Anitfouling Bottom Paint on Wake Boats?

I know most yachts and fishing boats put anitfouling bottom paint on their boats to protect the hull when moored for exteded periods. Does anyone put this paint on their wakeboard boat?
If so, how does it work?
How does it look?
Pictures??

Boats with Gelcoat should not be in the water for more than two weeks.

I would make a serious attemtp to avoid keeping it in the water that long.

I have bottom painted my boats before as they stayed moored 24/7 x 365 days.

I tend to just paint it to the water line with the same colour as the hull and its really not that noticeable. No cleaning to worry about and is fairly easy to remove should you sell the boat.

Just make sure you get a crusing paint as some with come off at speed if they are not designed for fast cruising hulls.

"Boats with Gelcoat should not be in the water for more than two weeks."

Why not? And don't say blisters because lots of gelcoated fiberglass boats sit in the water their whole lives and don't get them.

ya why not the gel coats in more than 2 weeks ???

Back on topic... Bottom Paint...
There are a bunch of threads about blisters and osthmosis or whatever it is called.

Jay gave a good response. Thanks.
So, I have one vote for bottom paint.
Any others with bottom paint experience??

It sounds like bottom paint would help protect the boat and make maintainance easier, if you kept your boat in the water for any period of time. I am concerned about the looks of it and any other reasons why one wouldn't put bottom paint on their boat.

That is what the manufacturer told me. The gelcoat soaks up water. Gelcoat is not what it used to be due to EPA restrictions.

Some boats stay in water for years without blisters. Others blister in a few days. The problem as I understand is that there is no test to determine if a specific boat will blister and it happens to all brands and price range boats. A local marina operator tells me he would never risk keeping a $50,000 plus boat in the water without bottom paint. The repair cost and resale value impact are too great.

Bottom-paint is not meant for boats that spend extended time in the water, it is for boats that spend their lives in the water. Bottom-paint will dry out when out of the water, and is only good for 2-3 years (longer if you want to stretch it). Here is another point, when the boat comes out of the water, any marine growth needs to be lightly pressure-washed off. If left to dry, only over night, it will dry out and not wash off. You will end up taking most of the bottom-paint off trying to remove the dried scum. If you left the scum to dry each time you pull the boat, it will begin to build up and effect performance. This is why cruiser owners are instructed to run the boat on plain for a mile or so when the boat has sat for a few weeks, it scrubs off the fresh/wet growth.

Get a lift, a used one will cost about the same as a bottom-paint job, and will last longer.

there are many types of bottom-paint.
I guess you refer to the anti-fouling paints that prevent any marine growth.
A anti fouling paint will not protect the boat against osmosis/blistering as the paint is not watertite.A good bottom-paint job requires a 4/5 layers base-coat or gelschield and 2 layers of anti-fouling paint.

i,m a boat painter but i do not paint my boat.
i have had a few new boats and they stay moored from 15 march till 15 october,i clean the bottom every 2 months with starbright bottom cleaner and
never had any blistering problems.
I have seen some serious blistering on a few new boats and i can not explain why some do have troubles and others don,t.

Dave, bottom paint would work well for you. We have it on our Whaler -- pull it in and out of the water all the time, leave it in for short periods, long periods, run at speed, no problems. Not sure what some are talking about above. Bottom paint is designed to only last 2-3 years... it is supposed to sluff-off slowly so that crap doesn't build-up on the hull. If my boat were on a buoy like yours, I'd definitely have bottom paint -- your boat will be much happier and your winter cleaning will be made much easier.

With respect to a used lift, what do you need to look for to make sure it fits your boat properly?

Lakeski -- with an inboard, you would probably want to look at a weight capacity of 4000 lbs plus (or 6000 lbs plus if you ever plan to lift the boat with a lot of people or ballast in the boat) and bunks that run length-wise rather than laterally to the boat.

If you have a V-drive in the 4k lb range, get 6k lift, you will be much happier. We have a couple of 4k lifts in the marine that are dealer slips/lifts, and they struggle with even the 21" v-drives with the weight of the engine in the back. The tend to sag at the stern.

Remember, the boat's weight is dry-weight.

I haven't really looked at lifts. Are the bunks adjustable so that you can position them in places appropriate to your particular boat?

^^^^ Yes, bunks are adjustable. If you have someone install it, make sure that includes setting up the bunks correctly for YOUR boat.