First Coat Bottom Paint

[RustyHook]

I'll be putting my boat in the water this year, I've always trailered this one because it's only an 18' CC but I'm ready to have that convenience again. Anyway. The bottom has never been painted. A few questions for those guys who have experience with this.

1. What should I do to prep the bottom of the boat?
2. What type of paint do you think I should use?
3. How high do you guys go? I've always had boats that were previously bottom painted to guide me along, I guess I have an idea of how high but wasn't sure if there was a rule of thumb to match.

Any other tips are appreciated as well.

[fluke - u]

I don't know how old your boat is but I did an epoxy and barrier coat on my boat before I did the bottom paint. I use black paint because it does not show up on black top when you sand it. I go about 6 inches above the resting water line when loaded....Hope that helps.   

[Hunter 2]

 http://www.yachtpaint.com/LiteratureCentre/BPG_US_2016_web.pdf                 

Hope this helps,     I like interluX micron CSC