Antifoul

H

hisw

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 May 2003
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181
www.araminta.org.uk
Hi, we are due to launch shortly and was after the locals knowladge.

I understand that it depends on the area to how effective different brands of antifoul are.

We are on a mooring at Pinmill on the Orwell.

I would be very interest to know what antifoul people find effective.

Thanks for your help

H
 
I am round the corner at Titchmarsh but the conditions are different as I'm in still water. I use International Optima and keep on the move for 3 months in the summer. On the whole it is very good, and for me worth the money as I don't have to do a mid-season scrub. In your tideway I would expect it to be fairly effective, and it has the advantage of being water-based. No doubt others will come up with their own favourites. A lot depends on having a thick enough coating and the use the boat gets.
 
We're in Shotley and had great results with Internaltional Cruiser Uno, and then rotten last year with a very cheap alternative... so we are back to Cruiser Uno this year, and be damned the cost!

For reference, we use the boat most weekends between March and November, and do about 1500nm per annum
 
Antifoul is only for blending the colour of the bottom with the rest of the boat.
I have blue bootline and blue dodgers, so I have mid blue antifoul.

Cruiser Uno proved to be rubbish for us in the Crouch, but they arent alone.

Blakes Tiger Extra
Blakes Cruiser Performer
Some black stuff cheap from the yard
Flag standard (probably cheapest and best so far)

All perform to a similar standard, but i like the colour of the miod blue Flag the best.

This year, due to a knockout mid winter deal at Marinestore, we have Flag ------- Performance Extra /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Its a lovely colour though.
 
Last year I applied Blakes Tiger. Owing to a variety of problems we didn't launch till August and spent a month stuck at Fox's.

After that episode, we're on a mooring at Woolverstone and on the go every weekend. Hanging gardens of Babylon, best describes the bottom when hauled in January.

I'm trying Seajet Shogun this year.
 
I am on a mooring near the No6 buoy, and have had good results with Seajet Shogun for the last 3 years. However it is a day racer so we scrub (leaning over the side) before races, about every 2 weeks.

I used the same on my Halmatic last year and she was fairly clean at lift out but there was a fair amount of green weed. This year I will have a mid season scrub I think.
 
Use International Micron CSC Eroding - no issues at all. Boat stays in water all year round and only some thin 'slime' to wash off at the annual lift out to antifoul which we do late summer (Shotley based). May try Uno this year based on comments.
 
We are marina based in the Orwell.
We have used Jotun Seaguardian for the past 10 years.
Main reasons are:

It does what it is supposed to

It is said to last three years but we come out after two and pressure wash, rub down and coat over (two coats)

We get it cheaper than the stuff you buy in the chandleries (which is good given the area underwater we need to cover).

We don't worry about polishing properties etc as we will never be racing /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

It must be good because a lot of commercial vessels use it. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
 
On a half tide mooring at the top of the Crouch one coat of Marclear red has been great for the whole season. Virtually no weed and just a few barnacles. Last year I mixed three or four half tins that were lying around and that was even better! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I can't remember what they were, though. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
It sounds counter-intuitive but being in a fast tidal stream means more fouling. You'd think that sitting in still water would give the blighters a chance to attach but apparently in a tidal stream there is so much more flowing past that can grab hold. All according to International who aren't exactly unbiased but I guess they know what they are talking about.

We had a lousy fouling season in 2007 when on a swinging mooring but it was in North Kent which is only slightly better than the Blackwater for fouling. Now we are in a marina and we don't get much sun where the boat is and things are much better. So much so we are going to experiment with a year off anti-fouling.
 
Based Pin Mill.

Year 1 - Seajet Coastal Hard Red - absolute pants

Year 2 - 3 coats Blakes Tiger Extra - slime only. Based on this I think that on eroding fouling two coats is not enough.
 
Based Suffolk Yacht Harbour.

Have always used Blakes. A beard appears around the waterline fairly quickly but this disappears after a brisk sail. After a season in the water she is lifted out and the yard's pressure wash leaves her very clean. She just needs a bit of wet and dry and she is ready for re-coating again.

The only time she got really weedy was when I attempted to go two years on one treatment. That was all summer in, all winter in, scrubbing post early the following season, pressure wash, then all summer in. By September I had a really thick carpet and came out early so I could deal with it. But after a pressure wash she was just as clean as could be.

I think you get less fouling in a marina because all the boats are sitting in a soup of antifouling (and other unpleasant stuff). Not a nice place for mr and mrs barnacle to bring up their kids.
 
Based Bradwell and applied 2 coats Micrton Extra last April with a handful (approx 0.5kg) copper powder. Will be interesting to see what it looks like when lifted beginning of April.
 
I have found Cruiser Uno to be rubbish ( but that was at Woolverstone) very similar situation to pinmill i would suggest. I found Micron to be the most effective.
 
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