Re: 1969 cobia mini yacht want to paint
Needing anti-fouling paint & hull blisters are likely separate situations that need to be addressed separately. Related, yes, cause & effect, yes. But repaired as separate problems needing to be resolved.
As I understand blisters, it is caused by water penetrating the fiberglass hull's gelcoat, creating bubbles, which causes delamination (or more accurately, ARE blisters)......
1 reference
Repair & prevention of those are 2 things you need to address:
another reference
and another
Anti-fouling paint is to keep a moored boat's hull free of biological growth:
reference
Hence the anti-fouling name. If there is biological growth on the hull, there is likely to be quicker & more invasive water penetration....
However, good anti-fouling (A/F) paint also adds an additional barrier coat to prevent hull penetration by water:
reference
The speed at which the boat moves is of little importance to whether or not you need A/F paint......
As a houseboat that will likely be moored year round, you should fix the blisters, and use a good anti-fouling paint. Since you will be painting the hull bottom, you might consider repairing the blisters w/ epoxy. Gelcoat & fiberglass won't stick to it very well, if at all, but w/ sufficient prep, the anti-fouling paint will, and you need to paint anyway.
Note that there are few if any FOREVER A/F paints. They all require minimal regular inspection, and 1 of the above references suggests the use of a contrasting color A/F base paint, that when visible, indicates the time to thoroughly inspect or re-apply the A/F paint.
Both google & the
iboat's advanced search would have quickly given you the same info.......
Welcome to the iboat's dry dock.... Where in Tn? I am currently outside Knoxville, for a family funeral.......
