Antifoul Advice Please :-)

S

ssphotog

New Member
Joined
31 Jan 2010
Messages
5
Location
Cambridge
www.boatportraits.co.uk
Hi Everyone,
I’ve just joined this forum, looks like there’s some great advice on here, I’m fairly new to boating, so very keen to learn. I’m also a photographer, so if anyone would like any tips on photographing there boat or any other photo tips, just drop me a line…
Please could I get some antifoul tips?
I have a maxum 2300 SCR 24 foot cabin cruiser, moored in saltwater that needs antifouling. I believe who ever put the last antifoul on, put soft anti foul on instead of hard? It seems to rub off fairly easily. Also the mecruiser outdrive that I don’t think has ever been antifouled, is covered in n gunk along with the prop.
Can anyone recommend my steps please….
What anitfoul should I get, and roughly how much of it?
Should I rub off the old antifoul first?
Does the outdrive need a different antifoul to the Hull?
Prop?
Thanks for reading, hope you can help, promise to give any phototips if needed!
Cheers
 
Antifouling

Hi Shaun,
Welcome to the forum, antifouling is straightforward enough but knowing what others use in your area is a great help.
The type will depend on what and where you intend to use your boat, 24ft SCR will probably run around 30knots so hard antifouling would probably be best, however this will build up over the years and require removing at some stage in the future.
If the antifouling that is on at the moment is in good condition (not flaking and falling off)before you apply your new stuff and because you probably dont know what has been used before I would apply a barrier coat.
Use masking tape to preserve the waterline before painting, apply your barrier coat/ primer followed by two coats of antifoul.
2.5lts would be enough antifoul for two coats,leave a 1 inch gap unpainted around your outdrive.
The outdrive will require a different type of paint, again make sure you remove all flakeing paint, any growth and tubeworm casts before painting with barrier/primer, something like Mille-drive or trilux is used for your sterngear, buy the spraypaint for ease of use and a tin of brush-on for the transom shields and easy to reach areas.

If the antifoul is poor at the moment then it's probably a better idea to strip it and start from scratch.

Items required;

2.5ltrs hard antifouling (blakes hard racing etc) good enough for 2 coats
Barrier / primer enough for 1 coat
1 small tin of trilux or mille-drive + one spray can of the same
Barrier/primer for outdrive and trim tabs and rams

Small foam rollers and paint trays (disposable so cheap as possible)
Brushes (again disposable)
Masking tape
Surgical gloves and paper overalls.

Powerwashing will remove most of the fouling but a small paint scraper is usefull, just watch you dont nick the bellows etc while your around the drive.
 
ssphotog said:
Hi Everyone,
I’ve just joined this forum, looks like there’s some great advice on here, I’m fairly new to boating, so very keen to learn. I’m also a photographer, so if anyone would like any tips on photographing there boat or any other photo tips, just drop me a line…
Please could I get some antifoul tips?
I have a maxum 2300 SCR 24 foot cabin cruiser, moored in saltwater that needs antifouling. I believe who ever put the last antifoul on, put soft anti foul on instead of hard? It seems to rub off fairly easily. Also the mecruiser outdrive that I don’t think has ever been antifouled, is covered in n gunk along with the prop.
Can anyone recommend my steps please….
What anitfoul should I get, and roughly how much of it?
Should I rub off the old antifoul first?
Does the outdrive need a different antifoul to the Hull?
Prop?
Thanks for reading, hope you can help, promise to give any phototips if needed!
Cheers
Click to expand...

Welcome aboard, as no else has replied yet, I'll start....

FYI - do a search on the forums and you will find a lot of information about antifouling. Many people have their methods and suggestions.

Anyway here's mine, I have a similar size boat to you (25ft) and also kept in saltwater. I use about 2.5litre tin of antifouling which is FLAG Extra Performance which is semi hard type good for speeds upto 35knot. I used to use International Paints Ultra Hard which is also very good, but expensive and stopped using it approx £100 where I was getting Flag for about £60. They both perform well, but if you tend to go nearer to 35knots or above then International is the one. There are of course other makes of antifouling but I have no experience - others I'm sure will help.

As for the outdrive, what ever you do don't use the same antifouling as the Hull, you need to buy specfic paint for outdrives and again International paints do one. Basically it has to say on the tin it is safe for outdrives (should not contain copper).

As regards to preparation, if the anti-fouling is sound and not flaking I would be tempted to sand back lightly and apply a sealer (International Paints - Primcon), if you know the make of the orginal paint even better - you can then check for compatibility with the new paint supplier like international.

For the outdrive I would again lightly sand back and take the props off and use a drill with a wire brush (I take them home to do that). I also put epoxy on the props to add a layer of protection, normally the outdrive paint flakes off exposing the Aluminium which if left untreated starts to get pitted.

I hope that helps to start with, anymore questions please feel free ask either on the forum or by PM.
 
Boat pictures

Hi Shaun

Welcome to the forum, I have looked at your Boat Portrait site and it looks very interesting, Ive tried to get some shots but they are not very clear. Are there any restrictions on how far you can travel to take pictures of my boat?

I would like an action shot and some of my family inside the boat when she is moored would that be ok?

Good luck with your antifouling!!
 
ssphotog said:
Hi Everyone,
I’ve just joined this forum, looks like there’s some great advice on here, I’m fairly new to boating, so very keen to learn. I’m also a photographer, so if anyone would like any tips on photographing there boat or any other photo tips, just drop me a line…
Please could I get some antifoul tips?

A/F is a bit like boat polish in that everyone has a possibly subjective favourite!
24ft is an easily workable size. I'd get one of these decorators scrapers from Screwfix/ B+Q.. £7 ,about 40cm long with the blade angled at 30 degrees. At worst, its a great tool for the flakey A/F.. at best you might find it quite quick to remove all of it. All you need to get back to is a stable finish. So just see how that goes.
I think you could use something like Cruiser Uno, two coats with a bit extra around the waterline. Or you could use a hard A/f like Blakes or Trilux, where you might well get away with one coat, especially if you take the boat out over winter.As you dont know what is already on there, its best to stabilise the hull finish with a primer first.
You might want to run some plastic masking tape along the waterline to make painting quicker and get a clean edge, but if the edge is obvious, its not really necessary, I find.
A/F gets thick and sticky when cold, and can get pretty runny when very warm, but if doing it at this time of year, keep the tin warmed up at home to make it easier to work with.
On the o.drive, I ve found the spray a/f useless, but if you use Trilux for the hull (grey maybe?), you can use the same A/F on the leg. I thought that was more effective. Dont paint over any anodes of course! Use quality foam/gloss mini rollers,4" (not fluffy emulsion types); cheap ones dissolve in minutes! You might want a can of Acetone for cleaning up, too.
If you can paint a wall, you can a/f a boat !
Click to expand...
 
Shaun
Welcome. Very nice pics on your website. Let us know if you're ever doing a photo jaunt to South of France. I (and a few others on here I bet) would happily buy your photographic services

Re antifoul, it's a bit like law. You'll get as many different opinions as the number of people you ask. I'm firmly a fan of soft antifoul. No worries if it rubs off - you want it to. Shedding its skin is part of how it works. If you use a hard paint, after a year you have a dead matrix of hard paint which is tough to get off yet whose chemical antifouling properties are all used up. Check out this thread for a pic of soft antifoul, pic 3a; you will find very few boats that clean after a year in the water. So I'd use Micron 66 (made by international). There is an element of get-what-you-pay-for, as M66 is one of the most expensive

Also, as someone said, if you don't know what paint is on there now you need to check out compatibility and possible need for a primer. Manufacturer's websites list of compatibility info. Dull subject, huh? :-)

Good luck and please post as many boat pics on here as you have time to
 
jfm said:
Shaun
Welcome. Very nice pics on your website. Let us know if you're ever doing a photo jaunt to South of France. I (and a few others on here I bet) would happily buy your photographic services

Re antifoul, it's a bit like law. You'll get as many different opinions as the number of people you ask. I'm firmly a fan of soft antifoul. No worries if it rubs off - you want it to. Shedding its skin is part of how it works. If you use a hard paint, after a year you have a dead matrix of hard paint which is tough to get off yet whose chemical antifouling properties are all used up. Check out this thread for a pic of soft antifoul, pic 3a; you will find very few boats that clean after a year in the water. So I'd use Micron 66 (made by international). There is an element of get-what-you-pay-for, as M66 is one of the most expensive

Also, as someone said, if you don't know what paint is on there now you need to check out compatibility and possible need for a primer. Manufacturer's websites list of compatibility info. Dull subject, huh? :-)

Good luck and please post as many boat pics on here as you have time to
Click to expand...

I do wonder if these stories of build up of hard A/F relate to older style antifoul, or very old boats. I just scraped it all of a 4 year old boat, and I d say it was less than 1mm thick. I m guessing medium /soft doesnt actually wash away to nothing, so does it make much difference which one uses?
 
gjgm said:
I do wonder if these stories of build up of hard A/F relate to older style antifoul, or very old boats. I just scraped it all of a 4 year old boat, and I d say it was less than 1mm thick. I m guessing medium /soft doesnt actually wash away to nothing, so does it make much difference which one uses?
Click to expand...

Yup, you are right ref the hard stuff. It doesn't make a load of difference, and we are probably splitting hairs. The skin-shedding action of the soft ought, you would think, to help in keeping the boat clean though, so perhaps that's the more important advantage

Ref the soft, it does I think wash away. My current boat was delivered by FL with their standard bright blue antifoul, and I wanted black, so Essex Boatyards put one coat of (soft) M66 black on for me. Now after 10months (and 2000nm+ of mostly 18kt cruisng) it has fully worn off in a few places and there are patches of bright blue showing, esp the "high wear" areas like the chines. I'll be lifting it out soon and get some pics
 
I also use soft now and it works better in my opinion.
Hard builds up and will eventually crack and flake off when it is too thick.
Hard also gets old and inactive.
Soft wears away so less build up.
even if it gets too old to work it will continue to wear off along with the growth.
Most softs can be painted on top of old soft or hard and will even bond old hard if it is not too bad.
Hards can not be painted on top of soft or old hard.

I use Uno which is only rated to 25 knots, this is deliberate as I have a max speed of just over 30 and I want it to wear away quickly along with any growth.
 
A lot of veri interesting and strange replys here. Choice of antifoul is very personal as fast ppowwerboats dont really suit it. Cruiser ultra is good for boats over 25 knots but I dont believe in antifouling drives and props unless you use the clear spray stuff.
I you feel you have to just antifoul the drive to the pklate above the prop and avoid getting any on the anodes.
Mine was 8 years old lived in the water all year round and never needed the drives antifouling.
 
dacarak said:
I also use soft now and it works better in my opinion.
Hard builds up and will eventually crack and flake off when it is too thick.
Hard also gets old and inactive.
Soft wears away so less build up.
even if it gets too old to work it will continue to wear off along with the growth.
Most softs can be painted on top of old soft or hard and will even bond old hard if it is not too bad.
Hards can not be painted on top of soft or old hard.

I use Uno which is only rated to 25 knots, this is deliberate as I have a max speed of just over 30 and I want it to wear away quickly along with any growth.
Click to expand...

I would agree with that 100%,I use cruiser uno one coat per annum two on high wear areas and trilux(weed compost)on the outdrives and tabs
 
Kipper said:
but I dont believe in antifouling drives and props unless you use the clear spray stuff.
I you feel you have to just antifoul the drive to the pklate above the prop and avoid getting any on the anodes.
Mine was 8 years old lived in the water all year round and never needed the drives antifouling.
Click to expand...

Does this mean you don't have to antifoul the drive at all if needs be - then I presume beaching the legs during the season and brushing it off?
 
claire said:
Hi Shaun

Welcome to the forum, I have looked at your Boat Portrait site and it looks very interesting, Ive tried to get some shots but they are not very clear. Are there any restrictions on how far you can travel to take pictures of my boat?

I would like an action shot and some of my family inside the boat when she is moored would that be ok?

Good luck with your antifouling!!
Click to expand...

Hi Claire,
Thanks for your message,
i pretty much travel anywhere in the world to take photos, where abouts are you? family portraits onboard always look good :-)
for your own photos, try adjusting the asa/iso to 800 or even 1600
please contract me through my website for more info
Best Wishes
Shaun
 
jfm said:
Shaun
Welcome. Very nice pics on your website. Let us know if you're ever doing a photo jaunt to South of France. I (and a few others on here I bet) would happily buy your photographic services

Re antifoul, it's a bit like law. You'll get as many different opinions as the number of people you ask. I'm firmly a fan of soft antifoul. No worries if it rubs off - you want it to. Shedding its skin is part of how it works. If you use a hard paint, after a year you have a dead matrix of hard paint which is tough to get off yet whose chemical antifouling properties are all used up. Check out this thread for a pic of soft antifoul, pic 3a; you will find very few boats that clean after a year in the water. So I'd use Micron 66 (made by international). There is an element of get-what-you-pay-for, as M66 is one of the most expensive

Also, as someone said, if you don't know what paint is on there now you need to check out compatibility and possible need for a primer. Manufacturer's websites list of compatibility info. Dull subject, huh? :-)

Good luck and please post as many boat pics on here as you have time to
Click to expand...

Thanks very much, i love The South of France :-)
 
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