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Dry Storage and antifoul use


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So, due to a lack of available marina spots and the 12 months waiting list, we're dry storing between cruises at the moment.

 

We have Nautix A88 on the bottom, and I guess an unexpected advantage of dry storing is that the antifoul will (?) last much longer.

 

Any caveats to this approach? I mean, if we have the boat in the water 2 weeks at a time for only 8-12 weeks a year, I figure our antifoul should last bloody ages. But am I wrong? Will it wear out or stop working anyway if it's kept out of the water for 2 months at a time?

 

I guess our anodes will last longer, too - the anodes on the sail drive already look quite corroded after only 6-7 weeks.

 

The options in the future will be:

 

2400 a year marina fees + 2000 a year for antifoul (applied)

 

or

 

200 per month dry + 400 bucks for each in and out... and maybe antifoul every 4 years?

 

 

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Dont know about anti foul but I believe the anodes will "settle down". You will have to replace them early, maybe 6 months, first time then the residual currents all find their happy places. No idea idea why technically, just know from experience.

 

Tb

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So, due to a lack of available marina spots and the 12 months waiting list, we're dry storing between cruises at the moment.

 

We have Nautix A88 on the bottom, and I guess an unexpected advantage of dry storing is that the antifoul will (?) last much longer.

 

Any caveats to this approach? I mean, if we have the boat in the water 2 weeks at a time for only 8-12 weeks a year, I figure our antifoul should last bloody ages. But am I wrong? Will it wear out or stop working anyway if it's kept out of the water for 2 months at a time?

 

I guess our anodes will last longer, too - the anodes on the sail drive already look quite corroded after only 6-7 weeks.

 

The options in the future will be:

 

2400 a year marina fees + 2000 a year for antifoul (applied)

 

or

 

200 per month dry + 400 bucks for each in and out... and maybe antifoul every 4 years?

Dr, product data sheet is here;

https://paints.nautix.com/product_documents/get/document/id/1554/

This antifouling will cease to function if dry stored. See "maximum time to immersion" on the PDS.

 

Timb, Thats not my experience, and I cant think of why that might occur. Wheels might have a better idea....

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Yeah I saw the max time to immersion thing. I wonder if it makes a difference if it's already been "activated" by immersion? I mean, in a calm marina, your waterline might not actually get wet for quite some weeks. Our bottom paint is goes up to about 5-6" above the waterline at the bow when the keel is lifted - it shifts the centre of gravity considerably aft.

 

Their "several weeks" is an interesting length of time. Is that 3 weeks? Or 10 weeks?

 

We're looking at 7 weeks.., but after the boat has already sat in the water for 2 months. Just had a little green slime on it, btw, easy to sponge off. The funky bright orange rudders had a few extra inhabitants, weed up to 3" long, and some 3-4mm barnacles. Came off easy enough. But yeah, the Orange def not as good as the A88.

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Yeah I saw the max time to immersion thing. I wonder if it makes a difference if it's already been "activated" by immersion? I mean, in a calm marina, your waterline might not actually get wet for quite some weeks. Our bottom paint is goes up to about 5-6" above the waterline at the bow when the keel is lifted - it shifts the centre of gravity considerably aft.

 

Their "several weeks" is an interesting length of time. Is that 3 weeks? Or 10 weeks?

 

We're looking at 7 weeks.., but after the boat has already sat in the water for 2 months. Just had a little green slime on it, btw, easy to sponge off. The funky bright orange rudders had a few extra inhabitants, weed up to 3" long, and some 3-4mm barnacles. Came off easy enough. But yeah, the Orange def not as good as the A88.

I'm interested in the comment that with your CB lifted that the Centre of gravity moves considerably aft. How will / does that affect the sailing ability when sailing down wind?? I generally lift my CB once the wind is aft of the beam and usually rely on the aft CB for tracking.  (my CB's are not ballasted, Trismus 37) As for antifoul what we have left to use here in NZ is now so dumbed down you can almost see the AF beckoning the barnacles to come aboard!!

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I'm interested in the comment that with your CB lifted that the Centre of gravity moves considerably aft. How will / does that affect the sailing ability when sailing down wind?? I generally lift my CB once the wind is aft of the beam and usually rely on the aft CB for tracking. (my CB's are not ballasted, Trismus 37) As for antifoul what we have left to use here in NZ is now so dumbed down you can almost see the AF beckoning the barnacles to come aboard!!

It’s not really designed to sail with the keel lifted, although apparently still has enough righting moment to classify as category B. Hydrodynamically, it’s as ugly as a brick with the keel up. It’s designed just for motoring in to shallow bays and harbours etc. and for drying out on the legs.

 

Lifting the keel also changes the CLR, and makes it a bltch to manoeuvre sometimes because the slightest breeze will swing the bow around and screw you over.... don’t ask how I learnt...

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This is an interesting question as I have a Farr940 on a trailer. Used mostly on a lake (freshwater)... it gets wet most every weekend Nov-Apr. It also spends 2-6 weeks in the sea during summer.

 

After the sea trip the anti foul is a lighter colour (blue) .. ie is ablating. I dont have any growth etc .

After a weekend on the Lake I don't notice a change,after a week I think there is.

 

Bottom line .. I perceive it is still working ok after 4 years (i've owned for 4 yrs). Not sure when it was applied.

IMG_2327-001.JPG

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I used to use a teflon based antifouling on my noelex 30. Only had to put it on once, worked for years. Don't know if its still available, but id use it again. It can dry out without issues.

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For hulls like trailer sailors that have extended dry times and very short emmersion times, use a hard antifoul. They are not perfect, but slow down the uptake of growth long enough to be OK
It is best to give a light sand before summer season.
Ablatives are no good as the biocides leach out of the sponge like matirx of the paint film and render it useless. 

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It’s not really designed to sail with the keel lifted, although apparently still has enough righting moment to classify as category B. Hydrodynamically, it’s as ugly as a brick with the keel up. It’s designed just for motoring in to shallow bays and harbours etc. and for drying out on the legs.

 

Lifting the keel also changes the CLR, and makes it a bltch to manoeuvre sometimes because the slightest breeze will swing the bow around and screw you over.... don’t ask how I learnt...

Yeah, the Trismus 37 has all the ballast in the hull, both the CB's are 20mm alloy with the main one + 1m and the aft one (under the cockpit) app  +750mm. Adding nothing to the stability of the boat.

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Here's an update on the Nautix A88 and dry sailing. The paint company responded to my enquiry (took them only 45min to respond).

----

 

You can leave your Pogo 36 and lauch it again. This is not a problem while  your tank is not empty.

The 2 risks are:
  • Dusts adhere on her hull when on the yard. This creates a barrier coat resulting inactive antifouling

  • When launched water impregnation could be longer because paint is really dry.   Boat could be dirty during first month.  

In both cases, sponge cleaning could be necessary.
 
 
In this case he refers to the "tank", an analogy he used earlier in the response -  New antifoul = full tank
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When will you be splashing KM ? . I’ve been following Alcatraz rebuild on SA and he’s rapidly nearing completion and hoping to make this years CC . Would be quite something to see you both on the start line

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Did they give any indication as to how long it could sit dry?

 

Surely after a time it must loss it mojo.

 

The dust comment is interesting. That would imply the active (??) layer, the outside, is reasonable prone to outside influences which could piss with it's efficiency. Or maybe yards there have lots of dust, which sounds a little not right. 

 

 

As I understand it, sitting dry becomes a problem because the paint gets "too dry" and then seawater can't penetrate and the active components stay locked in the paint rather than slowly leeching out. So if it's really too dry maybe it won't rehydrate properly. The response I got seemed to suggest that it would rehydrate but would likely take a little longer, and therefore the paint might not work it's true magic as quickly - but that overall, dry storing it like that (2 weeks in, 2 months on the hard) shouldn't reduce the efficacy in the long run. And if the actives only leech out for the few weeks it's in the water, then maybe I'll get a bit longer between AF applications.

Same with surface contamination. The contamination prevents the leeching out of the goodies/baddies...

I'll give her  sponge bath (maybe with a fine scratch pad) before we launch again and we'll see how well it works.

 

But overall, I can get 3-4 in-and-outs + 6 months yard storage for the same cost as a new antifoul...

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As I said above, this is why you use a Hard AF and not a soft ablative or self polishing. Soft AF's require the coating to remian soft in order to work. Hard AF's do not. They rely on the copper, boat speed and regular brushing clean, even sometimes a light sand to expose more copper and biocides. Which for your boat KM, you are going to need a hard AF anyway, because your boat will be too fast for a soft to hang on, especially when under a kite.
 

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