The Best Bottom Paint? (Tuggers Vol.61)

John Mackie, John William #68, sums it up best:  "Ask 10 people what the best bottom paint is and you'll get 10 different answers." John lives in Cape Canaveral, FL and will be switching from Super Shipbottom to an ablative with more biocide.  Jay Sterling, Cruz-In #74 (in Key West), uses and likes Petit Hydrocoat SR.   The Hyrocoat is water based and as the SR implies, slime resistant.  Ed McChain, Thistle #47 (in VA), uses and likes Petit Ultima SR60.  He says that three gallons will cover the hull twice and the waterline three times.  Bob Allnutt, Victory #2, uses Blue Water Copper Pro SCX and gets three continuous years of service from it.  Allan Seymour, Sally W. #42 (in ME), uses Pettit Trinidad.  He gets three years out of it.  Phil Jones, Jones Boatyard, Hoopers Island, MD, recommends Micron CSC.  Coppercoat is interesting as it's supposed to last 10 years.  The problem is that copper alone works on the fauna but not the flora.

Despite all the different answers there are some common denominators:  ablative is the popular choice, high copper is desirable (65% is the highest allowed by law), a high biocide content is desirable too.