Sea Hawk Smart Solutions Bottom Paint

[ericinga]

The majority of people in the forum are Interlux paint loyalists. For the record, my father has always used Trilux on his Marinettes. However, I decided to break from the norm and try a different paint. After speaking sales reps about Petit, Interlux and Sea Hawk paints, I decided to try the Seahawk paint system.
The paint has been on the boat in the water for two months. It is too early to know if the paint will wear well. However, it looks great and has not collected any growth. I spent two hours or so diving under the boat last weekend looking for problems and have not seen any.
There were two main reasons I chose Seahawk:
1) It’s a bonded paint system designed for aluminum. This is a blessing and a curse but overall seemed to work well.
2) The Tuff Stuff primer bonds to many different types of substrates. The prior owner paid someone to paint the bottom and did not know the brand or type of paint.
My preparation method was the following:
1. Power wash the entire hull below the water line. This should have been done the day the boat was pulled from the lake but time didn’t permit it. I spent about 16 hours washing the growth from the hull. There appeared to be years of growth down there. Power washing stripped a fair amount of paint from the hull. There were sections in the aft corners with more than three square feet of bare aluminum.
2. Sand the entire area. This actually went well using 60 grit paper and an orbital sander. I worked in ten foot lengths and worked from bow to stern. After an area was sanded, it was coated with Interlux Primocon. I never left the bare metal exposed overnight.
3. Fill pitted areas with epoxy. There were a number of areas around certain areas with corrosive pitting. These areas were small and the pits were never deeper than 1/16th inch. The areas were filling with MarineTex, sanded and primed.
4. Applied two coats of Tuff Stuff primer in succession.
5. Applied two coats of Smart Solutions in succession.
6. Moved boat stands and painted pad areas.
A few lessons learned:
1. Having the boat in the driveway and on stands was a huge benefit. My patient wife held her breath as the new purchase was gently taken off the trailer (Honestly, she thought I was out of my mind!). However, it was well worth the time and effort for the convenience.
2. A dirty bilge hides many sins. The aft bilge looked like a beach. The dirt was crusted high and deep with leaves, bugs, bolts, screws, copper wire, etc, etc. The dirt was deep enough to clog the weep holes between rib sections. We spent 3-4 hours with water hoses and scrub brushes cleaning the crud out. We literally scooped dirt out by hand. Why was this important?: There were 10-15 mild steel bolts and screws left in the bilge. I think this was part my corrosion problem.
3. Preparation is everything. It was said many times in the forum posts and was definitely true.
4. Timing is everything with a bonded paint system. The manufacturer’s instructions stated 4-6 hours between primer coats with a minimum of two primer coats. At a casual pace, I spent about 2 hours on each primer coat. After each coat, the paint was cured and ready for the next coat. The hot and dry weather (85 – 90 degrees and 20-30% humidity) played a part in the fast drying times. I planned around the weather and it work out well.

Time will tell if the paint will hold up. However, I’m happy with it today.

Eric

[Rockit]

Thanks for the detailed post. Please keep us updated on how the paint holds up.

Best,

Joe

[Fastjeff]

I hope that paint will stay on since you violated Rule # One on painting aluminum: You didn't etch it first. Sanded aluminum corrodes instantly--it doesn't take "over night".

Jeff

[ericinga]

FWIW -

Pulled the 28' out of the water three weeks ago. 2 years on the bottom paint and no issues. The ablative paint wore through in a few spots on the chines but that is expected.

I'll throw another coat of paint on the bottom and put it on the market.

Eric

[Fastjeff]

We won't tell!

Jeff