Accelerated Weed Growth

[Major_Clanger]

No wish to start one of those dull threads about which antifoul to use, but blimey, not sure about Hempels Hard Racing anymore.......

Boat went in at Felixstowe Ferry 2.5 weeks ago at has sat on her mooring since. I went out to her today to find slime and proper hanging weed all the way around the boot-top - and she's got 2 coats of recently applied Hard Racing. The rest of the hull is Seajet and not sure yet but seems okay. I was shocked at the weed though - I've used Hempels for years. It's scrubbable and the weed came off easily, but I don't expect to have to do that within a month of launching.

 

[DanTribe]

This year seems to be the worst I can remember for weed growth.

 

[johnalison]

I only launched in May, but I was up to speed today under power and sail. The log impeller was thoroughly weeded up though, perhaps because I had omitted my usual layer of silicon grease.

 

[Sailing steve]

Me too.

I've tried several different antifouls around different locations off the Essex coast. Either fouling has got worse or the antifoul has become less effective over the last 25 years or so and seems to me a build up of slime followed by weed growth within weeks of launch has become the new normal.

Only thing perhaps is to either try one of the new silicone based products - and how, exactly do you remove that if it doesn't work - or resign yourself to a beaching and scrub off two or three times a year, and for that of course you need a hard antifoul not an eroding one.

 

[Snowgoose-1]

Early hairyness too.
Can't be the sun doing it because we haven't had any yet .

 

[Daydream believer]

I was Ok with my coppercoat until a fornight ago & suddenly it has started to sprout & it was 4 inches long down to 6 inches below the waterline around the bow area. had to scrub the slime off the hull as well.

 

[dansaskip]

Plenty of rain, plenty of run off from agricultural land, plenty of sewerage discharges so lots of nutrients in the water so not surprising that weed growth is bad. Yes it does seem especially bad this year - all a bit discouraging. You have to scrub off before you can get out sailing.

 

[oldgit]

Slime on my MoBo this time and the boat has been used.

 

[LittleSister]

Look on the bright side. With all that weed growth, will the barnacles get a look in?

 

[kacecar]

Look on the bright side. With all that weed growth, will the barnacles get a look in?

Yes! My boat had to be hauled out at the beginning of July after just 45 days (6.5 weeks) in the water, and I was surprised at the hundreds of barnacles growing on fresh anti-fouling paint. Any anti-fouling paint is less strong than it used to be and I'm sure run-off from the fields plays its part, but I suspect the main culprit is the relative warmth of the river water - it seems to have been significantly warmer than normal all year, particularly since that warm spell in February.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

2 weeks since my last scrub, a thorough one in shallow water. This time, on my mooring, I had to swim, and it was hard work. Just slime, but an all over coating. It’s bad this year.

 

[xyachtdave]

Stopped using Hempel Hard Racing a few years ago, it was next to useless on the Medway.

I suffered it for years as a) I wanted a pure white and b) it was £100 for 5 litres at Dauntless Marine.

I must say the International Micron 350 I’m using now has been very good. The fouling on the tidal river here is fierce but this is working very well.