Francisco Linares of Sea-Shield believes there is a darker side
when it comes to the perception of waste. He believes that
shipyards and paint companies deliberately fuel the conception
that yachts need to be painted every five years. “But,” he says,
“with the right attitude and good technology old paint jobs can
be properly restored and protected.” He explains, “Paint can
be put on a maintenance programme in much the same way as
a deck or a piece of equipment can.” Warming to his theme, he
expands, “That involves retraining the crew on the best practices
to make paint jobs last even longer than what the paint industry
wants us to believe.” Of course, this is not something that they
want to promote as it affects their bottom line. However, it is
an environmentally friendly approach that requires no sanding
or dangerous chemicals. It saves time and money and can be
done in a marina or shipyard.
Linares claims to have been doing this successfully since 2008.
He says, “We’ve retrained many yacht captains and owners who
have seen the benefits firsthand. Paint jobs are prematurely
fading within the first two years. Paint companies have focused on
environmental compliance, so all the heavy metals and chemicals
that made marine paint strong are now gone, leaving a weak
paint that loses its shine quickly. It is sad to see, but it is more
common than ever. It is something that yacht crew and owners should take into consideration, rather than just
relying on the PR of paint manufacturers and
shipyards.”
