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Antifouling: where, what, how good, etc...


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It seems different antifouling works better in some areas than others so following on from a previous thread lets create a bit of a database on where you are, what antifoul you are using, how often you maintain it, (and how) what kind of results you are getting. 

 

For me I'm at Northcote Point and we use Micron 77. It seems reasonably good but develops the usual slime build-up after 5-6 weeks if the boat is not sponged off. After that period the barnacles settle in the slime and will then start to cling on.

Ive tried Micron 66, the cheapo International alternative and Warpaint. So far the 77 seems to be one of the better solutions for our area.

Will be hauling the boat out in about 4 weeks for winter so can report more accurately on paint loss etc then.

One option I am going to try next year is making a fitted bag for the hull and pumping the water out when fitted, thus starving the critters.

Should be easy enough to make and float into place and I reckon having it on one hull for 2 weeks should be enough, then move out to the other. With floatation built in I will just leave to attached to the mooring when we go sailing and slide it on when we come back.

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Will be following this thread with interest as getting rid of my old coppercoat bottom before I launch, and have no idea which antifoul I should be recoating it with.

 

Btw , I have an unused litre of coppercoat hardener and powder - completely unopened. Cost me $200 , but am open to offers above $100 bucks if anyone wants it now that I decided to go for conventional antifoul.

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It is not as simple as who is having what results where. That is only part of the puzzle.
You also have to factor in amount of use.
Are you using regularly all year, or are you leaving the boat for the winter.
The type of use, as in, are you a slow or fast racer, or slow or fast cruiser.
And a real biggy that many never realise can make a big difference is, when do you usually haul and AF. Some do so at the end of the season and then the boat winters over with fresh AF and some at the end of Winter, so they have a clean fresh hull for Summer.
Then there is the question of, how clean do you want your hull to look when not using the boat.
There is no one perfect AF. There are the few that self clean, but they are expensive and normally last 12months. However, the Micron 77 is said to last 2yrs. Have not used it so I can't say.
For all other AF's, do not expect them to remain clean if the boat sits. There must be significant water flow to  clean the slime and growth of the Hull. But as they are all ablatives, water flow also causes them to erode away. For a boat that does not get used a lot, you can get up to 3 yrs from a good ablative. 18 to 24months for a hull that gets a reasonable amount of use and 12months for high users that also scrub the hull before a club race.
 

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Will be following this thread with interest as getting rid of my old coppercoat bottom before I launch, and have no idea which antifoul I should be recoating it with.

 

Btw , I have an unused litre of coppercoat hardener and powder - completely unopened. Cost me $200 , but am open to offers above $100 bucks if anyone wants it now that I decided to go for conventional antifoul.

Zozza, what are the details of your boat and what aspects of the copper coat's performance did you not like? i.e. where did you keep the boat, was it used for cruising, racing, how old was the CC? (did you put it on yourself or buy the boat with it?)

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Pizza I'll give you $100 for it. What area should that cover?

Pizza?! I hope that was a predictive text error. Or, you've been drinking - then it's fine.

it's Zozza. I got no idea how much area that will cover.

 

$100 is a deal if you want it. PM me and we can make arrangements for the cash / goods swap.

 

Cheers

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Zozza, what are the details of your boat and what aspects of the copper coat's performance did you not like? i.e. where did you keep the boat, was it used for cruising, racing, how old was the CC? (did you put it on yourself or buy the boat with it?)

I bought the boat then pulled it immediately out of water for a refit / refurbishment.

 

So I got no idea how good it worked or not. My reason for changing is a both aesthetics and practical. Aesthetics in that due to me removing all thru hulls and glassing over the holes, the thought of launching with a patchwork quilt bottom leaves me averse - copper coat is reedy brown when new, and sea green after being in seawater awhile.

 

And practical in that as my copper coat bottom was applied almost ten years ago by the previous owner, it will be due for recoating soon, and I just can't be arsed getting into the technical palava ( and cost) with a Croat in the copper coat.

But coventional anti fouling I understand, and can't make too many cock ups. Just haul and slap it on. With copper coat you gotta haul and scrub every year anyway. And when you recoating you gotta do all this fancy sh*t or it doesn't turn out well.

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Just scrubbed today!

 

Westhaven piles, regular (albeit slow; she's only 7.5m!) year-round racing and cruising.

 

Scraped 10 years of antifoul off in July and repainted with Ultra 2. I guess it's good I scraped, since I'd have been stuffed if it turned out the original job was soft and it all flaked off, but I do sort of regret it, as the old paint job wasn't in bad shape and I'm now down to primer and even fibreglass (gelcoat? Sorry, not sure how to tell the difference) in several large patches. The barnacles and weedy growth in those places are ROUGH, but the rest wipes down like a charm. Not sure what caused the paint to be weaker in those spots, though they are consistently on the south-facing side.

 

5 weeks is about the longest I can leave her before she gets really painful to clean. Definitely need to establish a regimen for it.

 

Thinking of going up on the floating dock for another coat of paint soon. That, or take stock of what major projects I need to do and go for a longer-term haulout to get more done. Also have been strongly considering coppercoat in the next couple years, but that's very hypothetical right now.

 

I'm intriguing by your comment, wheels, that it matters if you paint before or after winter. Why is that?

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I'm intriguing by your comment, wheels, that it matters if you paint before or after winter. Why is that?

There is no hard and fast rules or anything. It is more about getting booked into a yard and that is of course dependent on where in the Country you are, due to number of yards and boats wanting service. The most common time to haul out is before the Summer season and then you have a clean bum for Summer cruising. But that is the problem. Everyone wants their boat done and if you hesitate, you may not get hauled in time for Summer. The slowest time in the yard tends to be Jan, Feb, March, for the obvious reasons of everyone is enjoying summer. So for those that missed pre summer for Hull service, tend to take the months before it gets too cold and damp for doing anything.

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Just scrubbed for the 1st time since January. A few barnacles that fell off with a bump from the back of the broom. Then a coating of slime easily removed with a soft brush.

The water was eerily warm. I was in for over an hour in shorts.

Copper coat applied in Jan. Lives up the river weiti. Previously altex 5 which was sh*t useless.

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The secret to a long lasting ultra job is to put on lots, if rolling the best part of 2 cans on your size boat. When cleaning use a sponge not a scotchbrite

 

well, bummer, the International rep told me 1 can and scotchbrite...

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Pettit vivid. Was sold a can by Warren at MCM so slapped it on in December. I know its for alloy hulls but went over our old sanded altex and still getting 6kts on the donk dispite some time anchored off Opua. Stuff sticks to it but a day smashing about through gin palace wakes and its almost clean again. Chernobyl brand is pretty good I hear, antifouls yours and everyone elses boats....

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Currently using ultra 2 since January. I dive on her every 3 weeks and do have the odd bannacle appear. I use carpet to scrub and hope to get 18months. No resilience to slime though.

 

Ps as a side note, I used white so I'd feel guilty and clean her more often.

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I have just rolled on a mixture of damaged and part cans I got cheap. Totally about 16 litres on a 38 cat so although only 2to 3 coats it went on pretty thick. Starting with international extra then some Jotun seaforce 90 which seems to be for big ships with a 5 year slipping interval and then awlcraft to finish. Bit of a mixture but all in black. Remains to be seen if it works in the Tamaki river. Previously was done with about 7 coats of war paint and managed to stretch it out nearly 4 years and parts of it were still working. I did notice a parore cleaning my Hull though.

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Multiple coats is the secret, the painters version of “if you cant tie knots then tie lots!”

Or as said to me by a pro floor sander/painter i was working for once, "Put it on like you ain't paying for it"

 

7 coats of War paint though.  Wow exTL.

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