The Skipper's Blog

Joe Alongi asked:

I live on Long Island NY. I always hi and dry my Sea Ray. This year I may need to keep the boat in a slip. My 1990 Sundancer has never been bottom painted. I am so upset over the fact that I may Have to bottom paint this boat. I just read about your product Aurora VS721 Bottom Wax. Is this the real thing? Will the bottom of my boat not have growth on it during the season let me know. I have read about it on the internet. I need the real answer.

Joe

Answer:
For your convenience, I’ve highlighted the hyperlinks. Click on the hyperlink to get more information about the selected product.

VS721 Bottom Coat has been on the market since 1995 and is a proven performer. It will give you the same anti fouling protection as VC17 bottom paint, without the ugly painted look that you want to avoid. In addition it will seal the bottom against water penetration to protect against Osmosis without painting on a barrier coat and give you better performance. It’s perfectly clear so your bottom will look original, just a little shinier.

VS721 Bottom Coat prevents Barnacles and algae from attaching, but since it’s environment friendly it does not have toxic biocides so will not prevent slime. The movement of water over your hull from regular use of your boat will keep the slime off. If you do leave your boat stationary for a prolonged period of time, you will get slime attaching to the hull, but this can easily be wiped off with a sponge or brush. At the end of the year you will be able to just wash the bottom with some Boat Clean Plus and a sponge or pressure wash it clean. In high growth areas, even boats with bottom paint will get slime and need to be scrubbed from time to time.

We sell a lot of it in Florida. Typically Floridians will lift the boat once a month, wipe the slime off with a sponge and re-splash, or if the boat is bigger will send a diver down to wipe the bottom with a sponge. There is no need to use a scrubber like with anti-fouling paints. They re-apply a coat of VS721 Bottom Coat every 6 to 9 months to get maximum performance. VS721 Bottom Coat lasts longer in colder northern waters.

If for any reason you don’t like the performance of the VS721 Bottom Coat, it’s reversible. It can be easily stripped off and you can then sand your bottom and paint it with a barrier coat and apply anti-fouling paint. It’s much more difficult going from paint to VS721 Bottom Coat, but a lot of boat owners are doing it. They are just fed up with the scraping, sanding and painting. Some are environmentalists and don’t want to poison the water with biocides. Others use it to get higher top speed, better acceleration or reduced fuel consumption.

VS721 Bottom Coat works on sail as well as powerboats. For best performance, follow the instructions on the bottle. One bottle of VS721 Bottom Coat will protect up to 400 sq. ft. and you need 2 coats.

Thanks for your question.

Captain Aurora
Richard Kittar

The Skipper Recommends:

BOAT CLEAN PLUS

VS721