What I might did wrong with my antifauling?

Graham376

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TNLI

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Why are you using hard antifoul? Soft is far better for a yacht and no need to have professionals spray it or have a diver to clean it every two weeks.

There is no such thing as a correct basic type of AF paint, it just depends on the type of boat, whether you can occasionally scrub the bottom, how long you want the paint to last, your crusing area and a lot of other variables.

If you can afford it a hard anti fouling covered with a soft ablative is defintely the way to go, cos if the outer coats wear off, you still have the hard scrub layers.
 

TNLI

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I've been involved in panel tests of Copper Coat. It did not impress, fouling quickly unless scrubbed aggressively with abrasive several times each year. Then it was just sub-average. We put it on boats. It did not impress, same story. Popularity is very low--not proof of anything, but a hint. Yes, it absolutely can work, but more scrubbing seems to be required and the initial application is 2-3 times more work than a good 2-3 season antifouling, so if it lasts 10 years I still don't see how you are ahead (I would be pulling the boat every 2-3 years for some reason anyway).

In low fouling waters, and places where scrubbing is not unpleasant, OK. But probably more work and more fouling, based on the experiences I have seen.

People that buy something they are not very happy with also tend to under report; they are a little embarrassed. You hear most about what is superlative and what is awful. I got 3 years in a high fouling area from my last paint (PCA gold AKA Pettit SR 40), so I'll give that a shout-out. Slapped on two coats in one day, including the required scratch sand. Most of it wore away, and 2 weeks ago I repainted, again in one day. About $150/gallon on sale.

I think my real point is that the OP is probably not ready for that kind of undertaking. Lots of prep. Careful application. An ablative like Pettit Odyssy HD (like SR40) is the better choice for him. But there are many opinions.

I agree with every word, Copper coat is a con trick to some extent!
 
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I agree with every word, Copper coat is a con trick to some extent!

You think it’s a con? Yet lots of folks have success with it across many different waters including the winner of the Golden Globe, Jean-Luc van den Heede on his Rustler 36, with ablative AF on top. Apparently he did not suffer the big growth that others did. Although the article below claims chill powder, it was copper coat or equivalent with quite a few layers of eroding anti fouling applied on top. I can’t find the link where I read what he applied, if I have time later I may search when on my laptop. Anyway, my point is I don’t think it’s a con. It’s not a product I would pay for on my boat. I have been using Cruiser Uno, and now, Cruiser 250, 2-2/12 years between re coating.

https://classicsailor.com/2019/01/van-den-heede-wins-golden-globe-race/
 

Wing Mark

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This whole conversation could have happened 20 years ago!

What the OP did wrong IMHO was to expect his AF to work perfectly.
Depending on where you moor, the useful stuff in the paint will leach out at a faster or slower rate, so a paint that everyone else says is brilliant will only work for 4 months if you moor in a warm sunny spot with lots of current and some nitrate run-off from farm land.

The boats I used to race on always needed frequent scrubs and new AF before Cowes Week.
People I knew made good money diving to scrub yachts.
Late in the season, we'd be scrubbing around the waterline before each race.

I'm buying a bilge keeler which can be beached and scrubbed regularly

Unless you can do this:
1634984935684.jpeg
 

thinwater

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These cheap drill stirrers work well enough, even on the 20L drums I decant from. Drill Paint Pot Plaster Mixer Stirrer Mixing Mix Paddle Whisk Tool Hex | eBay

My favorite is difficult to buy. I have a bunch left over from a closed lab and I've welded up a few more.

[Dimensioned for 4-liter can. Bigger for 20 liters.]
Cut a 1" x 2" x 1/8" coupon of steel. Smooth the corners enough that it does not damamge the can. Weld a 5/16" rod about 12" long to center edge, forming what engineers and chemists call a 2-blade radial flow turbine. They are commonly used for lab flockulation studies.

This does a superior of cleaning the bottom of the can and can be cleaned off with a quick wipe of a rag. I have not used common paint stirs in years. This is faster, better, and easier to work with for bottom paint (which is different from most other paints).
 

TNLI

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You think it’s a con? Yet lots of folks have success with it across many different waters including the winner of the Golden Globe, Jean-Luc van den Heede on his Rustler 36, with ablative AF on top. Apparently he did not suffer the big growth that others did. Although the article below claims chill powder, it was copper coat or equivalent with quite a few layers of eroding anti fouling applied on top. I can’t find the link where I read what he applied, if I have time later I may search when on my laptop. Anyway, my point is I don’t think it’s a con. It’s not a product I would pay for on my boat. I have been using Cruiser Uno, and now, Cruiser 250, 2-2/12 years between re coating.

https://classicsailor.com/2019/01/van-den-heede-wins-golden-globe-race/

VERY FUNNY! So the Golden Globe winner did not in fact think his ultra light weight thin layer of Copper coat was good enough without some serious layers of ablative AF paint on top of the Copper job !! The winner was also going incredibly fast for a fairly short time interval before the very expensive ablative AF paint was cleaned off and replaced with more layers of the latest very effective ablative AF paint, sprayed on by the very best AF spray team money could buy.

Real Copper plates do a fairly good job of reducing marine growth, as the French discovered when HMS Victory was in action, but alas when you try mixing a Copper compound in ultra fine powder form with a cheap 2 component mix of Poly adhesive, the result is not much better than that acieved by using cheap whitewash with some extra curry powder, (Vinderloo really does work faster than Madras), mixed in and stirred up with a cheap spoon for only a minute or two.

I must confess that I did a Copper job on a friends small yacht in Lindau marina some years ago, but the odd thing was that the mix was not the same colour as that sold in the UK, it was matt Gold when dry. That German made Copper epoxy job was very effective for nearly 5 years, and was only overcoated last year. Alas the owner was put up against his own garage wall and shot cold with a German made gas gun fired by an emergency doctor. No real issue apart from a 28 day spell in Friedrichshafen's 'hospital funny farm to confirm he was not a lunatic after all!
 
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