Best antifoul for the Med?

Nostrodamus

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Some anti fouls work better than others in different cruising areas but in general can anyone suggest a good anti foul for the Med....
Thanks
 
Some anti fouls work better than others in different cruising areas but in general can anyone suggest a good anti foul for the Med....
Thanks

DON'T buy the local Greek light blue stuff unless you want to be committed to it forever. Nothing else will stick on top of it.

Had all our previous AF removed last winter. Two coats of International Micron Extra came out of the water two weeks ago with virtually no slime and not a single barnacle. had I sponged it and given it only one new coat, I believe that it would be the same next end of season in October 2013.

Gouvia Marina Corfu.
 
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During my displacement hull survey early this year on my circa 1974 trawler yacht I did actually ask him in his his opion what he thought was one of the the best antifoul for the med , no names mentioned but he is a well renowed surveyor of many years who is based in Gib, he spoke very highly of the attached , http://www.eu45antifoul.com/, based on his advise I shall give it a try next haul out in spring next year and see how it performs.
 
Don´t use the EU45 previously stated if you don´t want to waste money. I have had my boats in the Med (Spain) for more than 15 years and that one is the worst antifouling I have ever tried. In fact, in big Spanish sailing forums this opinion is general.

Micron Optima works well at a high price.

The awarded by PBO and YM Seajet 033 and 034 are fabulous. We use them, two coats plus one on water line and lasts perfectly for almost two seasons with a soft sponge cleaning in summer.
 
In eight years in the Med I think we have used eight different antifouls, including various by International, Plastimo, EU45, Flag. There has been almost nothing to choose between them: fouling has been far more dependent upon the frequency of moving the boat. Last year we were in the marina for much of the season when I was incapacitated and the fouling was horrendous. In most years we have only had light slime and very little shell, regardless of the paint used. I was not very impressed with EU45 and an International we used contained teflon, to which the next year's coats would not adhere very well.
 
I did consider it this year but the 2K Euros I was quoted just to blast the hull back put it out of budget. There are not many using it in my part of Spain anyway (Empuriabrava), most go for Micron X.
 
I am using two coats of International Micron Extra here in the SoF. It seems to work pretty well. At the beginning of this year we hauled out after two years afloat. The hull was clean except for a bit of slime around the water line (which could have been cleaned off easily enough from the tender afloat), and just above the light load water line where some of the antifoul had flaked off.

The boat will stay in this year, and I will clean off around the water line, and touch up the flaking stuff at the beginning of next season.
 
In eight years in the Med I think we have used eight different antifouls, including various by International, Plastimo, EU45, Flag. There has been almost nothing to choose between them: fouling has been far more dependent upon the frequency of moving the boat. Last year we were in the marina for much of the season when I was incapacitated and the fouling was horrendous. In most years we have only had light slime and very little shell, regardless of the paint used. I was not very impressed with EU45 and an International we used contained teflon, to which the next year's coats would not adhere very well.

I do tend to agree with all you have stated.
Last time we used this Teamac product .. . . http://www.teamac.co.uk/
This year we used this local product . . . http://www.nobellack.gr/

There was nothing to choose between them, both had/have no growth and just a tad of slime. The only reason for the change was availability. Both priced similar from memory, circa €45 per 2.5ltrs.
The worst I have experienced was International Micron Extra, but the boat was in the water for that winter. (all told 16 months) so may be I shouldn't condemn the product . . .or should I ?
 
My boat stays in the water year round. Only lift for brief servicing. Got 2 years out of Micron extra including long time of no movement. Currently using Tamarind, ablative stuff sold in greece but made I believe in Israel. It has been on for 16 months and on swimming the hull I found 5 barnacles which I pinged off, no weed or slime. I dont know whether this means that it is coming to the end of its life, will see next April when I next lift.
 
is there anyone sailing in MED using Coppercoat?

We are also using coppercoat. Love it. I put it on our catamaran a couple of years ago and it seems to work well. I often dive under the boat while anchored in the summer and knock off anything that might be there. I like that it is epoxy based so you can brush it and scrape it as much as you want without loosing the coating. Looking forward to having it on the boat for anotehr 10 years.
 
is there anyone sailing in MED using Coppercoat?

For reasons too complex to explain, our keel is Coppercoated but not the hull. This has been the case since well before we arrived in the Med, 12 or 13 years now. It provides a very interesting contrast to the various other antifoulings we have used over the years. It is very rare for there to be much fouling at all on the keel, whereas at times the hull has been pretty badly fouled despite the occasional brush over in the water.
 
I think this applies to all antifoul...

"...boats which are the most mobile seem to fair the best..." Since leaving the UK in 2004, we must've used half a dozen different brands, generally going for 'what's cheap and used by the local boats.' We've only had one season where we've been disappointed with the antifoul we used and that was some incredibly expensive International Micron that we were obliged to buy in Rome/Ostia; on principal I've tried to avoided their products ever since.

The very best we ever used was a tin of green stuff we bought at Aktio Yard in Preveza: We put 2.5 litres onto our twenty-seven footer and hauled over two years later to find it still clean and with a lot of green coming off during the jet-wash; I just wish I knew what make it was - I bought it on the basis that "this is antifoul, but the tin's dented, the can's got no handle and we want to get rid of it; how about you pay €20?" When I brought it back to the boat, Lesley wasn't impressed by my proposal that: It was very cheap and even if it's useless, being green we won't be able to see the growth so it won't matter!

We're currently using some German-made stuff (the light-blue someone warned of earlier?) which we bought from Maria's boatyard at Vlikho; it's worked brilliantly this year, but to be honest, as we've sailed from Greece to the Canaries so far I'd expect it to be; we've found previously that movement, especially those that result in changes of water salinity & temperature help enoromously in keeping the bottom clean
 
Last time we antifouled in Gouvia in Feb last year we used Hempels big ship stuff I bought of a liveaboard there who was going the coppercoat route.I chucked in 10kg of chilli powder for good measure,and we might just get another season out if it with a scrub from the local diver.
 
is there anyone sailing in MED using Coppercoat?

Yes, I had it done two years ago and I'm well pleased with it, works best if you are moving quite a lot, but saying that, last year didnt move much atall and the bottom of the boat is in great condition, had to pull the boat this year for a loose prop nut, wouldnt have bothered otherwise.
Tried the EU45 stuff, from mallorca, wasnt impressed, but did a reasonable job. Big ship stuff MadPad has was from me. Good stuff.
 
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