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I have a couple questions if you don't mind. First are the cheaper brands such as West Marine as good as the other brands? I used the west marine stuff last year and it seems like it did a good job. Second, if the hull is power washed do you still recomend doing the washing and priming before painting. Third, do any of the paints really last multiple seasons and if so, does it matter if the boat is out of the water for the winter? And finally, do you recomend using more than one coat of the albative. Any advice suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

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I have never used their paints but I have not heard good things about them. Every paint company has problems here and there but it seems they have more then anyone. The company who makes their paint aproched us a few years ago to sell a Lacey Marine paint and we didn't do it because of the research we did and it was not good. I would rather make less on a better paint then sell an inferior product.

If the hull was powerwashed then just rinse it down with clean water before you repaint. Also check for loose paint chipping and chip it off and give it a light sanding to get proper adhesion.

Multiseason paints like the Mircon's are infact multiseason. Two good coats will last you 3 years. During winter the paint chemicals actually sense that the paint is not under water and shut down the releasing of copper. Once back in the water the paint then releases the copper again protecting the boat.

As for the multiple coats of ablative...If you are using a seasonal paint like ACT which you apply every year no matter how thick the paint is the paints properties will expire in that year. If you are using the multiseason paint you need two coats of paint to last the 3 years.