Antifouling

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Oceanis

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I've been reading about antifouling and how what works well in one area is next to useless in another area. I keep my boat in Swansea marina and I used Blakes Tiger Extra in April of this year. From what I can see it hasn't done a great job but I'll know for sure when I get her lifted out at the end of the month.

In your opinion, what works well in the Cardiff/Swansea area cos it's so bl**dy expensive and I would like to get it right next time!!
 
Our previous boat was kept in Swansea by the previous owner and he used International cruiser uno which seemed to work brilliantly and the hull was pretty clean apart from some slime between the keels.

When we moved her to Pembrokeshire we used the same stuff and she has been in the water since August 2009. She is back in Swansea now as we part exchaned her for a Beneteau motorboat, I believe she is due to be lifted into the brokers yard area shortly so I will probably pop down to have a look at the growth on the hull just for my curiosity!

We also have international on our new boat although its slightly harder as its on a planning hull. Im hoping for similar results as before.

We used Blakes tiger previously on the sail boat and the growth after just 6 months was so bad that we had to have a lift and hold to jet wash the growth off.

Ian
 
I use cruiser uno, and was amazed that after being in for a year it was hardly fouled at all, could have done another season I reckon. Its only rated to 25 knots and we sometimes go quicker than this but it seems to have stayed on. I may change the colour next time though.
 
So it looks like a thumbs up for International Cruiser Uno and thumbs down for Blakes Tiger Extra. They're both selling at £60 a can, so there's no difference on the cost.
 
I used Tiger Extra both in Cardiff Bay and Milford Haven. Seemed to work pretty well. Only slime in both locations easily jet-washed off. Biggest issue was prop fouling in Milford. Didn't find a good solution to this.
 
trapezeartist said:
But presumably you do expose one buttock to anyone to windward of you. :D
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True, I'm good at turning the other "cheek" even if it's a green slimy one. Boat is coming out this weekend for a couple of months so I'll get a chance to really see how the antifouling has stood up to six months in Swansea Marina.
 
bluedragon said:
I used Tiger Extra both in Cardiff Bay and Milford Haven. Seemed to work pretty well. Only slime in both locations easily jet-washed off. Biggest issue was prop fouling in Milford. Didn't find a good solution to this.
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It was going so well with Uno the clear winner and now BD you've thrown a spanner in the works :)
 
Csail's comment about going out to sea a few times is clearly valid.....if the boat is languishing at its moorings then there's more time for various marine life to attach itself to the hull. But could there be some other factors at work??
 
Oceanis said:
Csail's comment about going out to sea a few times is clearly valid.....if the boat is languishing at its moorings then there's more time for various marine life to attach itself to the hull. But could there be some other factors at work??
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I'm no marine biologist, but I'm sure I've read that fresh water growth is killed off in salt water, and sea water growth can't survive in fresh water. So I think it more to do with locking in and out of Cardiff Bay between fresh and saline water that does the trick.
 
Cardiffcruiser said:
I'm no marine biologist, but I'm sure I've read that fresh water growth is killed off in salt water, and sea water growth can't survive in fresh water. So I think it more to do with locking in and out of Cardiff Bay between fresh and saline water that does the trick.
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I'm no marine biologist either, but that seems to make sense. But I imagine it would take several days in "the wrong sort of water" to kiil the little critters. So those of us in a salt water marina should perhaps spend one week a month, say, in Cardiff Bay. Sounds a nice idea, but not terribly practical I'm afraid.
 
trapezeartist said:
I'm no marine biologist either, but that seems to make sense. But I imagine it would take several days in "the wrong sort of water" to kiil the little critters. So those of us in a salt water marina should perhaps spend one week a month, say, in Cardiff Bay. Sounds a nice idea, but not terribly practical I'm afraid.
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I've done around 20 day sails a year, 10 weekends and 1 fortnight away, and moor the rest of the time in Cardiff bay - and I've just got some slime on the hull which I can wipe off by hand or would I'm sure jet wash really easily. So it works for me.

There are some boats within the bay which don't seem to go out at all, many of these have fairly bad fouling, and zebra mussel colonies attached to their hulls.
 
Well I've got my tail between my legs now! The boat was lifted out on Sunday and the only real mess was along the waterline, the rest was covered in a thin layer of slime that jet washed straight off. So Blakes Tiger Xtra seems to work after all in Swansea Marina at least.

However, the prop which hadn't been treated was absolutely plastered in "worm"......what is "worm" as described by the guys that lifted her out for me? Certainly explains why I was getting a vibration through the cockpit floor above 2500 revs.

My Beneteau only has a prop anode and after just 6 months in the water it was almost gone! I don't leave her with shore power connected and I always isolate the batteries so I don't think this can be me with a current leak. Again, the guys who lifted her out suggested that it could easily be another boat nearby causing the rapid depletion of my anode. I want to leave the boat in the water for ten months when she goes back in but does anyone have any suggestions for what I could do about the anode.....apart from move of course?
 
We had a previous boat in Swansea Phase 2 for a couple of years (next to a large motorboat) and the anode only lasted 6 months! The shorepower was never left on etc etc We were talking to someone in the yacht club who reckoned there must have been a power current in the water and causing this problem. We weren't the only people in phase 2 to suffer the problem.

We eventually moved to Phase 1 and the anode lasted for a year (next to a day boat with no shorepower).

For some reason the anode wastage in Swansea is quite high. On average they tended to last max a year before they need changing. When we moved the boat to Pembrokeshire the anode lasted a good few years. Even though we were still in a marina with shorepower etc.

The only solution I can think of is for you to hang an additional anode.

The first boat that we had in Swansea only had a shaft anode and we had to fit a hull anode as suggested by the surveyor to protect the engine and shaft. We then bolted a cable to the anode stud and hung an additional anode over the side (wire came out through the cockpit locker). Its a bit of a pain but we only tended to use the hanging anode for the winter etc. This method basically adds 2 anodes to the circuit to weaken the wastage on the main anode.

The worm is quite popular in Swansea as well. We had them on the bottom of the keels and the prop when in Swansea. Are you in a deep area of the marina or fairly shallow? We found it was worse in the shallower water. Unfortunately we didn't find a solution.

Hope this helps
Ian
 
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