Antifouling for props

[Guest]

Have I made an amazing discovery? As an experiment I coated my props with vaseline in August. Last week I hauled out and they are completely clean (whereas in the preceding 6 weeks I had substantial weed and barnacle growth. Am I on to something or is it just the cold weather???

 

[Guest]

The best antifouling ...

... is to use the prop! Barnacles definitely don't appreciate being whirled round at 4000 rpm.

We stopped painting it years ago. The bare metal keeps beautifully clean. I reckon the electrolysis from 5 zincs gives the barnacles a nasty dose of food poisoning.

Thanks for the tip Chris, we might try that as well.

 

[Guest]

When I replaced my prop about two months before the end of one season I gave it a liberal coating of marine grease and it also stayed spotless. My (outboard) prop is plastic and normally the barnacles build up easily while I am working Mon-Fri, with several coats of outdrive antifouling.

 

[Guest]

Re: The best antifouling ...

Same here. Over a number of years, and having tried all combinations of etch primer, epoxy base and high-speed anti-foul on our props, all seemed to fail later, sooner, or even earlier. As an experiment during race prep, I cleaned off all the old anti-foul and polished the prop - no other treatment. She's been clean since. I am a convert. I will waste no more time with fancy anti-fouling. Polish and clean occasionally, I strongly suggest...