Antifoul postulations

[gasdave]

As I was happily rollering on some nice new Micron Extra (a different colour to the previous application because I was lucky enough to win some ) at the weekend a couple of questions occurred to me:-

1. What is your preferred colour of antifoul, and why? I am aware of suggestions that fouling sometimes is worse on different colours/shades but how significant an effect is this?

2. Do you alternate colours between successive seasonal applications? Can this be a way of monitoring rate of antifoul erosion and therefore perhaps an aspect of effectiveness?

 

[prv]

We always used red. It's the traditional colour (because of all the copper) and blue would have looked odd on our traditional boat with black topsides.

I don't think the colour makes any difference to the fouling directly, but it's hard for the manufacturers to pack lots of copper and biocide in and still get a light colour. So white antifouling needs to have less of the good stuff in it, which seems a good reason to avoid.

Haven't alternated colours, but it could make sense - for application as well as erosion. We did always rotate through three colours of Jotamastic and topcoat when painting steel on Stavros, to make it easy to see where you'd been with each coat.

Pete

 

[sighmoon]

Black last year, but I'm thinking of white this year - it makes under water appendages visible. I learned to sail on a gravel pit, and my dinghy foils were always white so I could see weed.

 

[TQA]

I use a different color every time. When I start to see the previous color it's time for some more of the liquid gold.

 

[[70521]]

1. What is your preferred colour of antifoul, and why? I am aware of suggestions that fouling sometimes is worse on different colours/shades but how significant an effect is this?

Black. It goes with my colour scheme.

2. Do you alternate colours between successive seasonal applications? Can this be a way of monitoring rate of antifoul erosion and therefore perhaps an aspect of effectiveness?

No, but this does sound a good idea.

 

[gasdave]

No, but this does sound a good idea.

Having spent a considerable time and effort when I got this boat stripping a lot of layers of old antifoul off I swore to myself that I must avoid creating such a thick layer again if at all possible. Hence my thoughts on monitoring longevity of an application by trying to see how much, if any, of the previous season's coats were visible. The financial savings would also be a bonus.

However I don't know if being unable to see the previous coats equates to still having enough effective antifoul to not require repeating the process. On the basis that it is supposed to be an eroding layer I would have thought this makes sense, i.e. not enough has eroded yet.

Any paint experts care to comment? I suspect I can guess the opinion of International and the like

 

[pvb]

The International website has detailed product data on coverage rates. So all you need to do is work out how much you should apply, then apply it!

I use Micron Extra, and only lift the boat once every 2 years to antifoul. It works fine. By the time the yard guys have finished jetwashing the bottom, there's not a lot of build-up left of old antifoul. I go over it with a panscourer and running water, and this cleans off most of what's left, so there isn't a great deal of cumulative build-up.

 

[AIDY]

what ever colour that's in fashion........ usually the cheapest.....

 

[yoda]

On my last boat I used a base layer of hard racing red, subsequent seasons I used blue self eroding and went back to the red when wet and drying it. Avoided build up but did mean there was something there if and when the blue eroded away in the season. I'm not sure changing colours every year works as you can't be sure to have wet and dried back to the same depth on alternate years.

Yoda

 

[savageseadog]

White because you can see the growth

 

[jwilson]

On present boat always used Navy Blue, because it looks good with the navy hull stripes, navy dodgers, sprayhood/sailcovers, genoa UV strip etc.

However last night after getting home with face and hair speckled with navy blue dots, plus some streaks on fingers and arms (despite gloves) I decided that white or grey would be less obtrusive to wear as facial decoration. Had to use a scouring pad on bits of my face, gave a nice warm glow....

Was one coat, rollered on thinly as possible over most of hull, laid on a bit thicker near waterline and rudder/keel front edge. About 2 litres for a 35 ft AWB. I never put more than one coat on most of the hull. The manufacturers instruction are designed to sell you more paint, and with my one coat the boat comes out pretty clean each October/Nov. The only place I ever see a barnacle/limpet type is right under the keel bottom, where it's impossible to antifoul properly. Most of hull just a bit of slime.

 

[Stemar]

I've given up on antifoul. I'm on a mud berth and the boat sits on the mud for a an hour or two each tide. The mud sticks to the bottom and the barnacles stick to the mud. No matter what I try, I get wall to wall barnacles between the keels a month later.

If I have to scrub off three times a year with or without, I might as well save the cost of the underwater decorating, but lying in my back in a puddle scraping barnacles is a job for the young, and my kids are far too smart to show up when it needs doing, so I'd happily pay the price if there was something - anything (well almost) that worked.

 

[[70521]]

Was one coat, rollered on thinly as possible over most of hull, laid on a bit thicker near waterline and rudder/keel front edge. About 2 litres for a 35 ft AWB. I never put more than one coat on most of the hull. The manufacturers instruction are designed to sell you more paint, and with my one coat the boat comes out pretty clean each October/Nov. The only place I ever see a barnacle/limpet type is right under the keel bottom, where it's impossible to antifoul properly. Most of hull just a bit of slime.

Interesting, I thought I was being a skinflint with one coat of 2.5l on a 28ft bilge keel! I will view the results with interest when she gets hauled out.

 

[jwilson]

Interesting, I thought I was being a skinflint with one coat of 2.5l on a 28ft bilge keel! I will view the results with interest when she gets hauled out.

Now the 6th year of the same regime, at end of season mooring buoy/chain covered in weed, mussels and other critters, antifouled hull nothing but some slime except under the base of the bulbed keel where it's impossible to antifoul properly. First year used Tiger Extra, last 5 years used Shogun 033, one can a year for March/April to Oct/Nov afloat.

 

[sailorman]

As I was happily rollering on some nice new Micron Extra (a different colour to the previous application because I was lucky enough to win some ) at the weekend a couple of questions occurred to me:-

1. What is your preferred colour of antifoul, and why? I am aware of suggestions that fouling sometimes is worse on different colours/shades but how significant an effect is this?

2. Do you alternate colours between successive seasonal applications? Can this be a way of monitoring rate of antifoul erosion and therefore perhaps an aspect of effectiveness?

A/f compliments the hull stripes + a white boot-top

At haul-out after 13 months afloat