If you have read the last couple of blog posts, you will know that I did the bottom painting myself at the yard over the summer. Since it was the first time I had done any bottom painting at all, I was very interested to see how it came out. The only way to tell was to wait for a few months and then have the bottom cleaned. Andrew came by in January for the first clean. The bottom was painted at the end of September, so that means three months went by without any cleaning at all.
Well, after Andrew cleaned the bottom, the news was mostly good. The boat bottom painting that I had done was not perfect. There were some spots around the bow where the paint had come off. Not large spots, but six fist sized spots in various parts of the bow. This did not make me very happy, but there was some good news as well. On the whole, the bottom was in excellent condition. Aside from the spots that I mentioned, the bottom paint was holding up very well.
When I was at the yard painting the bottom, I had put extra layers of barrier coat on the bottom. What this means is that even though there are some areas exposed to the salt water, those areas are protected by the barrier coat. Also, when you have a diver clean the bottom every month, you still get great performance and longevity from the work you did at the yard. My next bottom job will probably be in three to four years and until then, it’s happy sailing!