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Antifouling between tides


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Hi all

 

I live a long way from my boat but am getting to see her over Easter. Feels a bit like a conjugal visit....

 

Problem is she needs a fresh coat and all the yards are closed over that weekend (i'm up in the Mahurangi). I'm tempted to give her a coat between tides on the piles near my mooring but not sure if this is still seen as ok. Will obviously make sure all the scrapings are collected and I'm not planning to sand. 

 

Am I an eco- terrorist?

 

I've asked the harbourmaster and they talked about taking 'reasonable steps' but it certainly felt like one person's opinion rather than their policy.

 

I'd appreciate all intel.    

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No problem applying AF. Just don't wash your rollers in the tide...

The big hoopla is around cleaning your hull in the tide. I think the requirement is you don't do anything that discolours the water, like highly ablative antifouling, high pressure washing or sanding of the existing stuff off. And if you have a mussle farm, you are supposed to take all the growth home with you, not leave it under the piles.

 

If you are conscientious, and clean up after yourself, no problem.

Depending on how big your boat is, you might want two tides, one to clean, one to paint, AF likes to dry a bit before it gets wet again. Helps it harden or something (read the spec sheet on your brand of AF for that info).

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For years we scrubbed and painted between tides,cannot sand(cough cough) suppose to remove light slime only,mussel etc are suppose to be disposed of in to a bin,WHY?the damn things come from the sea,they are a filter and each mussel filters 20lts ph or there about.

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It's a bit of a pain in the arse for the next guy that uses the piles if you leave a pile of sh*t under them, more so if it's where they park the keel, but can't see its resting on a pile of your sh*t and high tide.

 

That and piles of dead marine growth start smelling fairly bad if left to rot in the intertidal zone.

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We did it on the sand at Whitianga once. Laid down groundsheets, I had a professional do the work, cleaned up properly. Not a drop of fouling, sanding or paint touched the sand.

 

Still got a bollocking from Environment Waikato, written warning and a threat to hang me from the nearest tree if i ever did it again.

 

 

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Hi all

 

I live a long way from my boat but am getting to see her over Easter. Feels a bit like a conjugal visit....

 

Problem is she needs a fresh coat and all the yards are closed over that weekend (i'm up in the Mahurangi). I'm tempted to give her a coat between tides on the piles near my mooring but not sure if this is still seen as ok. Will obviously make sure all the scrapings are collected and I'm not planning to sand. 

 

Am I an eco- terrorist?

 

I've asked the harbourmaster and they talked about taking 'reasonable steps' but it certainly felt like one person's opinion rather than their policy.

 

I'd appreciate all intel.    

 

That's what the piles are there for, I do what you are going to do in the same place all the time. Along with all the other poor people.

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Thanks all - sounds like plenty of people still do it, but perhaps luck of the draw as to whether its frowned upon eh?

 

Certainly not interested in having an adverse affect on the environment but it seems like i can make sure that's the case....

 

any other thoughts appreciated..

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Apart from biosecurity..and only you know where you have been..The problem is local contamination.

Antifoul application is one of the things I do for a living.

So..first read the product data. You will be amazed how many people don't but come up with their own opinions.

You will find most data sheets will state DON'T dry sand and do pressure wash and wet scrub or wet sand....with fresh water.

This is to remove salt , marine growth and provide a surface key.

(And on ablative paints only enough to achieve the above should be done.

You will be putting a high concentration of toxic stuff in a local area and I personally think it better to do the big one on the hard.

Given your post though, you cover all of the above...your antifoul may not stick very well so I would suggest only doing enough to get you by..

Never sand non ablative paint on piles...depending on how old it is and type.. it can continue to leach for years.....

Not good for close coastal breeding areas.

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I have always antifouled on the beach but are planning a haul out this year for the first time, I,m thinking that antifoul never seems to last as long when it’s not given enough time to dry before immersion. And if you put on several coats it should last a few years instead of barely one .

A couple of years ago we were walking around a Coppercoat ed cat in waist deep water giving it a scrub off Takapuna beach , noticed someone taking photos ,and later got a letter from the harbour master,saying it’s a no no , also got told off at Waiheke. I like to clean the hull in the water with a snorkel and a brush or sponge, but even that is probably frowned upon by some?

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You can't clean here, you can't clean there,

You must stand on one leg while cleaning

You mustn't use anything the harms marine fouling for marine anti-fouling

But I can't for the life of me work out where all these invasive species are coming from,

Nor how they're getting spread around the place.

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Yeah well Environment Waikato are the Marine Gestapo. Wear lifejackets or else we'll jump out of the mangroves and zap you. Don't scrub your boat but don't go in their area if its dirty . They do nothing to help the situation that brought all this crap here in the first place. Their eye is only on the potential revenue stream for all marine misdemeanours. Local Govt. at its absolute worst. BTW its likely that ballast water in ships has something to do with imported lurgy but as an enforcement officer reported there is nothing Regional Councils can do about that. So boaties are next in the money chain

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