Antifouling

[madian]

In the process off striping the antifouling on my boat, I am left with a red layer of something over a layer of grey.

Allegedly the boat was epoxy coated at new (15 years ago). Is the red and grey epoxy or primer? They both scrape off easily

I am intending to gelshield the boat. Do you think I could get away with leaving the red and grey on?

Due to a faulty dust mask I have been breathing in a bit of dust as I have been scraping. Is this really bad or should I be ok?

 

[clyst]

Since they both scrape off easily its unlikely to be epoxy . If it comes off readily where is the problem? just remove it all . Breathing in antifouling dust is extremely unhealthy--Very Toxic!!! Too late now though !!

REgards

Terry

 

[Gaffer]

Blakes SFE Epoxy used to come in red and grey and you applied it in alternate colours so that you could see that you had applied each coat evenly. It sounds like this is what you have on your boat.

The fact that it comes off easily means that the overcoating times were not strictly adhered to, but it has been on for 15 years.......If it is intact I would be inclined to leave it.....if it ain't broke, don't fix it....

If it is epoxy then Gelshield on top will not make any difference.......get the boat moisture tested, this will tell you all you need to know...

It is really bad to breathe the antifouling dust. If you feel unwell see a doctor without delay. If you feel fine, tell your doctor the next time you see him / her.

 

[aod]

When I bought my boat I wet and dried it back to the gell and then painted it with epoxy that's used to protect bridges. Two coats, two different colours and a quarter of the price. It discolours the antifoul a bit through leeching but hey! Who cares.
The only worrying thing was the blooming great skull and cross bones on the tin because it was highly toxic to humans and great care was needed on the application.
I am sure in about ten years time someone will link epoxy and anti foul to all manners of nastiness so eye protectors, breathing filter, boiler suit and rubber gloves are probably all justifiable.