Boat Maintenance

Practical Sailor is simultaneously field-testing three sets of ablative and hard bottom paints in the high-fouling waters of Sarasota, Fla. One test panel has been in the water 36 months, another for 20, and a batch of new and eco-friendly paints has spent nine months submerged. This article covers the results of all three tests and highlights the best bottom paints in each test field, including Practical Sailors picks for aluminum-friendly paints, water-based paints, eco-friendly paints, racing paints, and budget-priced antifouling paints. The test field included dozens of bottom paints from Blue Water Paints, Interlux, Epaint, Pettit, Sea Hawk, Flexdel, and Boero.

In late 2011, Practical Sailor launched a test that focused exclusively on new antifouling paints that had been introduced in the previous year or that we had never tested before. Along with regular test participants Blue Water, Epaint, Flexdel, Pettit, and Sea Hawk, several newcomers signed on, including Specialty Marine Solutions, a Massachusetts company that has developed paints using Sea-Nine 211, a marine antifouling agent from Dow Chemical; Boero, an Italian company with a long history in Europe; and Luritek, a company based in West Chester, Penn.

In late 2011, Practical Sailor launched a test that focused exclusively on new antifouling paints that had been introduced in the previous year or that we had never tested before. Along with regular test participants Blue Water, Epaint, Flexdel, Pettit, and Sea Hawk, several newcomers signed on, including Specialty Marine Solutions, a Massachusetts company that has developed paints using Sea-Nine 211, a marine antifouling agent from Dow Chemical; Boero, an Italian company with a long history in Europe; and Luritek, a company based in West Chester, Penn.

Letters to Practical Sailor, October 2012. This month's letters cover subjects such as: Remote Mic Feedback, Bottom Paint Empathy, Lightning Protection, and more!

Letters to Practical Sailor, October 2012. This month's letters cover topics such as: Jabsco,Whale Pumps, Innovative Lighting& Edson, and more!

The cockpit of Tosca, the 32-foot Atkin ketch that my wife and I cruised on for 11 years, was dominated by a trapezoidal chasm in the flush teak deck, euphemistically referred to as a cockpit well.

Letters to Practical Sailor, September 2012. This month's letters cover subjects such as: Bottom Paint Woes, Measuring Epoxy Success, Fleet Tracking Apps, and more!

If you purchased a Standard Horizon GX1700 VHF with GPS (PS Best Choice, June 2012) before mid-July 2012, it likely is in need of a firmware update. A bug in the original programming made it nearly impossible to save a waypoint using the Mark Position function.

Letters to Practical Sailor, September 2012. This month's letters cover topics such as: Marina in westBrook, Polyform, Questus Marine, and more!

In April 2012, we launched a long-term test of SmartAntifouling’s M20, an electronic antifouling solution that the maker claims uses ultrasonic waves to prevent algae and barnacle growth on boat hulls. The M20 transducer emits a high-frequency vibration that creates a thin layer of moving water around the hull, making it difficult for organisms to attach to the hull. The evaluation was set to run for a few seasons. However, after just three months of testing, disappointing results prompted testers to put the experiment on hold until the test boat’s bottom is re-painted later this year.