Yacht Hull Painting – Best Boat Bottom Paint for Your Yacht

In addition to bottom cleaning and other yacht maintenance services, Yacht Management South Florida also offers haul out and yacht hull and bottom painting services. Regularly painting your yacht’s hull may not seem like an obvious yacht maintenance service to take advantage of, but a hull covered in marine growth can slow down your boat’s speed and consequently increase fuel costs.

Picking the best boat bottom paint for your yacht is critical for a paint job with ideal results. Here is our guide to choosing the right paint for yacht hull painting.

Use Multiple Layers of an Antifouling Paint

Antifouling paint prevents marine organisms like barnacles and mussels from attaching to your hull. The biocide in antifouling paint also prevents marine algae, slime, seaweed, and other plant life from growing on the bottom of your yacht. If your yacht’s hull is made of aluminum, using an antifouling paint containing cuprous oxide biocide can lead to corrosion and wide-spread damage. Instead use a paint that contains zinc, cuprous thiocyanate, or a non-metallic agent as the biocide.

Use Different Paints Depending on How Often You Cruise

If you use your yacht frequently, use an ablative paint for yacht hull painting. This paint is also antifouling and gets smoother overtime. Ablative paint is best at shedding light marine life growth off your hull. If you don’t go out on your yacht often and it is spending most of its time docked and stationary, an epoxy paint is the better choice. Use modified epoxy paint with high copper content for yacht hull painting if you keep your yacht in the water year-round.