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Careful with that Silicone AntiFoul


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On 11/05/2022 at 12:21 AM, MartinRF said:

Kim Klaka used to hang out on rec.boats on Usenet.

He is (used to be?) a researcher at an institute or uni in western Australia. Lars Larsson used to be a hydrodynamics professor at the university I got my degrees at (*). My brother was one of his PhD students. My brother met Kim Klaka during a trip down under in 1995.

Now this pops up here. Small planet :-)

/Martin

*) My boat was built in the workshop of the marine engineering department of that university.

Usenet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet

Hello Martin, yes I am still around! I retired from Academia 12 years ago. Re friction and boundary layers (and other yacht design topics)  I published an ebook 3 years ago that might be of interest to forum readers. Not sure of the forum policies on advertising so I will just say that if you Google my name and yacht design, it will get you there. Dr Kim Klaka

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On 29/10/2023 at 12:10 PM, Kim Klaka said:

Hello Martin, yes I am still around! I retired from Academia 12 years ago. Re friction and boundary layers (and other yacht design topics)  I published an ebook 3 years ago that might be of interest to forum readers. Not sure of the forum policies on advertising so I will just say that if you Google my name and yacht design, it will get you there. Dr Kim Klaka

Hello indeed,

Found your web site. It looks like there is some fun reading to be had there. I will 'bookmark' it.

/Martin

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1 hour ago, Guest said:

. The new hard  silane- siloxane epoxy grafted  coatings seem to have more promise.

 

 

 

Hi. Can you provide more info for Luddites like me?  What us this how does it work. Why is it more promising?

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Hempaspeed follow-up now that I have a few seasons worth of experience with this product.

  • How often I have to clean and how easy it is varies from season to season. I don't know why marine life sticks better to Hempaspeed some years. Still not hard to remove though but if I wait too long removing barnacles will result in cratering the surface.
  • Hempaspeed flakes as it ages. A little bit during the sailing season and then mostly at the water line. Then more and anywhere during the winter. The flakes separate mid-Hempaspeed, not at the interface to the primer. This year I had to do a bit of scraping to get rid of the flakes before sanding and painting. Yet the fresh paint released more flakes and they do not dissolve so -- not smooth surface in some places :-(
  • This year Hempel products are subjected to eye-watering price hikes in Sweden 😠

/Martin

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21 hours ago, MartinRF said:

Hempaspeed follow-up now that I have a few seasons worth of experience with this product.

  • How often I have to clean and how easy it is varies from season to season. I don't know why marine life sticks better to Hempaspeed some years. Still not hard to remove though but if I wait too long removing barnacles will result in cratering the surface.
  • Hempaspeed flakes as it ages. A little bit during the sailing season and then mostly at the water line. Then more and anywhere during the winter. The flakes separate mid-Hempaspeed, not at the interface to the primer. This year I had to do a bit of scraping to get rid of the flakes before sanding and painting. Yet the fresh paint released more flakes and they do not dissolve so -- not smooth surface in some places :-(
  • This year Hempel products are subjected to eye-watering price hikes in Sweden 😠

/Martin

How do you clean it and how frequently?    Also, knowing what you know now, would you still have made this change?

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11 hours ago, mcp said:

How do you clean it and how frequently?    Also, knowing what you know now, would you still have made this change?

  1. On average every four weeks but it varies between years and during season. I use either a scrubber brush or a home made appliance based on a Scotch-Brite like cleaning pad sized 30 by 15 cm. Hull depth is a mere 25 cm so no diving needed.
  2. Hard to say. If memory serves I had these alternatives:
    1. Finding a source of illegal anti-fouling -- still needs cleaning but less often and only during second half of sailing season.
    2. Hempaspeed TF
    3. Hempel's Silic One which is more complex to convert to and softer. I was told it would not work on an a boat that lives on a road trailer in winter. It is a couple of hours drive to my launching site. On the other hand I believe Silic One is better at staying clean.
    4. Some high-gloss, hard wearing epoxy. Harder work to keep clean but does not need touch up / refreshing each season.

Keep in mind that I sail in the Baltic. Different ecosystem, short sailing season.

/Martin

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18 hours ago, Psyche said:

I will stick with paint

But even the effectiveness of that is becoming questionable

 

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Paint is Less than questionable. It just doesn’t bloody work any more. Spoke to Jim Lott yesterday and he’s saying a pint of Ivomec sheep drench with the paint. No he hasn’t tried it. Yes, there’s lots of these sorts of urban myths doing the rounds. Apparently there are a couple of products approved in Europe which are working. But not here yet. I’m pretty sure the European standards would be good enough for us so not sure what the holdup is. 

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So, you know when we had antifoul that really worked with the "good nasties" in it -  was it really that damaging to the ocean when we consider how much damaging environmental waste water is released into the ocean by all the worlds cities, and industrial centres?  The "damage" that proper antifouling did to the environment surely has to be infinitesimal small in comparison? Or am I just doing sort of Joe Rogan type "Bro Science" here - though I feel the comparison I make is probably valid.

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22 hours ago, Steve said:

Paint is Less than questionable. It just doesn’t bloody work any more. Spoke to Jim Lott yesterday and he’s saying a pint of Ivomec sheep drench with the paint. No he hasn’t tried it. Yes, there’s lots of these sorts of urban myths doing the rounds. Apparently there are a couple of products approved in Europe which are working. But not here yet. I’m pretty sure the European standards would be good enough for us so not sure what the holdup is. 

It works well!! 100 mil per 4L, from less than 6 months prior  to 2 + years, the odd wipe occasionally if the boat isn't used very often.

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