Soon to be new to salt water home

I just purchased an Ericson 29 that has been a freshwater boat, it has an Atomic 4 that is raw water cooled. I plan to move the boat to the Pensacola or Mobile bay area around March after I go over the boat and make her ready for the coast.

My question is what do I need to do different than what I do for RUMKIN my E 29 that is in fresh water, zincs and where to locate them, I will be doing a bottom job on the boat, bottom paint will depend on which location and whether I keep her on a trailer or in the water. (If on the trailer she will be rigged and just need for me to launch her and retrieve each trip to the coast)

Having a boat on the coast will be new to me and hopefully fun in spite of living over 300 miles from the Gulf.

Rick

Any insight to bottom maintenance in Pensacola would be appreciated, When I had RUMKIN on Pensacola bay for a couple of weeks the prop shaft was the only thing that showed growth, it was covered with tiny barnacles. How often you clean the bottom, choice of paint for the area and the like.

My boat has been in the salt all of it's 41 years. I use Interlux ablative antifouling paint. Collar zinc on the shaft and a zinc for the strut shown in my pic. Also don't forget about a pencil zinc for your engine cooling system. I don't know about A-4's but my Yanmar has one. As a hard learned rule, I always flush my raw water cooled Yanmar with fresh water after every outing.

Good info from Don Casey:
http://www.boatus.com/boattech/casey/sacrificial-zincs.asp

http://www.boatus.com/boattech/casey/applying-bottom-paint.asp

Salt Water

Randy,

Bottom jobs around here should last three years (and that's with the boat in the water full time). The last time I had mine done the yard used this.

I have a diver clean the bottom monthly in the summer and every 90 days in cooler seasons. He replaces the zincs as necessary.