Antifouling paint needed?

[Gsailor]

I may be returning to sailing but i did sail for 30 years previously so not a novice.

Is antifouling needed?

Charles Stock in his book simply scraped, but that was really a very small boat on a drying mooring.

I didn't antifoul for 3 years many years ago and sure it looks bad and slows you down. I was never a cruiser racer.

So for pottering sailors like me is it needed? A lot of work. Smelly stuff. And I am not in a rush.

For me I really don't think I need it_ not even on leading and trailing edges, but just for kicks, what do other stingy and lazy sailors think?

 

[Concerto]

I feel you will not sail as much or as far without antifouling.

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

Unless you use your boat at least every two or three days. You will need antifouling.

 

[Neeves]

Assuming you are sailing in seawater and are not using a trailer sailor.

Without AF you will quickly find you are sailing a mobile reef system. Eventually you will tire of sailing increasingly slowly and you will turn the engine on and find your prop is totally ineffective - it will not be a prop but a clump of barnacles. Your rudder will be similarly fouled and ineffective. You will then dry out to clean yourself and it will take for ever (unless you pay for a professional lift and power wash - think money). If you scrape you will never get it properly clean and without AF the barnacles will be irretrievably bonded to the hull - you might break the shell but you will not get all the shell off. Once the barnacles are strongly bonded then when you scrape you may find the gelcoat is weaker than the barnacles.

AF will save you time in the long term, reduce fuel costs (think of the cost of diesel) and is not difficult, nor time consuming to apply. I have never noticed that AF is particularly smelly.

For choice of AF - generally you get what you pay for, more expensive lasts longer. If you apply as per instructions on the can - top of the ranger AF should last a couple of years - if you use your boat regularly. If you leave your yacht, particularly in the spring, summer, autumn - it will foul on the AF - the AF will develop slime and the fouling will live on the slime and ignore the AF. Ask your neighbours, where you keep or intend to keep your boat and define what they use for AF - then come back here for a second opinion on the answers you get.

If you can dry sail - you will not need AF.

Jonathan

 

[vyv_cox]

My first boat was 11 years old and had never been antifouled. It was a fin keeler kept against a drying jetty. The previous owner brushed the hull down once per month at low tide.

 

[oldgit]

On the East coast,this years fouling has been the worst for ages.

 

[johnalison]

There are those who seem to get away with minimal antifouling, or doing it every two or three years but most of us aren’t so lucky, or maybe more discriminating. I once towed a rubber dinghy around on the South Coast and it was growing barnacles after only three weeks.

 

[SaltIre]

The anti-fouling you had on your boat 30 years ago may well have been effective, or partially effective, for more than one season. The current stuff may have reduced biocides so be less effective.

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

When I first became involved in sailing and boat maintenance about twenty years ago, there was much discussion of the addition of hot chili powder to AF. I wonder whether, in light of the continued emasculation of modern AF, that idea might now have some validity.

 

[Biggles Wader]

The fish might think it tastes better but I doubt the weed will be impressed.

 

[Gsailor]

I should have said antifouling re-applied every season.

I remember a catamaran and a 26 footer that I had.

The cat slowed up a lot and did not tack as easilly because I did not scrub the fouling off the antifouling.

The 26 footer monohull was better or I had lower expectations of speed and distance to cruise. One year (had not lifted the boat for 2 seasons) I dropped my mooring against the tide with no wind and went backwards but then a very slight breeze came along and the old girl went against the tide. Water as like a mill pond but I was making way and very surprised and thrilled even.

I was not in a rush and only ever did coastal cruising for fun_ not to actually get somewhere and meet tidal gates etc.

Scrubbing and painting were not high on my list of likes.

The mooring was in a toughish seaway and did receive a scouring when the wind blew. The front 4 feet actually showed red instead of green at times.

It was a very secure mooring with two snubbers.

 

[vyv_cox]

I should have said antifouling re-applied every season.

I remember a catamaran and a 26 footer that I had.

The cat slowed up a lot and did not tack as easilly because I did not scrub the fouling off the antifouling.

The 26 footer monohull was better or I had lower expectations of speed and distance to cruise. One year (had not lifted the boat for 2 seasons) I dropped my mooring against the tide with no wind and went backwards but then a very slight breeze came along and the old girl went against the tide. Water as like a mill pond but I was making way and very surprised and thrilled even.

I was not in a rush and only ever did coastal cruising for fun_ not to actually get somewhere and meet tidal gates etc.

Scrubbing and painting were not high on my list of likes.

The mooring was in a toughish seaway and did receive a scouring when the wind blew. The front 4 feet actually showed red instead of green at times.

It was a very secure mooring with two snubbers.

One of the best methods to reduce fouling is a few days in fresh water. Years ago when costs were low we would occasionally spend three days in Port Dinorwig, where the fouling would fall off.

 

[richardabeattie]

I antifoul every 25 years. In between I just dry out my bilge keeler once each summer and spend about half an hour on it with the back of a broom. Then when I haul out I pressure wash the hull.

 

[Stemar]

My boat lives on a drying mooring. Mud sticks to the antifoul and the critters stick to the mud. On my last boat I gave up and just scrubbed off two or three times a year, but she was a bilge keeler and my club had easily accessible scrubbing grids and pressure washers, so it was easy - some of our keener racers scrub off every month. Top tip for scrubbing a bilge keeler - get a garage crawler. It makes going around between the keels so much easier.

If you are in deep water and, especially if you don't have easy access to a scrubbing grid, then I'd say, yes, antifouling is necessary. You'll only need to lift out to scrub once a year and the AF can be done at the same time. Coppercoat would be worth considering, but proper prep and application are critical.