antifouling for mud berth

[boatmike]

Am about to haul out to jet wash the hanging gardens of Babylon off the bottom of Appela ( Aquastar 33 Oceanranger MoBo) she will be kept this year on a mud berth at the top of Fareham creek. I think soft antifoul in the mud would be quickly rubbed away on the keel and lower hull but I find the waterline and upper parts of the hull that don't go in the mud get fouled very soon with hard racing. I am thinking, especially as the boat won't be used very regularly this year, that it might make sense to do the lower hull in hard racing to stop it getting rubbed away and do the top half from waterline down in soft stuff. Lets face it, no antifoul works very well in mud anyway but soft "depleting" antifoul might work better on the bits not in mud. Anyone got any thoughts?

 

[Mark-1]

Am about to haul out to jet wash the hanging gardens of Babylon off the bottom of Appela ( Aquastar 33 Oceanranger MoBo) she will be kept this year on a mud berth at the top of Fareham creek. I think soft antifoul in the mud would be quickly rubbed away on the keel and lower hull but I find the waterline and upper parts of the hull that don't go in the mud get fouled very soon with hard racing. I am thinking, especially as the boat won't be used very regularly this year, that it might make sense to do the lower hull in hard racing to stop it getting rubbed away and do the top half from waterline down in soft stuff. Lets face it, no antifoul works very well in mud anyway but soft "depleting" antifoul might work better on the bits not in mud. Anyone got any thoughts?

I'm on a drying mooring and after years of soft which never worked I've switched to hard which is definitely what the makers suggest. Too early to say if it works better. My berth isn't mud so there's no abrasion. I notice my hard AF bootline was always fairly clear of weed so I think hard works in my area. (Works being a relative term!)

Of course hard will withstand a few mid-season scrubs/spray offs better than soft which is a useful advantage.

I appreciate that in no way answers your question but at least it bumps your post.

 

[Cerebus]

Am about to haul out to jet wash the hanging gardens of Babylon off the bottom of Appela ( Aquastar 33 Oceanranger MoBo) she will be kept this year on a mud berth at the top of Fareham creek. I think soft antifoul in the mud would be quickly rubbed away on the keel and lower hull but I find the waterline and upper parts of the hull that don't go in the mud get fouled very soon with hard racing. I am thinking, especially as the boat won't be used very regularly this year, that it might make sense to do the lower hull in hard racing to stop it getting rubbed away and do the top half from waterline down in soft stuff. Lets face it, no antifoul works very well in mud anyway but soft "depleting" antifoul might work better on the bits not in mud. Anyone got any thoughts?

If it was a catamaran such as in your photo I was going to suggest trying two different types on each hull.

Started off as a joke in my head, but would give real time answers in the same conditions for a season.

 

[ducked]

If it was a catamaran such as in your photo I was going to suggest trying two different types on each hull.

Started off as a joke in my head, but would give real time answers in the same conditions for a season.

Nothing to stop you testing multiple AF types on a monohull, say on opposite sides for simplicity, but a more elaborate patchwork would be possible.

Sourcing small batches of different antifoulings might be difficult/expensive, unless you could negotiate a leftovers deal with a boatyard

There will be differences in the average environmental conditions for different sides/parts of the hull, but that applies to the multihull too

 

[Refueler]

Having spent years on drying moorings - Fareham Creek included - I never found any AF that really worked after TBT was banned. The weed upper part was a matter that I and many others never really found a cure for.

But in terms of lower hull in / out of the mud - Fareham and at HYCo - the boat was in deep mud when tide out - AF wasn't really needed there as the mud did a good job of keeping hull clean. As to the part that stayed out of mud ... tried soft .. hard ... in the end gave up and just pressure washed / gave a scrape when dried out on shingle etc.

 

[ducked]

Having spent years on drying moorings - Fareham Creek included - I never found any AF that really worked after TBT was banned. The weed upper part was a matter that I and many others never really found a cure for.

But in terms of lower hull in / out of the mud - Fareham and at HYCo - the boat was in deep mud when tide out - AF wasn't really needed there as the mud did a good job of keeping hull clean. As to the part that stayed out of mud ... tried soft .. hard ... in the end gave up and just pressure washed / gave a scrape when dried out on shingle etc.

I'm hoping this will be the case with the Trident if/when I eventually get it in the water, though I suppose the locals will be able to tell me. Be quite nice to avoid the trouble, expense and toxicity, even at the cost of a bit of scrubbing.

There might be some more toxic post-industrial mud around that would enhance the effect, but I suppose au naturel its still anoxic enough to do the job.

 

[Mark-1]

As to the part that stayed out of mud ... tried soft .. hard ... in the end gave up and just pressure washed / gave a scrape when dried out on shingle etc.

That's where I am on this. I've just accepted I have to walk down and scrape a few times a year.

Last year I didn't even antifoul, didn't seem to reduce the amount of scrubbing required.

My problem is getting between the keels, I think in future I'll just suck it up, don a wetsuit and lie down in the wet grime.

 

[Stemar]

On my previous boat, I tried everything on a drying mooring off Quay Lane. Nothing worked well enough to be worth the cost, so I gave up and scrubbed off once or twice a year more. Jazzcat got a dose of hard Racing AF last year. It doesn't work any better, but it stays on better, so an improvement from the aesthetic PoV, which is important to Madame.

 

[stephen_h]

I have found that on our cat berthed in mud that the antifoul that is in the mud is nullified by said mud and therefore doesnt do anything anyway.
I beleive there is some chemical reaction that causes this?

 

[justanothersailboat]

Not sure about chemical reaction. I think just being coated is enough.

Last year I had an unavoidable month of no sailing moored in silty water and my antifouling failed atrociously... hauled the boat after a rather short season thanks to unrelated technical issues and the growth was awful. When I scraped it all off there turned out to be a skin of silt between a/f and the jungle, except where I'd managed to bash it off while pressing through choppy waters.

This year, having several annual coats of not very eroded a/f on, I just scrubbed the mud and outer layer of the old a/f off and relaunched. We shall see! Based on last year I think sailing hard nearly every week and scrubbing several times is worth a try. I am lucky I can easily change my mind if this turns out not to work.

 

[shanemax]

If it was a catamaran such as in your photo I was going to suggest trying two different types on each hull.

Started off as a joke in my head, but would give real time answers in the same conditions for a season.

If one totally fails with lots of weed growth and barnacles and one is 100% successful you may land up going around in circles.