www.iFourWinns.com

I have been hauling my boat back and forth from the lake for two years now. I am getting tired of that and am going to get a dock this year. The Boat has been kept inside since it was new both summer and winter and is in outstanding condition. It has taken me two years to even consider painting the bottom of the boat. I am also having air installed. My question is this, IS IT WORTH IT?

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2003 268 Four Winns Vista
F-350 King Ranch Diesel (Tow)
1990 Four Winns Fredom 180

It depends on how long you are going to keep this boat. Once you paint it, you can't go back. If you decide to sell down the road, you limit your market because not everyone wants a bottom painted boat. If they do, they can paint it themselves. I think a non-painted boat looks alot better sitting on the trailer than a painted one does. I have choosen not to paint mine for this reason. I keep my boat in a salt water slip and have to pull it out every 3 weeks (or 4 max) to give it a quick pressure wash. I do this right at the ramp mid week at a quite time.

For what it's worth,
Rod

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2010 278 Vista
5.7 GXi DP

Past:
1999 225 Sundowner
5.7 GSi SX

In a word, YES. It took me 4 years to get to that point. I slipped it, but never bottom painted it. I thought I would pull it out every few weeks and wash it. That was wishful thinking. I left in for 6 weeks once in the heat of the summer, there was so much algae growing on the bottom, i could barley get it up on plane!!

My wife bitched at me the whole time we were cleaning it! LOL. I got quotes to paint it, but before we did I bought our current boat and sold the 268.

The air conditioning is definitely worth it!

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Jeff

'14 Cruisers 380 Express "Simon Sez"
Merc 8.2 Mag MPI 380
DTS B3X, (x2) Axius Premier


(SOLD)
'08 V318
Merc 350 Mag MPI 300
DTS Seacore, B3 (x2)

I think if you have firmly decided to keep your boat in a well for the season you will appreciate having the antifouling paint applied to your boat's bottom.

Like yourself years ago I resisted putting bottom paint on our 25 foot cruiser. About every 3 weeks I would cruise out to our local sandbar, put on a scuba mask and scrub the entire underside. I would always take a look at my speed on the way out to the sandbar and the resulting RPM, then at that same RPM see what difference in MPH I would gain on my return to our marina after cleaning the bottom. Typically I would see a 1 - 3 mph improvement.

After a season of doing this and noticing that basically every boat I saw in our area that stayed in the water for the season had bottom paint I took the plunge and had the bottom paint applied.

I think for a boat your size and larger the majority of boats that stay in the water for the season will have bottom paint. One could argue that if you sold your boat with a good quality bottom paint applied that it may somewhat improve your resale value as it may be something that the new owner would not have to do.

Our 328 Four Winns we purchased last spring did not have antifouling paint applied as it came from a fresh water area where fouling was miminal and I elected to clean our 328's bottom with the scuba mask and scrubbing routine this past season so I could get a tea staining on it to properly mark where the antifouling paint should be. I will be looking forward to applying VC-17 antifouling paint to our boat next month for the start of our 2011 boating season.

Mike.

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Current Boat
- 2001 Four Winns 328 Vista "Hour Decision"
- 2010 310 Mercury Inflatable

Previous Boats
- 30' Doral Prestancia
- 25' Doral Citation

I was so happy to see our 268 had a fresh bottom paint job when we bought it! The year prior we slipped our 190Horizon without bottom paint and it was a PITA to keep clean. So yes...our new boat having bottom paint was actually a selling point for us.

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Our Boating Blog: http://ben-dana.blogspot.com/

2005 268 Vista "Sea Pickle II"
1979 AMF Alcort Puffer
Previous:
2003 FW190 Horizon
1973 Startcraft 18ft "Sea Pickle"

Our boat is not bottom painted. We kept it in a slip for the past two summers. We had to pay to have it acid washed at the end of both seasons. That cost about $330. I had planned to clean it myself during the year to keep growth down but it never happened.

We are still considering moving up to a cruiser and I'm concerned that bottom paint will decrease our boat value. So I've built in the cost of acid wash into my boat budget. But without bottom paint, it looks bad, slows it down and costs more money at the end of the year.

We love having it in a slip ready to go. I can get on the boat, turn on the blower, unsnap the cockpit cover and be ready to go in about 8 minutes. But that convenience costs with the price of the slip and increased maintenance.

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Terry
Current: 07 Crownline 255 CCR cuddy - 350 Mag MPI/B3 "Casi Cielo"

Previous:97 245 Sundowner 5.7GI/SX

Tow vehicle: 1986 GMC 2500 Camper Special 454/TH400

I opted for a lift instead of bottom paint, it costs but so does everything else, got a great deal on a used one. After sitting on it a year the hull and drive look like new, Only took it out one time to do the drive service and thats it, I just rinse the waterline scum of with brush with lake water once in a while and thats it.

Most cruisers around here are bottom painted, ones that arent get a premium price-wise so its not that the painted ones sell for less really - the rarer unpainted ones sell for more.. Its easy to damage the hull around here and bottom paint is a great way to cover that up. Took me a while to find a small cruiser that wasnt painted.

As far as the slip being worth it, they run on yearly leases here, we can boat year round but I dont. I boat from late March/April to November and nothing kills me more than paying the rental for 4-5 months with the boat just sitting there, but for the sake of my marriage and ease of access as long as I can afford it I'll keep it there. Its so much easier than trailering (and I have a boat ramp 200' from my front door), it would be different if I could take the boat on and off the trailer myself but I havent figured that out yet..

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2006 Vista 248 5.7DP - SOLD
2011 Crownline E6 - SOLD
2007 Sea Ray 260 Sundancer

Have a look around at the marina where you plan to slip. Do most of the boats at the marina have bottom paint? As Descision mentioned, his boat was in a lake where fouling was minimal, so the water in you lake might make the difference on needing it or not needing it. Fouling in our lake is minimal as well. Tannin staining is our biggest problem.

We have been slipping now for 5 years, and I haven't found the need for bottom paint yet. Mind you, my boat is small, and it doesn't take long to clean the bottom. I also pull up to a sandy beach at least once a month and do a good scrub with a brush to get the scum off (the hull that is ).

We love having the slip too. even just to go sit out on the boat at the marina for coffee on a summer evening is great!

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2009 H180 w/3.0 Merc
Homebuilt Minimax Hydro
2011 Zodiac Cadet 310

I slipped in salt water a couple of years back and had a service scrubbing the hull every 2 weeks. At the end of the season, I still had significant encrustation that I couldn't power-wash off. Out here in SoCal, I cant find anyone who acid washes anymore (none of the boat yards will), so it is a tedious process to do it manually plus a PIA if you have a galvanized trailer which has a tendancy to turn black with acid....

FWIW, I very much enjoyed having the boat in a slip. if I were to do it again I would either bottom paint it, or get a lift or a "boat shield/bag" of some sort:
http://www.armoredhull.com/index.html
Both the lifts and bag were fairly common at the marina.

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2002 Funship 214
VP 5.7 GX Si
2003 Tahoe

It depends what you want out of life!!!!! Also, the water you are boating in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love having the slip!! For me, it's too much work pulling it in & out to clean it. I bottom paint it, to me its worth it. During boating season, its in the slip, not on the trailer, nothing like walking down and taking off.

I do my own painting, the first time painting the boat is a all day event. You must first remove the wax, there is a sand-less primer that you can use. I use it sparingly (harsh stuff) and then sand the bottom with 60 & then 100 grit paper. I also paint the drive, but by the end of July, most of the paint has warn off. So I put on my mask & fins on to clean it. Plus, it's much cheaper doing it your self! At $25 a foot, I will find the time!!

Hey Paul, does your computer keyboard have a sticky exclamation key?????????????????????? Just wondering...................

Mike.

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Current Boat
- 2001 Four Winns 328 Vista "Hour Decision"
- 2010 310 Mercury Inflatable

Previous Boats
- 30' Doral Prestancia
- 25' Doral Citation

Is it worth it? Absolutely.

We towed our first boat (Freedom 170) back and forth for two years and couldn't wait to get a bigger boat and slip. Although it appears you have a tow vehicle which can clearly handle the task, I wouldn't even consider towing a 268 to and from the marina every weekend, regardless of how close it was.

You will appreciate it much more after you load up the vehicle (quickly ) with your supplies (clothing, food, etc.) and head to the marina for the weekend, and are sitting on the boat within minutes relaxing. Do this a few times and you won't look back.

As for painting the bottom, we boat on Lake Huron and most boats are painted (at least to the south where the water is a little warmer). I've had a couple of neighbours that didn't have bottom paint and when they pulled their boats in the fall, they had a hell of mess to contend with. We also looked at a couple of boats that were not bottom painted before we purchased our 258. To me, I saw the unpainted boats as an immediate added expense post-purchase. There's no way I'd pay a premium for an unpainted boat, unless I had a lift perhaps.

Our boat also has air conditioning. While we weren't specifically looking for this when we started shopping, we're really glad we ended up with it.

Enjoy your dock!

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1999 258 Vista
2003 Avon RIB280
1991 Freedom 170 (gone but not forgotten)

+1. With a slip you will (if your heart is right) use your boat more, I can't count the 1 hr cruises I have done since I got a slip (too easy to get off work, and make a side trip on the way home and go out on the lake). My lake has minimal fouling also so no painted bottom for me. The marina you are using may rent slips with lifts, might be a different option for you.

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'90 Horizon 220 5.8

Yes, you will certainly use it more. We consider it as our piece of waterfront property!

A typical evening....

-Off at 4:30
-Go home, get bathing suits, kids (if they are coming out for boarding, tubing or whatever)
-Grab a bite to take down to the boat.....
-By 5:30, having something to eat, on the boat at the lake. (just like with camping, the food tastes better!)
-Cast off by 6, then enjoy being out on the water till after dark.
-When done tie up, zip up the top and walk away.

Repeat as often as you like, or as the weather allows for the entire season.

So is it worth it... we think 100% it is worth it. The bit of extra cleaning, fouling paint, whatever is certainly worth it if you love the boating lifestyle.

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2009 H180 w/3.0 Merc
Homebuilt Minimax Hydro
2011 Zodiac Cadet 310

Not to mention all the fun you will have partying on the dock with your neighbors and not have to worry about driving home. Sounds like you are already making plans for this.

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Current Boat: 2000 Four Winns 298 Vista
Previous Boat: 2000 Carver 406MY