Boot Top

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oakleyb

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Are they essential ? Seem to have spent a fortune this year on overpriced goods, we have a white hull with a black boot top and dark blue anti foul. Thinking of just using the blue antifoul that is below the waterline to overcoat the current boot top

good plan ? or will it look odd
 
The previous owner of my boat had used anti foul as a boot top. The problem was when ever I tried to brush anything off it it was still soft and it dragged up On to the topside and left marks also if the dinghy brushed against it it left marks. I rubbed it all off and used proper boot top.
 
oakleyb said:
Are they essential ? Seem to have spent a fortune this year on overpriced goods, we have a white hull with a black boot top and dark blue anti foul. Thinking of just using the blue antifoul that is below the waterline to overcoat the current boot top

good plan ? or will it look odd
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Not essential but gives the opportunity to have a hard scrubable band of antifoul around the water line .

If doing away with it then you have to be aware of the downsides of a soft antifoul at the water line if you usually use a soft antifoul.

You might want to reconsider the colour of your antifoul too if you raise it to cover the old boot top or it may not look right.

PITA in my opinion having a boot top. It takes nearly as long to do as it does the rest of the hull ... still got one though!
 
It's mainly a matter of looks. It also varies according to whether you are in still water as in a marina, or on a mooring, where the boot top is likely to get fouled. My current boot top is a complicated pair of enamel stripes with a narrow gel strip between. This has kept in good order apart from the odd scratch, but we kept our previous boat on a mooring and the boot top needed anti fouling. This was sort of ok as long as I did it each year, though a friend who kept some TBT did better.
 
I like mine Blue ...... wonky! ..... but always Blue!

IMAG0108_zps083e4fbc.jpg
 
On my last boat and now on my current boat (just being resprayed), we had about 3inches of antifouling showing when in normal cruising trim then 2 pack PU painted stripe below the hull paint. The 3inch of antifouling gets the staining and the stripe stays predominantly clean. Looks good and is practical. In our case the antifouling is coppercoat so easily scrubbed if a little mucky
 
There are Boot topping tapes available, easy to install, easy to get them nice and straight and not too expensive considering the short time it takes to install.

I have been using this and some Automotive tapes available from sign writers for years.

Good luck and fair winds. :)
 
At the last years scrub-off I couldn't find the tin I had reserved and found a tin of Hammerite light grey. As the tide was coming in I used this. Recently the amount of weed since the scrub was building and I gave the boottop a scrub- the weed just dropped off the boottop but was hard to remove from the strip of hull GRP above the antifouled portion.
I think I may just do it again this coming scrub-off, but Hammerite white this time.


ianat182
 
I have a stick on one which as others have stated above is easy to apply and get straight enough.
Where it's been damaged I repair with a bit of tape stuck over or even with a bit of black electricians tape (cheapskate)

However , the one disadvantage I have discovered is that the edge goes brittle after a year or do and seems prone to chipping off when lifeted in or out and the strap crushes it.

Thinking of trying a masked and painted one next season , painted over the top of the existing one
 
Yeah, I used to have a sleek, thin red boot top above blue A/F. On a swinging mooring, the weed goes higher than I'd put the boot top and scrubbing from the dinghy smeared blue A/F over the topsides. When I applied Coppercoat, I raised the line a few inches and then put a boot top, colour-matched to the gunwhale stripe, to allow scrubbing.

Rob.
 
View attachment 29810
oakleyb said:
Are they essential ? Seem to have spent a fortune this year on overpriced goods, we have a white hull with a black boot top and dark blue anti foul. Thinking of just using the blue antifoul that is below the waterline to overcoat the current boot top

good plan ? or will it look odd
Click to expand...

We have a boot topping for good reason, we get a lot of foamy scum sometimes in the river during the year and also sometimes offshore, if you do not get it off when back on marina it's hell of a job to get it off later.

With just antifoul brushing it off after a few times a year reduces the antifoul at the waterline and looks a mess (used to use Micron Extra), I stay 'in' for two years at a time so the boot topping here is Toplac (3 coats), it is then waxed! BUT stays like that for two years without coming off or looking a mess!
2 x primer plus 2 coats of Jotun Seaqueen Antifoul.

Mike
 
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I have copper bot/coat and boot topping , which is actually blue anti foul , . This is the way the builder did it when the boat was built .
I have such a build up of A/F now its cracking in places .
I really dont want it on there anymore its getting too thick , even after sanding down , which is also unhealthy .

If it is touched whilst swimming around the boats it leeches into the water and onto anything that touches it ,
it seems unhealthy to swim in all that toxicity .

What is the best way to remove the lot ?
 
Boot-topping used be applied at the water-line as a harder type of anti-fouling, as the bit of the boat here is subject to more wave action wear than the fully submerged bit. Perhaps anti-foulings in general were softer then? Colour difference was only decorative and personal choice.
 
On the Rustler 44 we had a white stripe in gel coat purely for appearance reasons. It was out of the water. Below that was just antifoul. Always put on an extra coat on the top few inches to help if you scrub there occasionally.

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