After 10 years of applying Micron CSC patching and coating on the bottom of Vivaldi, I am in the process of starting from scratch. I have removed everything and applying 5 layers of epoxy Interlux Inter-Protect 2000-2001. My plan is to apply two coats of hard bottom paint Pettit Trinidad over the epoxy for this first application while I am sailing the Atlantic Circuit (Boston-Portugal-Canaries-Caribbean-Boston) this year. Once I am back, I will apply an ablative paint like Interlux Micron 66.
I was wondering if someone has an opinion as far as the right procedure. Hard paint or Ablative?

We had excellent results with Trinidad SR on our Atlantic circuit. After the Atlantic crossing to the Caribbean we had loads of funny squishy creatures holding on for dear life when we arrived in Grenada. Over the next couple of days, we noticed scores of little fish eating them off. Clean in a couple of days. Other than that, an occasional scrub while snorkeling was all that was needed. (By the way, we had excellent experience with Trinidad SR on Long Island Sound as well, contrary to many reports.)

It is important to note that these paints are hard to get in Europe, so we carried enough to touch up if necessary over a couple of years. We did manage to find Trinidad SR in St. Martin where all things American abound, but it was under a different trade name.

We 've not used the Micron 66 so cannot comment comparatively.

Vice Commodore, OCC 

We have been using Micro 66 for the past 6 years and while it is probably the most expensive it seems to work great. After about 4-5000 miles it needs some touch up, but we have done a compete job only every other year (around 8,000+ miles.)

But it is not cheap. I just got a quote for our 40 ' boat complete sand and paint with Micron 66 (currently in Australia) and it 's about US$2200.

Not sure if it 's the right decision or not, but we 've opted to clean the bottom back to the barrier coat, add a couple coats of new barrier coat and then go with Micron 66 which we 've found works really well.
Our anticipated route in 2013 will take us from Boston to the Azores and on to England. Following year around Ireland and Scotland - hopefully the 66 will last through both seasons...

Bill Balme