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Which marina has lowest salinity that might react with Micron 66


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I just got a deal on 66 at $200 below retail.

Big warnings all over internet sailing forums that while it is a very good antifoul, do not to use it in brackish and especially fresh water as it will come off like cornflakes.

So, Westhaven, Bayswater, GH, Halfmoon Bay,,,,which one would be prone to most freshwater storm run off?  If I am going to bite the bullet and keep my lovely little boat at a rip off marina at least for the first year after launching, then I wanna keep her at the one that does not have low salinity and ruin my bottom....how the hell anyone would know I dunno, but if anyone does know then its you fellas on crew.org!

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This is the reason that I got the 66, because I was reading these sorts of reviews below:

 

" Micron 66 is it is not ablative due to movement through the water. It is ablative by reacting with the salt ions. That is the reason why it only works in salt water. It is actually better for slow moving boats compared to all other ablative paints which require movement to be effective "

 "...this chemical reaction controls and sustains the release of biocides, not diffusion. Because this reaction is chemical rather than physical it takes place at the same rate whether the boat is underway or sitting at the dock, throughout the lifetime of the antifouling, without decline."

 

So, as my boat is a semi full keeler plastic classic from the seventies and will be at the dock a fair bit of the time (i;d rather be sailing, but hey, I gotta work too unfortunately), and painfully slow compared to you guys whizzing around in Ross' and Ellitotts' I thought it a worthwhile antifouling to try, especially as I got it at almost half cost of current retail.

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At a guess Westhaven, since it has the biggest carparks?  Also I believe there is runoff from the motorway.

Bayswater would have the least, since it is a floating marina (no solid outer walls).

But there are plenty of boats in Westhaven with Micron 66 working well.

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Sounds like a red herring to me wrt to stormwater runoff into marinas.  The average volume of runoff water would be many many orders of magnitude smaller than the average volume change of water in a marina at each tide.

 

By brackish / freshwater I think you'll find that comments are really with respect to ocean accessible rivers and lakes in Europe and the Americas.  Extending them to tidal marinas does not make sense.
 

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No idea what the answer is , I just know I've had nothing short of spectacular results out of 66 at Westhaven.

 

 Ruined now after 2 weeks at opua last year.That place has a tragic problem with barnacles like you would not believe. 

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Milford and Westpark have the least salty water of all the Auckland Marinas , and still no one is stopping Northland boats from coming down with the square barnacle, whilst all the talk is on the harmless fanworm incidently in Marsden cove marina and the Tepuna  BOI .

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You wont find any measurable difference in salinity in any marina in Auckland. I doubt the salinity is even any different in river mooring areas such as Weiti. If you go far enough up the Clevedon river you may get a difference.

 

As Scottie said, the issues with Salinity are based on North American or European areas where there is a lot of boating on fresh water, like the Great Lakes, Lake Garda (Italian / Swiss sailing lakes etc).

 

If you were parking your boat in Lake Taupo you'd need to think about it. Any tidal mooring area thats big enough to get a boat into wont be an issue. Mahurangi at Warkworth town wharf you may need to consider it.

 

Stormwater run off in relation to the volume of tide washing through every 12 hours, stormwater is an order of magnitude less, wont affect salinity, and only has measurable volumes during significant rain events. Those areas are likely to have higher silts and nutrients which can impact antifoul in a different way (silt blankets the antifoul, degrading its effectiveness, and nutrients makes stuff grow quicker...)

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Well, this all sounds very good. 

 

Interesting that John B says Opua has a bad barnacle problem....I want to keep my boat there one day, but alas a 6-7 hour round trip while I am working in Auckland means its not really fusible.  If they started the trains up again then might be a different story.

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Not just John B, and the Northland Council are trying to pretend that it doesnt exist -the proof is out there just ask anyone who has spent more than two days in the Bay during the last two years. In particular the antifoul companies are well aware -because of all the new complaints. 

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If the salinity doesnt vary why did they recommend after testing at Westpark years ago that people throw salt into their toilets to enable the Electrosan 's to work as designed ?

I don't know, I don't use an electrosan and I don't keep a boat in Westpark.

 

Did your electrosan work after throwing salt in it. Maybe you were too hydrated (from drinking too many chilled beverages) and there weren't enough ions in your pee to make the electrosan get its ergs from its anode to its cathode?

 

Or maybe electrosans aren't that great and the salt thing was a distraction. 

 

You do realise electosans aren't used for antifouling? 

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Not just John B, and the Northland Council are trying to pretend that it doesnt exist -the proof is out there just ask anyone who has spent more than two days in the Bay during the last two years. In particular the antifoul companies are well aware -because of all the new complaints. 

 

I dived on Provincial Cowboy in Opua few years back when they were there for Bay week. They had only been in the marina a few days and had plenty of little barnacles on a freshly cleaned bottom. Nasty little beasts.

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I found micron 66 becoming less effective over last few years (berthed GH). Last repaint time my guy confirmed numerous reports of 66 reduced performance for unknown reason (different mix or different water conditions?).

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