Salt Water advice newbie!

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JitteryJack

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Hey fellas.
I'm from the North shore of Massachusetts, looking to pick up a 14' skiff for close to shore fair weather fishing in the spring. I have a pal with a 14' Starcraft and it's the ideal set up for me, found locally a 14' Delhi that I have my eye on. Any knowledge about these boats, are they well suited for the ocean? Boat and trailer only, guy has a 15 hp Johnson for sale also, is this too much/too little power for this craft?
Thanks in advance, I'm really enjoying the site and look forward to being in the tinboat gang!
Cheers...
 
You should not use any bottom paint on your tin boat - unless you plan to keep it stored in the water. Bottom anti-foul paint is designed to leach off (kinda slowly melts) but once it drys it will just begin to flake in spots and no longer work


You plan on staying in the back water a 15 hp will work but you guys get some heavy tides and I would rather see you with at least a 25 "just in case"

Fighting a raging tide to get home when weather is coming is not much fun - you will sit in one place or just creep in the heavy current
 
Have my eye on a Johnson 25 that seems to get rave reviews around here. Boat I'm looking at tomm has already been painted, maybe ride the year out with the existing paint and sand it down to aluminum again next year?
 
If you plan on leaving the boat in the water, you need to install some galvanic protection.

Get a large zinc, and bolt it to your transom, locate it directly under the engine, so it's always in the water when the boat is moored, and also install a bonding wire, and connect it to the bonding wire of the engine (if it has one) If not, then, run it to the negative terminal of the battery. This will help carry stray current into the zinc, instead of your hull. Inspect the zinc often, and replace when it's 75% of its original state.

Also, apply a good coat of underwater primer, then use the correct paint formulated for use with aluminum.
For the primer, use something like Interlux Interprotect. It's a 2 part epoxy, made for use below the waterline on all metals. This will help protect the hull from electrolysis if/when the anti-fouling paint begins to wear.

As for bottom paint....DO NOT USE CUPROUS OXIDE-BASED PAINTS!!!

Use copper thiocyanate based paint, such as Trilux 33 from Interlux.
 
Not planning on leaving her in the water, she'll be trailered. Could I get away with self etching primer and coats of Rustoleum topside?
 
The topside type paint is pretty durable, but it's really rated for use above the waterline. As long as you plan on trailering it, the issue of needing anti-fouling paint is a non-issue, you simply need durable paint that will stand up to immersion in water. Topside paint may be OK for this application.
 
Cheers, I appreciate the help! Also hellbent on wood gunnels, seen a couple of great mods here on the forum and it looks amazing. Anyone who has any insight on this it would be appreciated.
 

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