Bottom Paint & Marine Painting

Boat Bottom Painting, Antifouling Paint, Barrier Coat, Sanding & Prep

Time for a fresh coat of Antifouling paint!

Is your boat starting to show signs that she needs a new coat of bottom paint?

You may notice that growth accumulates faster on the underside- your diver may notice that the gray barrier or primer coat is starting to show in patchy spots beyond the outer antifouling paint. In most cases, after around 2 years, it is time to bring her in to the boatyard for a fresh coat of bottom paint.

Bottom Paint

Bottom paint is a critical factor for maintaining your Boat or Yacht. Neglecting to repaint the bottom of your boat can cause damage to the hull, including blisters, de-lamination, decreased performance, and damage to your props, shafts, through-hulls and intakes.
At Swift Marine, we have prepped and painted 100’s of yachts, and we are more than ready to take on the job. The process varies for different boats, depending on age, size, and thickness of older paint coats. For most of the yachts in Charleston, we do the following prep and process for bottom paint

• Create a waterline if needed
• Strip older paints
• Inspect for blemishes, blisters, or fiberglass inconsistencies
• Repair blemishes
• Sand to help adherence of barrier coat
• Remove any dust or old bottom paint with a wash down
• Barrier Coat Application (Primer)
• Bottom Paint application (2 coats with Bottom Paint brands listed below)

Marine Painting

Marine Painting is meant to correct old gelcoat, paint, or just change the color to the owners specifications. Depending on the current finish of your boat or yacht, determines how the boat should be prepped. 99% of the time, we are going to use Awlgrip paint, specifically, Awlgrip Awlcraft 2000, is a very reliable paint that can be buffed, and lasts for years and years.
If the boat has a gelcoat finish, to prep this surface, it will have to be sanded, faired, and the gelcoat will have to be removed altogether. Awlgrip has to be sprayed in a contained area with proper ventilation. This is not a paint that you can just apply outside, there are too many contaminants that could ruin the finish! This is why we ask that you call ahead so we can arrange to move your boat to a paint station. Depending on the size, you may have to use a boatyard, or if the boat is trailerable, you can pull it to us!
As you can imagine, the scope of marine painting jobs vary widely, so please give us a call to discuss your boat.

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