Copper Coat in Bristol Channel: Is it effective and who can apply it for me?

[RobF]

I'm looking to take the plunge and treat my boat to Copper Coat.

Firstly, can anyone recommend a good company to remove my existing anti-fouling and apply the copper coat. The boat is a trailer sailer, so can be taken to most places without too much problem.

Secondly, has anyone else got Copper Coat in the region and what has been your experience of it?

Ta.

 

[EwanClark]

You could try calling Jo at the Boat Repair Centre in Weston Super Mare (07947 041916) as we have supplied them with Coppercoat numerous times.

It's alwasy difficult to compare the performance of anti-fouls, as conditions change from year to year and location to location (even within just one marina!). And boat speed/useage has an effect also. But that said, we heard from a client with a Beneteau First 211 in Portishead Marina and his Coppercoat is still performing well having originally been applied in 2001.

Interestingly we also supplied Coppercoat for the underwater turbine that was tested in the Bristol Channel for 6 years or so. In all that time the Coppercoat-treated blades did not need cleaning or repainting. Hence we now supply Coppercoat to most of the companies (MCT, Rolls Royce etc) that are involved in this emerging industry.

 

[Bosun Higgs]

I had coppercoat applied to my boat by Cardiff Marine and they did an excellent job including scraping off the existings coatings. My boat is based in Cardiff so it goes from fresh water to sea and back again with longer spells in sea water when cruising. The coppercoat works quite well - its excellent at avoiding molluscs and average with waterline weed. I wouldnt describe it as better than normal antifoul but its about as good.

I dont know how it would tolerate a drying mooring with the keels sinking into mud.

 

[EwanClark]

The reality is that no anti-foul performs at it's best when used on a drying mooring. If the keels sink into the mud, the anti-foul can be worn away, or can simply become coated in mud (masking the anti-fouling effect of the coating). I suppose the reason that people with drying moorings chose Coppercoat is because, being an epoxy, it is far tougher than conventional anti-foul paint. Hence it can better withstand the abrasion of settling on (or sinking in) to mud, and it can better withstand being cleaned from time to time.

 

[bluedragon]

Perhaps the last poster can clear-up a question for me. My boat was copper-coated from new (2000) but the last owner started to use conventional anti-foul some years ago. I've never found out why. I have been told that the copper coating requires a continual flow of water to work well (tidal moorings or rivers) and that the relatively static water in some marinas can result in fouling. Is there any truth in this?

 

[Bosun Higgs]

I dont know but I doubt it. It has worked really well on my boat as applied by Cardiff Marine, but they have had a problem with another boat they did. It seems as if the job needs to be done in ideal conditions inside a shed , not outside in low temperatures and damp. This is rather confirmed as where I did some damage and had to touch up, I did the recoat outside in March and its giving bubbleing problems.

At the risk of putting words into their mouths, I know that Cardiff Marine is a little uneasy about coppercoat because the results havent always been consistent. But if I had another new boat I would still go back to them and ask for it to be coppercoated.


P.S. I ought to add that I dont believe the inconsistency has anything to do with Cardiff marine which is why I would recommend them - there have been a few reports on the forum of inconsistency which I suspect were down to application conditions and product variation

 

[EwanClark]

Sorry for the late reply Bluedragon. Coppercoat is designed to provide good anti-fouling performance in a wide range of conditions, including in marinas with relatively low water flow rates. For example, there are now approaching 100 boats in Port Solent with Coppercoat, and this is a closed marina with static water. And if a boat does attract some slime over a period of a few months of inactivity in a marina, this usually washes away during a good sail.

But that said, as is always the case, variations in anti-fouling performance should be expected from boat to boat, location to location, and year to year - making absolute statements virtually impossible.