Pettit Hydrocoat Anti-Fouling paint

Peter · Post by **Peter** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 10:33 am

Has anyone on the forum had good/bad experience with Pettit Hydrocoat Anti-Fouling paint? It's a water-based ablative paint. I'm thinking of using it because my depth sounder transducer specifies a water based coating, so why not do the whole bottom that way?

http://www.pettitpaint.com/catalog_browse.asp?ictNbr=11

A30_John · Post by **A30_John** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 6:51 pm

I used Hydrocoat on my previous boat with so so results.

The previous owner of my current boat used Unipoxy 1618 which I've continued to use. So far I've had very good results with it.

I use transducer paint on my transducer and it seems to be doing a good job.

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/pr ... ucer.Paint

I hope this helps.

Peter · Post by **Peter** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 12:31 am

Thanks for the tip, John.
I didn't realize there was a specialy packaged Transducer Paint. I thought I might have to buy a whole quart!
West Marine has it in a spray can, too.

tartan30cirrus · Post by **tartan30cirrus** » Sun Aug 07, 2005 10:25 am

I like the Hydrocoat very much. It is easy/pleasant to apply....goes on smooth and does well with A-fouling up here in ME anyway...I consider doing a bottom cleaning maybe once in August but is not really necessary! I apply a fresh coat every 2 years....scrub every other year and touch up where needed. I have noticed that the A-fouling is better when I apply a fresh coat. The ease of clean up is HUGE for me...and I gon't need major protection when applying the paint. Water clean up is sure nice.

Cheers,
Clint

Case · Post by **Case** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 2:41 am

I have to agree totally with Clint. I used Pettit Hydrocoat green on FIZZ, my Sea Sprite 23 # 652 and it went very smoothly. Extremely easy to clean up after painting and the paint itself was fairly smooth. I have only 1 3/4 months on the paint so I cannot comment on the long term antifouling efficency. Only time will tell. I put on three coats so it should last at least two seasons, maybe three. Again, only time will tell. I don't think Pettit Hydrocoat is a heavy duty antifouling paint, probaly bad for those who sail in heavy fouling areas. I sail in mid coast Maine and my area is not as fouling like other areas elsewhere. I must also state that it works better if you frequently sail it, not leave it sitting at the dock or mooring all of the time. Its an ablative paint, works better the more you use it. You need to determine the amount of use you will use the sailboat and the fouling conditions of your area you sail in. If you use it frequently and the fouling is not so bad then Pettit Hydrocoat may be the perfect paint for you.

A30_John · Post by **A30_John** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 11:09 pm

Right. My experience with application etc. of Hydrocoat was very good. It was definitely more pleasant to use than Unipoxy 1618. In terms of its antifouling characteristics, it didn't work as well well for me as Unipoxy. With Hydrocoat, in a matter of days I noticed scum collecting, and by the end of the summer, no amount of sailing was going to get rid of it. With the Unipoxy, I still have to see any significant build up of growth as of mid-August.

There could be all sorts of reasons for this, including different prep prior to painting. different weather etc. from one year to the next. Checking the Practical Sailor article might be the best bet.

Peter · Post by **Peter** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 1:01 am

Further investigation reveals that water-based antifouling paint from Pettit is not sold in Canada :-(
West Marine's transducer spray paint is not available either. The only one I can find is called "AquaGuard" and there is very little hard info on it at their web site.
http://www.aquagard-boatpaint.com/