Best way to cut down on antifouling?

[chal]

I've just finished the annual task I like least - antifouling. I would like to reduce the amount of it that I do and, if possible, I'd like to reduce the amount of toxins I'm introducing into the environment.

I've always used the basic red stuff (Hempel Cruising Performer to be precise). Until 2016 the boat was kept at Plymouth, which is one of the worst areas in GB waters for fouling according to PBO magazine. It stayed in most of the year, and several coats of antifoul would just about cope. However, last year I relocated to the west of Ireland, which is one of the low fouling areas. The boat is also out of the water for the whole winter: in fact, the season here is pretty short and the antifoul would only have to cope with about 16 weeks afloat. The hull was the cleanest I've ever seen it when it came out last autumn.

The boat is wooden so I don't think suitable for any of the electronic solutions (which are expensive and one more thing to go wrong anyway). Any recommendations for the best sort of coating for these conditions? If I could use something that:

• I could apply, say, every 2nd year (the boat is long keel so lots of bending is involved)
• didn't rub off so I wouldn't get red stains on the dinghy etc
• wasn't gently releasing poison into the water

then I'd be a happy man!

I have never used hard (racing?) antifoul so not sure if it is releasing toxins, but I assume at least it would not rub off like the basic stuff does? I don't mind using something more expensive, as that should be balanced by using less of it.

Final question: would applying a different type of antifoul without removing all the existing stuff be a problem? I would be happy to prime it all first but I'm not keen to have to scrape it all off.

 

[johnalison]

Although some people report using their antifouling for two seasons, for most of us this is optimistic. Clearly, the AF is OK when out of the water, but an immersion in fresh water can help too. We have tended to pop I and out of the Netherlands and are often clean through until late September. I think there is a case for using a good quality AF and perhaps a single coat the following year. I don't enjoy antifouling any more than the next person, but for the last couple of years I have managed two good coats on my 34 in a single day, using a 9" roller on an extension pole costing about £3.99 in B&Q.

I don't do much to remove old AF but just scour it with a rough pad, again on a long pole.

 

[EdWingfield]

Yes, immerse her in a freshwater canal basin for a week. Dry her occasionally and work with a scraper. No harm to the environment.

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

I don't think that cutting down on the coats is meaningful unless one is in a zone where fouling is not a problem. Here in the Mediterranean (Malta) the water temperature is relatively high as is the sunlight, both of which are conducive to heavy fouling... unless one uses an effective antifouling in sufficient thickness.

This is my boat as she was lifted out on Thursday morning. She was last launched on 3 June 2016 and has spent all that time at her berth on the pontoon save for a weekend away at the end of last summer. As you can see, the fouling is predominantly slime; I only found four or five baby barnacles on the rudder and some of those things that look like white worms.

The next one is right after the hull was power-washed by the yard, that's just water and no scrubbing or scraping (they charge extra for that).

The light blue patches on the keel are old antifouling from six years ago. I have the boat lifted every other year for three weeks. I honestly don't think that anything less than two coats of good antifouling paint rollered on would give similar results; not in these waters anyway.

 

[[2574]]

All this talk of two coats has me running for the hills. We’ve been I’m Plymouth for the past decade and have ever only applied one coat of Seajet Emporer each spring. We are twelve months afloat, ashore for a week. Only ever slime when lifted, pressure washes off clean. Emporer is expensive but it is good. You pays yer money.........

 

[pvb]

All this talk of two coats has me running for the hills. We’ve been I’m Plymouth for the past decade and have ever only applied one coat of Seajet Emporer each spring. We are twelve months afloat, ashore for a week. Only ever slime when lifted, pressure washes off clean. Emporer is expensive but it is good. You pays yer money.........

Yes, antifouling is expensive paint, but the cost of lifting out and cradling is high too. I use International Micron, apply it copiously (in line with International's instructions) and it lasts 2 full years in the water. So I only pay for a lift-out every second year, and I do it in the summer when there are cheap lift-out offers, and when it's much more pleasant to work on the hull.

 

[jiris]

I was experimenting with different kinds of antifouling for some 8 years. While the winner was clearly Altex 5, the results were still far from satisfactory. Late last year I finally bit the bullet and purchased the controversial ultrasonic device. Now, 7 moths after installation my hull is still ABSOLUTELY clean, no sign of any growth anywhere.
I read quite a few negative reports on this system and I was wondering why it doesn't work some some people. My analysis found these possible reasons:
1) A wrong hull material. The system works only with "straight" hard material - fibreglass, steel, aluminium, ferocement etc. Any "sandwiching" with softer materials renders the system ineffective.
2) Switching the system off periodically to save on power. Lot of people do it, as those 8 W or so has to be taken care off and reducing the time of use may be one of the ways how to deal with with this problem. Wrong. The bloody critters fouling the hulls need only a few hours to attach themselves. Normally the ultrasonic vibrations discourage them from doing so. As soon as they stop, the critters use this time to stick on and from that moment they grow, ultrasonic or not. The lesson: the system has to switched on even before the boat hits the water and it has to stay on continuously from that moment on.
3) Poorly glued on transducers. Any air bubble between the transducer and hull completely spoils its function.

My conclusion: if you do everything right, this is the way to go. There are a few devices on the market, I don't think there is a major difference between different brands. I purchased a $400 2 channels kit from Jaycar and took me about 5 hours to solder it all together. Very happy.

 

[Old Harry]

I don't think that cutting down on the coats is meaningful unless one is in a zone where fouling is not a problem. Here in the Mediterranean (Malta) the water temperature is relatively high as is the sunlight, both of which are conducive to heavy fouling... unless one uses an effective antifouling in sufficient thickness.

This is my boat as she was lifted out on Thursday morning. She was last launched on 3 June 2016 and has spent all that time at her berth on the pontoon save for a weekend away at the end of last summer. As you can see, the fouling is predominantly slime; I only found four or five baby barnacles on the rudder and some of those things that look like white worms.

The next one is right after the hull was power-washed by the yard, that's just water and no scrubbing or scraping (they charge extra for that).

The light blue patches on the keel are old antifouling from six years ago. I have the boat lifted every other year for three weeks. I honestly don't think that anything less than two coats of good antifouling paint rollered on would give similar results; not in these waters anyway.

i would insist on cross bracing on those struts :encouragement:

 

[paulajayne]

i would insist on cross bracing on those struts :encouragement:

Looking at boats behind it seems to be a standard at this yard.

 

[chal]

Old Harry: That's pretty impressive I think: if your antifoul can manage 2 years in the Med, it ought to be able to manage 2 lots of 4 months in the Atlantic. What sort did you use?

EdWingfield: no canal basins round here, though it's rained so much over the last few months that the effect is probably much the same!

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

i would insist on cross bracing on those struts :encouragement:

They are temporary and will be replaced by pairs of metal 'stands' chained to each other below the hull. You can see part of one of such stands at the left of the picture towards the aft end of the boat and possibly can also make out the taut chain that goes to the one that is out of shot. Due to the wine-glass shape of the hull they need to use shorter stands and they had run out of that size. The wooden props will be replaced as these become available.
The yard, occupying some 30,000 square metres, prefers to use the metal stands anyway because they can be set up faster for a sailing boat than the old wooden props but the present mix of stands is biased towards the larger boats (mine is only 9,75 metres).
Power boats, normally having a hard chine hull, will continue to be placed on metal 'stools' along the keel and shored up by short wooden props near the chine.

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

Old Harry: That's pretty impressive I think: if your antifoul can manage 2 years in the Med, it ought to be able to manage 2 lots of 4 months in the Atlantic. What sort did you use?

I think that what you wrote is meant for me. (OldHarry was quoting my original post)

Anyway, to answer your question, the paint is "EVEN Excel SPC" made by Veneziani. I would imagine that it is also available in your country.
They have a very informative website and you can download a bookIet "Maintaining Your Boat" that describes what they have and how to use it.
http://www.venezianiyachting.com/application/files/2615/1869/2653/La_Cura_della_Barca_ENG.pdf

I hasten to add that I have no commercial relationship with this company except for having used their products for the past forty years or so.

 

[chal]

I think that what you wrote is meant for me.

You're quite right, and many thanks for the info.

 

[[2574]]

“Yes, antifouling is expensive paint, but the cost of lifting out and cradling is high too. I use International Micron, apply it copiously (in line with International's instructions) and it lasts 2 full years in the water. So I only pay for a lift-out every second year, and I do it in the summer when there are cheap lift-out offers, and when it's much more pleasant to work on the hull.”

Interesting. We lift annually because we have to replace the anodes, the maxprop shaft end anode wouldn’t last two years. Generally there’s plenty of anode remaining but the bolt holes attaching it to the shaft are at end of life. I I don’t fancy having to but a new maxprop as the one I have is dissolved. So for me antifoul only needs to last one year.

 

[coopec]

i would insist on cross bracing on those struts :encouragement:

I have to agree with you as I wouldn't sleep at night if I just used timber struts: but the yards seem to know what they are doing. (Being on lawn I couldn't use timber struts) We get some quite strong winds where we are so I built a set-up using acrow props. It is useful to get everything perfectly upright and level. But I have been told I wouldn't be allowed to use my set-up in a yard.

 

[ianj99]

Simple answer - invest in an airless sprayer. My 36' long keel steel ketch was hard work to antifoul with a 6" brush and a job I dreaded and put off as long as possible. But this year I decided to try a Wagner Sprayer Plus (£250 from Screwfix), with a white filter and 219 tip. (this gives about a 5" wide fan)

It worked brilliantly with no masking needed, and took under 15mins to spray 5L of 45% Cu oxide AF thinned by 10% (a generic type from Premier Paints,). In fact cleaning it was a longer job so with the benefit of hindsight, I'd have opted for the type that draws directly from the AF can to avoid the need to clean out the 7.5L hopper.

Never having used one, I wasn't sure of the overspray potential so I hand applied it around the edges to avoid masking and also shielded the nearby yacht with a tarpaulin hung from the guard rails. However I needed have worried, the airless nature of the fan shaped jet means there is no misty spray to drift onto nearby objects. (my neighbours couldn't believe how little time it took)

How I wish I had bought one years ago!

 

[chal]

Wow, sounds fantastic - I liked the sound of johnalison's €4 roller extension handle (I usually use a brush but could try a roller) but this sounds far more pleasant. Slightly more expensive I suppose! In my excitement I had a quick look at the Screwfix website and I see the one that feeds from the can costs almost exactly double, so maybe a bit of cleaning (I presume you'd need to clean the tubes anyway) is worth it.

It's a pity but I note it says "not suitable for masonry paint" as I have a lot of that to do - which I could have used to justify buying this ready for next spring

 

[ianj99]

Wow, sounds fantastic - I liked the sound of johnalison's €4 roller extension handle (I usually use a brush but could try a roller) but this sounds far more pleasant. Slightly more expensive I suppose! In my excitement I had a quick look at the Screwfix website and I see the one that feeds from the can costs almost exactly double, so maybe a bit of cleaning (I presume you'd need to clean the tubes anyway) is worth it.

It's a pity but I note it says "not suitable for masonry paint" as I have a lot of that to do - which I could have used to justify buying this ready for next spring

Yes, the hopperless ones would be a luxury but if you think of spreading the cost over many years its not too painful. (or sharing the cost with other boat owners)

You can spray smooth masonry paint and as there was no mention of it being suitable for spraying AF I squeezed the trigger with some trepidation but it performed flawlessly.

 

[chal]

You can spray smooth masonry paint and as there was no mention of it being suitable for spraying AF I squeezed the trigger with some trepidation but it performed flawlessly.

In that case, I think I will get one. I had a quick look at their website but it's US based and it's amazing how many things are different there: I could choose advice based on whether I wanted to use latex or chalk/milk paints. Hmm. I did wonder if it was only the textured masonry paint that was unsuitable.

 

[ianj99]

Provided the particles in the paint are fine enough to pass through the filter and tip it would work. A 219 tip has a 19thou hole but the particles in textured masonry paints (or Interdeck) would not pass through.

My AF diluted about 10% was about the consistency of emulsion paint but I used a stirrer in my battery drill to make sure of an even consistency.