling paint for metal that we used. It's called PropSpeed (www.propspeedusa.com/). This was also applied three years ago and when seeing the prop for the first time I was impressed. There was some barnacle growth but not enough to cause serious fouling. The cost of the paint is up there with silver and some other precious metals but it definitely works. The company claims up to two years between applications but after seeing this I'm comfortable with stretching that to three. At least here on the Chesapeake.


I prefer not to have the boat pulled every year since we live aboard. The combination of Trinidad SR bottom paint and PropSpeed ensures easy maintenance and long periods in between. I might be wrong but I also believe the hard bottom paint is better for the environment than ablative paint. The PropSpeed is said to be environmentally safe.

Tom Ward
IP420-35
La Vida Dulce