How does one burnish the bottom paint? Is it worth doing in terms of performance? I have been told to use bronze wool or wet sand by Petit. Does the burnishing have to be done by hand or can a buffer be used? I have lost close to a knot of boat speed (both under sail and power) at the end of this season which I suspect is due to bottom fouling. Last year I had to chip barnacles off my unprotected propeller. I want to start off with a slick bottom next season (no wise guy remarks please).
Thanks. -- Jerry J&J

Jerry -
First off, it depends on the paint you use as to whether burnishing, or sanding, is useful. If you're racing, then you should be using a hard paint such as Baltoplate or VC Offshore (or 17 if it's in freshwater). You have to have it sprayed on to make later treatment worthwhile (or roll very carefully with foam roller, and do at least one extra coat as you'll sand it off to get smooth). You then wet sand with 600 grit...that's usually sufficient, but you can burnish with extra fine bronze wool if you're way too serious; I'd just do the leading edges and may a 1/3 of the way aft.
Now, based on your comments I'd say your real problem is not keeping the bottom cleaner. You MUST clean the bottom before EVERY race..sorry, but that's the only way to stay with the pack. If the bottom starts out clean, it's pretty easy, even with just a snorkle (but compressed air is sooo easy); takes me 30 min to do my 30-2, including the prop and shaft. Sorry for the bad news,
Greg

Hi Jerry,
There are many ways to burnish your bottom paint. The prerequisite is to start with a hard bottom paint which has been applied fairly smoothly.
Do not apply the paint with a long nap roller or a brush because you will end up sanding off more paint than stays on the boat. It's better to use a closed cell foam roller or better yet spray it on. Most foam rollers will loose their shape within 10 minutes so it's a good idea to have a least 4-6 rollers on hand for each coat.
After the paint has dried, start by wet sanding with a 320 or 400 grit paper and progressively move up to 1000 to 1200 grit. When you are satisfied with the smoothness of the bottom paint, (or exhausted) use bronze wool to burnish the paint to a very smooth finish. You can spend much time as you want with the burnishing because the more you burnish the smoother the paint will be.
I've used an automotive polishing compound and an electric buffing wheel to further burnish VC Offshore to a mirror finish. It is very labor intensive and holding a heavy buffing wheel over your head for hours is not my idea of fun.
This is a great spring team building project for the crew. You'd be surprised at how fast the job gets done when there are 5 or more people working together. Getting that extra tenth of a knot is very rewarding but I found that cold beer is a better incentive for my crew.
Sail fast! Regards, Ted Drossos

Thanks - I had the bottom sanded and barrier coated two years ago and used Hydracoat which is a Teflon water based paint which Woolsey claims can be burnished. It is not as hard as VC Offshore or the other vinyl based paints but I thought it would be a good compromise. I did not paint or burnish the bottom this season. My boat is really dragging. At the beginning of the season I was easily breaking seven knots in a decent breeze but now I never see that and barely hit 6. It's also possible that the knot meter is fouled but the boat definitely feels slow. I would like to start off with a good bottom next year. I'll try the bronze wool.
Jerry J&J

Hi Jerry,
If the bottom paint you've been using is not a multi-season paint and you haul your boat during the off season, you will have to clean the bottom very often if you don't repaint every spring. Most bottom paints lose their effectiveness after the boat has been out of the water for a while. This might be the reason your bottom is fouling so badly. No matter how smooth your bottom is, you just can't get away from the regular bottom cleanings. Here on the South shore of Long Island the problem is primarily slime not barnacles. I assume that the eastern end of LI experiences the same conditions.
I've tried Micron CSC with the new Biolux additive this past season. The Biolux is supposed to prevent slime but I still have to clean the bottom more times than I care to during the season. It is a much better slime preventer than VC Offshore although not nearly as smooth. The Micron CSC can't be burnished.
Regards, Ted Drossos

I have been using Hydrocoat for a number of years now. I was sanding the bottom over the winter and putting a new coat on each year. Last year I tried to burnish it with a scotch pad and took too much off. It is soft and ablative. This year I'm going to put a coat on without sanding and then wet sand lightly and see how little I can take off and still have protection. It still slimes up and I scrub regularly. I don't think there is anything legal which doesn't slime up - we have all types of bottom treatments in the yard I'm in and everybody cleans regularly. Bnishing Hydrocoat is out of the question - you'll take it all off.

Gary, et al,
FWIW I used the new ACP50 ablative bottom paint with anti-slime this year. My bottom is slimy-slick to the touch, but no accumulation ... and I'm scrubbing off the bootstripe area every couple of weeks of accumulated gunk and mossy growth (non-treated area). You couldn't burnish the ACP50, it is quite soft and rubs off by looking at it hard . Roller-applied, and thick, it has a mildly textured surface. I had her out of the water on slings a couple of weeks back to replace shaft zincs I found missing while snorkeling under her ... and observed no barnacles, etc. either. Except of course, where I scraped the paint off the keel bottom discovering new shoals in the channel ....
Mike Bauer 1979 C&C30, "Blue Dolphin" Fair Haven, NJ

It still slimes up and I scrub regularly. I don't think there is anything legal which doesn't slime up - we have all types of bottom treatments in the yard I'm in and everybody cleans regularly.
Here on the South shore of Long Island the problem is primarily slime not barnacles. I assume that the eastern end of LI experiences the same conditions. I've tried Micron CSC with the new Biolux additive this past season. The Biolux is supposed to prevent slime but I still have to clean the bottom more times than I care to during the season. It is a much better slime preventer than VC Offshore although not nearly as smooth