Bottom Paint Study Results

It’s hard to believe that four years have gone by since this writer and her husband joined a study to test the efficacy of bottom paints using the biocide Econea. But all good things must come to an end, and our final check-up occurred on December 12 at KKMI’s Richmond facility.

What study coordinator Jack Hickey found during his inspection suprised him. “There are quite a few encrusting bryozoans,” he mumbled as he scratched at one the dozens of pancake-shaped growths dotting the solvent-based test paint and copper-based control paint. He went on to determine that most of both of those paints were also covered with hydroids, a spiderweb-like growth. Our darling water-based paint, on the other hand, was free of both growths, and had only a thin layer of algae covering it. Happily, no barnacles were to be found on any of the paints, but the results couldn’t have been more clear: the water-based paint was far superior in almost every way to the other paints.

That was when Jack broke the bad news: the company that had produced the paint had not registered it with the EPA and most likely won’t in the future. This being our final haulout, and our boat’s being in desperate need of a fresh bottom job, we were faced with a choice. Take a chance on one of the three Econea paints currently on the market — Interlux Pacifica Plus, Pettit Ultimate Eco and Seahawk Smart Solution — without knowing if they’ll perform any better than the solvent-based test paints that disappointed us, or go with what we know?

Find out what our decision was in the January edition of Latitude 38, which hits all the usual places — including the ebook version available for free on our website — on Friday, just in time for the New Year’s weekend!