Antifouling in the Med

stiknstring

stiknstring

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Grateful for views on what really works in the Med. We are currently based in Valencia (heavy fouling) and next year move progressively to the East starting in Corsica, then Sicily, Croatia etc. The boat is a Beneteau sailing yacht and we have always used International Uno to date. However, not only is it expensive but the performance has not been good enough.

looking for alternatives - your advice appreciated.

many thanks,
 
We have been based in Croatia, Corfu and Halkadiki and have antifouled every 3-4 years with a seasonal scrub with very little Summer growth - and in Halkadiki very little growth at all. Have only ever asked for the cheapest local anti fouling so no idea which ones were used.
 
Until this year, I've used one or other of the expensive UK antifuol paints on the small areas that aren't Coppercoated. Indifferent performance and often little remaining at the end of the season. This year I simply bought the cheapest local stuff at less than half the price of brands I actually heard of. It's worked better than any of the previous paints bother in terms of stopping growth and durability. Can't recall the name but it was Greek made and labelled about forty euros for two and a half litres.
 
What works in the Mediterranean Sea? This 969,100 sq. mile body of water is approximately 2,300 miles in length; which bay do you have in mind?

I get good results with Veneziani in my Marina and lift out every two years. Most people here use Micron 33, probably because they copy each other, but they lift out every year with a lot of barnacles; after two years I only have some slime along the waterline and the occasional tiny patch of white tube worm and, maybe, half a dozen barnacles in the space between the rudder and the skeg. Most fishermen here use either Hempel or Sigma, both of which are produced locally and are substantially cheaper than International.

The best that I have ever used was when I had access to International Ecoloflex (spelling?) with which I would only lift out after six years with very little fouling. However, that paint is made for commercial ships, tankers, etc., and it is illegal to use it on leisure craft like yachts in the EU (possibly also elsewhere).

What I am trying to say is that what might work in one location might not be so efficient in another; even the next bay round the corner might have a different fouling scenario.
 
Over the past twelve years in the Med, cruising from one end to the other, we have used almost the same number of different antifouling paints, both locally made and brought out from UK. Quite honestly there has been little to choose between any of them, even though the expensive ones were three times the price of the cheapest. Nowadays we use Greek stuff called Million, which is just as good, or bad, as the others but doesn't break the bank. Levels of fouling on our hull has more to do with how many nights the boat has been in harbours than the cost of the paint. Anchoring a lot between trips of reasonable distance seems to be the best recipe for low fouling levels.
 
ghostlymoron said:
Vyv, are you saying the anchoring is better than mooring in a marina?
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I am fairly sure that we attract more fouling in harbours than when anchored in bays. After a few days in harbour there is inevitably a line of growth along the water line that I scrub off when anchored. I think the same thing happens below the surface. This year we have spent quite a few nights, days at a time, in various harbours around the Aegean and have more fouling now than I have seen for years.
 
vyv_cox said:
I am fairly sure that we attract more fouling in harbours than when anchored in bays. After a few days in harbour there is inevitably a line of growth along the water line that I scrub off when anchored. I think the same thing happens below the surface. This year we have spent quite a few nights, days at a time, in various harbours around the Aegean and have more fouling now than I have seen for years.
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We had the least growth (apart from a very thin layer of brown slime) in Sani Marina in Halkadiki and it probably has the perfect solution. It's a very small marina open to the sea via a narrow channel in a resort with extensive grounds that drain only into the marina. So every time it rains (which even in the Summer is heavily every few weeks), the marina water turns brown and is clearly fresh because dozens or hundreds of harbour fish turn belly up. Then a day or two later it's blue and salty again.

If it wasn't so far from anywhere to sail to we would have stayed there for another year as a perfect base to start and end at.
 
stiknstring said:
Grateful for views on what really works in the Med. We are currently based in Valencia (heavy fouling) and next year move progressively to the East starting in Corsica, then Sicily, Croatia etc. The boat is a Beneteau sailing yacht and we have always used International Uno to date. However, not only is it expensive but the performance has not been good enough.

looking for alternatives - your advice appreciated.

many thanks,
Click to expand...

Found myself in same situation , used international micron 77 extra , brilliant lasting two years .
 
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Thanks for your views everyone. I learnt something new about the effects on antifouling if you stay put instead of keeping moving. seems there are any number of antifouling available. Maybe I should just put one one more coat of what I have got and then see what is the "flavour of the month" in each harbour we winter in...

Anyway, really appreciate the time taken by you all to respond Thanks!
 
RupertW said:
We had the least growth (apart from a very thin layer of brown slime) in Sani Marina in Halkadiki and it probably has the perfect solution. It's a very small marina open to the sea via a narrow channel in a resort with extensive grounds that drain only into the marina. So every time it rains (which even in the Summer is heavily every few weeks), the marina water turns brown and is clearly fresh because dozens or hundreds of harbour fish turn belly up. Then a day or two later it's blue and salty again.

If it wasn't so far from anywhere to sail to we would have stayed there for another year as a perfect base to start and end at.
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Same situation in Port Dinorwic on Menai Strait, although several degrees cooler(!) The dock is fed by a fresh water stream and a week in there removes all traces of fouling.
 
I opted for Coppercoat after several years on UNO. 3 years later the bottom is substantially clean although it could do with a scrub soon along the the port water line.

I Followed a friend who used Coppercoat in the Med and he was able to keep the boat clean by the occasional dive using a hookah system and a green pan scrub. Far cheaper than having the boat lifted.

I now do the same. This also enables me to keep the prop and shaft clean and renew anodes without a haul out.

New sails, a clean bottom and a folding prop have improved our cruising by adding at least a knot to to our speed.
 
vyv_cox said:
Over the past twelve years in the Med, cruising from one end to the other, we have used almost the same number of different antifouling paints, both locally made and brought out from UK. Quite honestly there has been little to choose between any of them, even though the expensive ones were three times the price of the cheapest. Nowadays we use Greek stuff called Million, which is just as good, or bad, as the others but doesn't break the bank. Levels of fouling on our hull has more to do with how many nights the boat has been in harbours than the cost of the paint. Anchoring a lot between trips of reasonable distance seems to be the best recipe for low fouling levels.
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Can you privide details about the supplier in GREECE fior Million Anti-fouling?
Thank you in advance
Brendan
 
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