IF YOU OWN an ocean-going boat, you’ve felt the sticker shock of purchasing marine paint. Multi-season antifouling paint easily costs $200 to $300-plus per gallon.

Dana Willis, Marine Operations Manager, who oversees the MMA waterfront, crew, and a fleet of some 60 boats, admits he sometimes sees red when he tallies the invoices for the boats they maintain, which require more than 200 gallons annually. “Typically, we go through the most paint in the springtime, but it’s ongoing,” he says.

The example shown in this photo is a high-visibility yellow enamel being applied by a student to piping of a new Damage Control Simulator built in the bay shop of Payson Hall.

Many alumni dipped a brush as students and learned to cut in an edge on MMA vessels over the past 79 years.

Large vessels such as Pentagoet and TS State of Maine are contracted to major yards for significant paint jobs. The State of Maine was hauled in the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 2017-18 and required some 14,000 gallons of paint. The ship belongs to MARAD and, therefore, well-spent federal dollars covered the cost of the mammoth paint job.

Photo: Billy R. Sims

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