Copper Coat on drying mooring, Chichest Harbour ?

[seumask]

We are having some work done to the bottom of our boat this winter which includes scrapping back the bottom and repairing some scratches from when she escaped earlier this summer. Instead of repairing the epoxy Gelshild coating and applying normal antifoul it occurred to me that this might be good time to Coppercoat instead. Before I go ahead and do this I’d appreciate any advise for or against this.
Our boat is a 25ft Lift keeler and sits on hard mud (mainly sand)at low tide for around 3 hours if the wind is from the east, which is approximately 25 to 30 % of low tides.

 

[RestlessL]

I coppercoated Restless last spring, and she sits on a drying mooring at the north end of Chi Hbr. The hull stays clear of the mud, but the bilge keels and rudder sink in to about 2ft.

On bringing her out the bottom was clean, but there was a row of barnacles on the inside of each bilge keel - about 6" wide. The copper on the keels has turned black, but with no other fouling.

PM me if you would like to see for yourself.

John

 

[catmandoo]

How old is your Gel shield . I understand that it is only good for 6 years . Coppercoat is for 10 so make sure you have a good base.

Also essential that copper coat does not get wet until the coating has dried otherwise it will wash off

 

[vyv_cox]

My keel has been Coppercoated (actually Copperbot but these seem to be the same thing) for the past 10 years. In that time I have never had fouling on it, never sanded it back and basically ignored it. The hull, conventionally antifouled, has attracted all sorts of fouling. Rust has now penetrated beneath the keel coating in a big way, necessitating grit blasting and recoating with epoxy. I have bought more Coppercoat for the antifouling.

 

[Blue5]

If you contact aquarius marine coatings they will send you literature on coppercoat an instructional CD and answer any questions.
I am also looking to use this product, think I read, no rain for 24hrs and minimum temp of +8c so I have decided to leave until Spring

 

[seumask]

I was planning to have it done in a shed probably by a professional.
Not sure I should do the keel as well as this is mainly out of the water anyway.

 

[Stemar]

I did Jissel last year with Coppercoat. She lives on a drying mooring in soft mud in Portsmouth harbour.

The bit that stayed out of the mud is great - barely any slime, but where it's in regular contact with the mud, it just hasn't worked. After 4 months, no more banacles arrived 'cos there simply wasn't room for 'em, likewise the jelly-like critters like a second hand condom about 4 ins long.

My verdict - on a deep water berth, go for it, but on soft mud it isn't any better than other antifouls, possibly worse than some. Can't complain, though. The Coppercoat destructions say it isn't suitable for mud berths - I just didn't know I was going to change moorings!

 

[roly_voya]

When I kept my last boat on a drying mooring I used the cheapest hard antifoul I could get and it lasted more than 3 years because nothing would tollerate drying out for that long each day. Might not work at 3h per tide but worth looking at other boats close to you, particularly neglected one with poor antifouling to see how they are fairing