Testimonials

International racing competitor, Capt. Tom Mullen, races all year round with E-Paint EP-2000 smoothing the way to the winner’s circle. In 2009, competing in regattas around the Caribbean, Shamrock, a J/120, carried her crew and skipper to podium finishes in the BVI Spring Festival, the BVI Spring Regatta, Antigua Sailing Week and the St. Thomas International Rolex Regatta where Shamrock slid around the course faster than any of her competitors to lock up a First In Class trophy.

Shamrock’s owner, Tom Mullen, who continues his winning ways by using E-Paint EP-2000 on his J/80 during the summer months on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire, had this to say about his experiences using E-Paint, “At every Caribbean regatta,” says Mullen, “I see fellow competitors diving on their boats to clean algae and other types of salt water growth off the bottoms of their boats before racing. Nothing, absolutely nothing grows or adheres to Shamrock’s bottom with E-Paint in place,” continued Mullen, “It’s an incredible surface and it’s easy to apply. E-Paint is definitely a major contributor to Shamrock’s incredibly successful 2009 Regatta Season.” Mullen invites anyone who wants to hear more about his experiences with E-Paint to contact him by e-mail at tntmullen@owlsnestgolf.com.

Alex…I was the guy in Nashville, TN that had my aluminum sailboat painted with E-Paint ZO…

…we have a couple of very different boats. My wife’s boat is a little 31 foot trailerable catamaran-hulled houseboat that has fiberglass hulls. It was moored in the adjacent slip to “my” aluminum sailboat after both had just had recent bottom jobs…the sailboat with ZO and the houseboat with a well-known copper based ablative paint.

They were both launched after painting within a couple of days of each other, as we sometimes keep both in the same marina…we have 3 dogs that go with us, so the little houseboat is great for them while we day sail, or I take the sailboat out and she just “cools out” with the dogs. We do take both out, as the houseboat has an outboard, so it does not sit at the dock all the time.

We just hauled both for the season to winterize them. They had been in the water at Paris Landing Marina on Kentucky Lake (Tennessee River) for about 3 months and used quite a bit during that time. Upon hauling, I was really astonished by the difference in performance of the bottom paints. The ZO had remained virtually free of the slime and algae build-up that is common in this lake, while the copper-based ablative was definitely worse in the that regard. Even other dock residents kept commenting on how clean my sailboat’s bottom was staying!! When I got the sailboat home on her trailer, it only took a light brushing with some car-wash soap and a spritz with the hose to remove a light brown stain the ZO had picked up. Not so with the houseboat’s hulls, which required pressure washing to remove the algae and slime they were carrying.

Needless to say, the houseboat will also be getting ZO for the next bottom job!

Here’s a shot of the sailboat BEFORE we cleaned her up…you can see that the bottom is quite clean just as she came out of the water!

Thanks for your help and advice…and a truly fine product!

Rob and Gabi Hoffman
S/V “CanCan” and houseboat “Cloud Nine”

Credit where credit is due…

Just in case you didn’t notice in the last update’s pics, I should tell you how white OceanPlanet’s bottom is:

See the rainbow over the hills behind! This photo doesn’t really do our E-Paint ZO-HP bottom justice…we are floating low, with a lot of seawater in the ballast tanks (for making fresh water with our Spectra Watermachine).  After being in tough Caribbean conditions all winter with NO cleaning, Ocean Planet’s bottom had almost nothing on it!   When you don’t want to spend endless hours doing things a second time, it’s important to use the right stuff to start with.  Big thanks to E-Paint!

In April of 1999 I contacted E Paint with a series of questions, which were answered promptly and to my satisfaction. This was at a time when tin based bottom paints that were inert to both steel and aluminum were being phased out and banned in many countries.  E Paint also being inert to both metals seemed to be a logical choice as a replacement provided it offered similar efficient antifouling properties and longevity.  My first task was to make an independent test while I had a vessel under construction thus retaining an opportunity to change systems in the event of poor results.  After 12 months of immersion it was equal to and in many cases better than the simultaneous test on other anti-fouling paints.  It was then that I started to use and recommend your paint for all of my metal hulls then under construction. I also recommended that all of the existing hulls on their next hauling to switch to E-Paint ZO. The latter may sound like an easy task but often it is almost a battle. Some owners are reluctant to prep the hull properly having in the past been just content with a pressure wash prior to painting slap on a thin coat of paint, maybe two coats, and dump her back in the water as quickly as possible after all lay days cost money. This is spending with a shovel and saving with a spoon. Their usual complaint being that the paint is of poor quality. Adhering to my procedures I have had no paint failures, blistering, or major fouling on vessels that are hauled on either an 18 month or 24 month basis depending on their time underway and waters sailed.

On existing hulls changing over which have compatible bottom paint. After a complete scrub down to remove any oil, lose paint, and other contaminates three coats of E Paint are applied plus a fourth coat in the upper 18″ to 24″.

On new construction four coats plus a fifth in an 18″ to 24″ band at the top.

All hulls when hauled there after two full coats plus a third on the upper 18″to 24″.In all cases I have found that the best results are achieved when brush applied. The time between coats is a minimum of 24 hours and also 24 hours prior to launching.

No anti-fouling material can be expected to function if it becomes covered with slime, oil, mud, clay, other flotsam, etc. In most instances this occurs in the upper 18″ to 24″ of the bottom and can easily be removed with a light scrubbing. Out of sight is often out of mind thus the bottom is neglected and this will result in shorter intervals between haul outs. My use of E paint spans almost 8 years and I have encountered no problems and always get a live knowledgeable person when I call regarding their product.

Thomas E. Colvin
Naval Architect
www.thomasecolvin.com