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Smooth Sailing Paints
Durall Marine Products is focused on keeping your boat bottom clean while
reducing drag. As a result,
our product line is streamlined
with three choices of non-stick bottom coatings, and one high build,
non-slip topside coating. Purchase any product below for $39.98 per quart
FOB. Call toll free 800-466-8910 with credit card and ship-to address.
Calls are taken for orders and application assistance 24 hours per day, 7
days per week. |
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| Smooth Sailing
Standard is a clear
environmentally friendly, low drag, bottom coating with no toxins added. |
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| Smooth Sailing Antifouling is a low drag, bottom coating which uses
copper to keep growths away. |
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| Smooth Sailing Urethane is a low drag,
bottom coating which lasts up to a decade. Available in white, mud gray,
or navy blue. |
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| Smooth Sailing Top
Deck is a high build epoxy, non-skid topcoat providing safety to top deck
refinishing. Available in white. One quart covers 25 sq. ft. |
A handy application kit costs $7.98 and
includes a 6-inch foam roller, tray, and sanding sponge.
Here are some instructions and
photos showing the process of applying our urethane teflon antifouling
paint to a canoe. The same process applies to boats of all kinds.
Advantages
of a Smooth Sailing coat on your boat bottom
- less fuel used
- faster boat
- less maintenance in the long run and
better resale value
- ability to use pressure washing instead
of grinding or scraping to remove bottom contaminants
Note that growth on your boat bottom can
increase its drag by as much as 10%. With our non-stick coatings, that
growth can usually be released from a properly coated boat bottom when speeds
of 10 to 15 knots are reached. Once fouling has established a hold on a boat hull it will rapidly spread
or "colonize" the surface. Prevention is therefore better than the cure of
having to remove the fouling by scraping.
You may be interested in reading about our
recent comparison between Smooth Sailing Antifouling
and the popular Interlux product, VC 17m.
Reasons to keep your bottom free from fouling
Safety
Heavy fouling growth reduces responsiveness of the craft. The
added weight of the fouling can make the boat sit lower in the water than
intended. This can have obvious implications in heavy weather conditions.
Protection
Prolonged growth of certain types of fouling can damage the
substrate of the hull. For example, the natural glues which organisms use
to attach to the hull can damage wood and fiberglass. Fouling can also clog
water intakes and cause damage to the engines.
Speed and Efficiency
Fouling causes drag. As drag is increased, fuel
consumption increases and speed is reduced even to the point where a
planing hull may not be able to get on plane. For racing boats, this can
be the difference between winning and losing a race.
Smooth Sailing Antifouling coating is not meant to be a cosmetic or
decorative coating. Smooth Sailing coatings rely first on the large
polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)
molecule which produces a drag coefficient smoother than ice. Smooth
Sailing Antifouling also uses copper. Copper has been protecting boat
bottoms from growth since the 1700s when Britain's Fast Ships like the
Cutty Sark raced from the orient to England with cargoes of fresh Tea. All
antifouling paints change when they are
immersed. The true color will establish itself after the boat has been
launched. Along the waterline you will often note that the antifouling
coating looks dirty or faded and can often turn color from copper to a
dark gray and ultimately to a green tone. This is due to the
reaction of the paint with oxygen forming green copper oxide. Because
color change will occur over time, you should try to keep
the Smooth Sailing Antifouling coating as close to the true waterline as possible.
How often should a boat bottom be coated?
Smooth Sailing coatings will retain their antifouling properties as long as
the coating is on the hull.
Sanding between coats will add to the longevity of the bottom jobs. By
sanding the bottom in the spring you will get more coats to adhere and
forestall the day when too many coats means that you must remove all the
antifouling coatings from the surface and start over. Smooth Sailing
coatings must always be sanded even if they have just been power washed.
Smooth Sailing Standard and Smooth Sailing Antifouling are partially soluble which means that as water
passes across the surface of the coating, the coating gradually wears down
much like a bar of soap wears away. The action of the water steadily
reduces the thickness of the paint at a controlled rate, which results in
always having fresh biocide at the surface of the paint throughout the
season. For this reason, these types of antifouling have the capability to
perform in the areas of highest fouling challenge.
Because Smooth Sailing Standard and Smooth Sailing Antifouling bottom coatings wear
away with use, there is no buildup of coatings that will eventually have
to be removed from the surface. The minimal buildup reduces the
maintenance and preparation needed when it is time to apply more
antifouling. In contrast, Smooth Sailing Urethane lasts up to 12 years and is so hard
that it does not wear away. Because of its long expected life, coating
buildup is usually not an issue since five or six coatings can be applied
before any thickness build up is a concern.
A disadvantage to hard antifouling paint is that frequent applications
result in the buildup of residual paint film that occurs when the surface
is not properly sanded prior to application of new coats of antifouling
paint.
When hard paints are hauled and stored for the winter season, the paint
film, as well as the biocide, oxidize, making it more difficult to
release biocide out of the film. For this reason, they must be sanded
and re-coated with fresh antifouling before re-launching.
Smooth Sailing coatings use PTFE, the same chemical used in
TeflonŽ.
Most people associate Teflon® with nonstick household products or with the
space program, but the properties that make it perfect for those
applications also make it an ideal ingredient in antifouling coatings.
PTFE creates the lowest coefficient of drag in any coating available. The
lower the friction, the less energy is required to move the boat through
the water. For powerboats this means greater RPM's, increased speed, and
fuel savings. For sailboats, greater speeds are achieved with less wind.
Because PTFE melts at 400 degrees or more it will not flow into gel coat
pores when wet sanded, so new coats can be applied at any time.

Antifouling performance
factors
The level of copper is not the only determining factor of how well an
antifouling paint will perform.
The resin-binder system, the material that holds the paint together, is
equally important. In addition to holding the paint
together, the resin-binder system determines how fast the copper and
other biocides are released. The resin-binder system in Smooth Sailing
is carefully tailored for the amount and type of copper used to obtain
maximum efficiency. The amount of copper affects the life of an antifouling
coating but the sophistication of the resin-binder system to hold and
release copper is far more important to the effectiveness of the
antifouling effect. Smooth Sailing Antifouling will release biocide at
a nearly
constant rate throughout its life. For this reason, the highly efficient
Smooth Sailing Antifouling is less dependent on
large amounts of copper to deliver the best possible performance.
Fluorourethane
Fluorourethane was originated by the U.S. Naval Research
Laboratories
(NRL) in the early 1970s. It was a combination of a fluorocarbon (Teflon)
molecule
with a urethane molecule. The material was unique in that it provided a
surface with approximately the same coefficient of friction as the Teflon, was
hydrophobic, UV resistant, and at the same time provided an abrasion resistance four times
that of Teflon.
The fluorourethane was originally tested on several ship hulls for the
U.S. Navy. One boat tested was a harbor tugboat in Chesapeake Bay. The coating lasted
11-1/2 years compared to a conventional hull coating which lasted only 18-24 months. Of
major interest was the fact that no rust or corrosion occurred under the coating.
And biofouling, such as barnacles, could be removed with a high-pressure water jet
instead of chipping or shot blasting.
Boat bottom preparation Remove all contaminants, including
"mold
release wax" which is often on the
surface of new boat bottoms, as follows:
- Scrub thoroughly using a strong soap and water with a
stiff brush. Rinse with fresh water to remove soap residue and
allow surface to dry.
- Next scrub the surface thoroughly using a Scotch-Brite® pad and
an abrasive powder cleanser. Rinse all the cleanser off with fresh water.
- Prior to sanding the hull, cleaning is very important.
Sanding can push any remaining wax into pores that can keep antifouing
coats from adhering.
Using two rags, dampen one cheesecloth with denatured alcohol.
Wipe the surface thoroughly to soften and dissolve the remaining wax.
Use a second clean dry cheesecloth
rag to remove the wax before the surface dries. Be sure to change
rags frequently.
- Lightly spray the surface with water to insure all
contamination has been removed. If water beads up or
separates, wax is still present. Repeat steps 2 and 3.
At this point all wax and other contaminants should have been removed. Proceed to using a 120 grit,
sanding sponge over the entire bottom.
- Additional coats may be applied between
2 and 8 hours after each coat, without sanding. Light sanding should be
done if additional coats are applied after 8 hours from the previous
application.
How much bottom
coating is needed?
The estimated surface area in the chart below is based on average boat
size.
Boat types and designs vary, so actual square footage may be different.
A close approximation of your boat bottom can be calculated by multiplying
the length overall (LOA) times the beam times 85%
(LOA x beam x .85 = wetted surface area). Then divide the
wetted surface area by the square foot coverage per quart of
the product you are using. The result is the number of
quarts needed for 1 coat. Here are the number of quarts needed for some
typical wetted surface areas (shown in the second column from the left):
|
Length (ft.) |
Area
(sq. ft.) |
Standard Qts. |
Antifouling Qts. |
Urethane Qts. |
| 18 |
120 |
1.00 |
1.10 |
1.30 |
| 21 |
150 |
1.50 |
1.65 |
1.90 |
| 28 |
240 |
2.50 |
2.75 |
3.20 |
| 31 |
270 |
2.60 |
2.90 |
3.30 |
| 32 |
300 |
3.00 |
3.30 |
3.80 |
| 36 |
330 |
3.30 |
3.60 |
4.10 |
| 41 |
435 |
4.40 |
4.80 |
5.50 |
| 42 |
600 |
6.00 |
6.60 |
7.60 |
Order your choice of Smooth
Sailing boat bottom paint today!
Our price is significantly lower than
competing paints because we manufacture Smooth Sailing coatings
right in our own facility. You are buying directly from the manufacturer
and cutting out the middlemen. Only $39.98 per quart. We offer
fast handling and a variety of shipping options.
You may like to try a 2-oz. size sample of Smooth Sailing Antifouling suitable for
coating your mooring buoy, boat cradle, or dock braces. It's a great
way to see how easy Smooth Sailing goes on and what a great finish it
createswhile protecting those small parts and making the removal
of slime
buildup much easier. The price is only $3.98. Shipping to anywhere in the continental United States is
free and you may select any of the three Smooth Sailing products,
Standard, Antifouling, or Urethane. Give us a call today to take advantage of this special
online offer.
Call NOW toll free 800-466-8910
24/7. A sales assistant is standing by to take your order. You will be
glad you did. |