How necessary is bottom paint in the northern Chesapeake?

I’m in the process of buying a boat from Virginia that I am planning to bring up to the northern Chesapeake Bay hopefully next week. The boat was only in the water for about a month out of the last three years. The bottom paint looks good visually, but I’ve been advised that it may not be very effective given its age. I wanted to have the yard down in Virginia do a fresh bottom paint but they are backed up and can’t get to it for several weeks. If I bring the boat up north, would it be…How necessary is bottom paint in the northern Chesapeake?