• A carefree boating lifestyle is really not that carefree. Bottom painting a boat can be a real chore if you wait too long. According to the University of California, bottom paints are antifouling by continuously leaching out copper, or top layer dissolving. Because bottom paints self-dissolve by nature, you have to bottom paint regularly, unless you enjoy scraping off cement-hard barnacles by hand that are stuck to your hull like glue.
  
  

Shop Around for a Good Boatyard

• There is a world of difference in boatyards. Some are very conscientious, while others are full of cutthroat pirates who will steal your money, or even your boat. The best way to shop around is to ask fellow boat owners for recommendations. Furthermore, check with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to inquire about a boatyard's reputation. Good yards are members of the BBB.
  
  

Inspect Your Hull Closely

• When your boat is in dry dock and all the barnacles, mussels, and old paint are scraped off, inspect the bottom of your hull closely. Things to look for are hairline cracks, especially where the keel meets the hull if you have a fin keel (for sailboats). Other things to look closely for are hull blistering, damage to the props, and streaks along the prop shaft seal, indicating leakage. Inspect your drains and water intakes.Never trust the boatyard to do this for you, no matter how good it is, since its main job is just to paint the bottom. If you find any deficiencies, repair them.
  
  

Choose a Bottom Paint Carefully

• Cost should not be the only factor. Look for a paint that lasts for two years or more, since you will avoid the boatyard fee every other year. The silicone biocide-free paints may cost more ($600 per gallon versus $160 per gallon for copper-based paint), but the longevity is 2 to 3 years or more, according to the University of California. When you weigh in the cost of the boatyard doing the work (per year), it may be worth looking into these paints.
  
  

Follow the Recommended Repainting Schedule

• This may be common sense, but if you do not not follow your paint manufacturer's recommended repaint schedule, you are setting yourself up for trouble. Barnacles and mussels are very prolific creatures, and will invade a hull in no time flat. If you wait too long, then you (or the boatyard that charges by the hour) will have to scrape rock-hard barnacle shells off your hull by hand. This is neither an easy nor pleasant task.