Antifoul removal in clyde area

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Have put this off for too long, need to strip off the layers of old antifouling as some areas are now beginning to flake off.

My key concern is damaging the gel coat layer - what is the best way to do this? Scraper?

Or perhaps - any recommendations for a blasting company who do this kind of thing in the clyde area?
 
A Bahco pull scraper (any tool shop or B&Q) is the fastest for this, the blades are expensive but a packet of two will do a boat (double edged) Until you have done a bit and got the feel for it, it is worth taking the corners off the first blade. Lots of people use chemical strippers but I find the above faster and easier to clean up. Protect yourself against the dust. It is worth buying a decent dust mask as the cheapie ones are not very effective and mist up your goggles.
 
Speaking from plenty of experience(too much) of doing this pitiful job I would rarely use a scraper - only in the case of when the AF has been applied over a glossed gelcoat (ie never was sanded back for a mechanical key) then it flakes off relatively easy.

However the standard method in the business (unless you´ve got money to throw at the boat and you fine blast it with corundum for eg) is the following : buy a large vacume cleaner eg kaercher, buy a 3M face mask, and finally you´ll need a Festool RO 150. Stick on P40 pad and away you go...just stop when you get to the gel coat and P40 key will be there for the new AF. Best, safest method which provides a very smooth surface.
 
I have only stripped three hulls, two of them twice, all of them got at least five coats of Awlgrip Hullgard after the first strip. The second strips took about 4-5 years worth of AF off without damaging the epoxy. The more coats of AF the easier it comes off. I admit I am not a professional but I am not speaking without experience. However you don't have to spend a lot to try my method and if it works, on you go. If you find it does not you have spent the price of the holder and a set of blades. You can then invest in all the industrial equipment.
 
Thanks for the tips - will try the scraper route first - suspect I have 17 layers of antifoul so perhaps it may flake off more easily.
 
I spent many a freezing, wet and miserable day last winter in the yard at Ardrossan Marina doing the same job. I tried the chemical method first - Dilunet. Uselesss. I then used a small electric scraper which worked well, if slowly. Bosch do a similar model, but I got mine from Ebay for £15. It's still going strong. Negligible damage to the gel coat, but it was slow. It took a long time. And it was slow.

If I was doing the same job again (hopefully not for a few years) I'd get someone reputable in to blast the old stuff off. There have been a few threads here on the same subject Do a search on slurry or soda blasting.

Good luck.
 
I used the Skarsten scraper method. (Similar to the other hand scraper mentioned.) I have also tried Dilunet and do not like it for antifoul. Electric scrapers are easy to use but s l o w.

A few hints. Get a large tarp and use it to catch the scrapings for disposal. Take some old cushions for sitting or kneeling on. Wear a boiler suit and gloves (strong gardening type. You will skin your knuckles otherwise and antifouling is not good stuff to get into a cut.) Wear goggles and a good mask. Wash well after work (face and hands at least) and before eating anything. Blow your nose frequently to find out how much is getting past the mask, then get a better one!
 
Descriptions of days of freezing work in Ardrossan is not encouraging:eek: My boat is in ardrossan also - it seems to be the coldest most exposed yard in the clyde in the winter!! Perhaps this is a time to see who your sailing friends really are......
 
paulrae said:
I spent many a freezing, wet and miserable day last winter in the yard at Ardrossan Marina doing the same job. I tried the chemical method first - Dilunet. Uselesss. I then used a small electric scraper which worked well, if slowly. Bosch do a similar model, but I got mine from Ebay for £15. It's still going strong. Negligible damage to the gel coat, but it was slow. It took a long time. And it was slow.

If I was doing the same job again (hopefully not for a few years) I'd get someone reputable in to blast the old stuff off. There have been a few threads here on the same subject Do a search on slurry or soda blasting.

Good luck.
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Err, likewise. I spent far too long in the cold lying on my back between the keels with a scaper. If I ever have to strip a hull again, I'll grit my teeth and get someone to blast it off. I don't know at what rate you'd cost your time spent getting cold and dirty, but I reckon the difference in my wealth doing it myself wasn't much more than £10 an hour.
 
"Descriptions of days of freezing work in Ardrossan is not encouraging"

We had Wight Dawn in Ardrossan for one winter, but Mrs WD will not let me go back! It was not so much the freezing cold when we were on the hard or even that all the running rigging had to be renewed after a January gale that also ripped the forehatch off and caused serious damage to about ten boats on the hard. It was when we relaunched and could not get out of the marina for weeks due to the high winds every weekend.

Mind you, at least the hard at Ardrossan is clean and solid. Where we are now it is dirty, muddy and has puddles all over the place. We spend a fair bit of time after relaunch cleaning out the inside of all the muck that gets tramped aboard, even with bits of old carpet as mats to clean our feet before boarding.
 
Why would you want to remove antifouling? Is it slowing you down that much (racing perhaps?)
Seems to me that you want it there to prevent growth, removing means just putting more back on again??

Maybe I missed something here?
 
MM5AHO said:
Why would you want to remove antifouling? Is it slowing you down that much (racing perhaps?)
Seems to me that you want it there to prevent growth, removing means just putting more back on again??

Maybe I missed something here?
Click to expand...

Only that parts are starting to flake off - so the areas are not very flat. Not racing, but like to get good sailing performance! I sand the hull before antifouling each year to get as good a surface as I can.
 
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