Coppercoat in the Med

[Koeketiene]

We moved the boat from Brittany to the South of France last Summer.
I had CC applied when I bought her in 2020.
In Brittany CC had been as good as advertised.
Maybe some slime and the odd barnacle on the keel.

So imagine my disappointment when I hauled out for a quick lift/hold/drop to change the anodes and a quick pressure-wash on Saturday.
Not what I expected in only the 5th year after application.
On my previous boat, CC was still doing its job after 11 years (2010-2016 UK East Coast and 2016-2020 Brittany).

Apparently, the warmer, cleaner water is to blame.

Anyone else have a similar experience?
And what AF would work well in the Med?

 

[Tranona]

Probably needs refreshing with either fine (400-600) wet and dry or a burnishing pad such as Scotch-Brite

 

[steveallan]

Probably needs refreshing with either fine (400-600) wet and dry or a burnishing pad such as Scotch-Brite

Or a couple of coats of antifouling

 

[ZigZaging]

We moved the boat from Brittany to the South of France last Summer.
I had CC applied when I bought her in 2020.
In Brittany CC had been as good as advertised.
Maybe some slime and the odd barnacle on the keel.

So imagine my disappointment when I hauled out for a quick lift/hold/drop to change the anodes and a quick pressure-wash on Saturday.
Not what I expected in only the 5th year after application.
On my previous boat, CC was still doing its job after 11 years (2010-2016 UK East Coast and 2016-2020 Brittany).

Apparently, the warmer, cleaner water is to blame.

Anyone else have a similar experience?
And what AF would work well in the Med?

View attachment 191732View attachment 191733View attachment 191734

We had coppercoat, had to snorkel with a scraper every 2 weeks in the end when we got to Greece, yes tried the reactivating sanding and scotchbrite. We applied antifouling directly on top with no problems.. it's a brilliant coating when it works, it stopped for us. Some people use it here in the Aegean and are very happy with it. It's marmite..

 

[wingcommander]

. Some people use it here in the Aegean and are very happy with it. It's marmite..

Looking at that photo Marmite may yield better results

 

[GHA]

The usual timing seems to be give the hull a wipe down once a month in warmer waters. The slime comes off very easy. Completely personal choice if that's the worst thing imaginable or no big deal. I usually do a bit at a time for few minutes mask and snorkel most days in the anchorage. Little bit of exercise is no bad thing

 

[Dogone]

In the Caribbean I have to clean my Coppercoat monthly minimum,. That will be of very small barnacles, slime, short weed and a ton of micro-prawns. Best if you keep moving. Fouling is less in the Med and much less with traditional anti-foul in my experience.

 

[Sea Change]

I had the chance to do an unscientific comparison test. We had a fairly expensive hard racing AF on the keel, and fifteen year old CC everywhere else, including a 3yr old patch of fresh CC on the skeg. Sailing area was Galicia down to the Med over the course of a little over a year.

For the first few months the AF worked the best. After about six months it was no better than the CC. After one year, the fresh CC was clearly ahead of everything else.
We didn't lift out for another eighteen months after that, by which time the keel looked absolutely terrible, the now 17yr old CC was looking very bad, and the fresh CC was doing just fine.

 

[geem]

In the Tropics, we wipe down every 4 to 6 weeks. It's rare to get barnacles out they will grow if the hull isn't clean. Coppercoat works best on boats that move. Leaving a boat for a few months in a marina and it will be an ecosystem.
We have just applied it again after 7 years. We needed to do osmosis treatment so it's a new application. On balance, it's better than conventional antifouling for us. It may not suit the way others use their boat

 

[Seven Spades]

We had completely the opposite reaction when moving our boat to the med. In the UK we get covered with weed after 4-6 weeks it is terrible. But we had a season in the med in 2022 and had nothing at all, no weed no barnacles. I honestly don't understand the answer, I suspect anything short of TBT just doesn't work.

 

[Sonnenschein]

@Koeketiene, sorry to change the subject of your thread, but where did you get that swim platform on the back of your boat, visible in post #1? I’ve been looking for something similar for a while.
Thanks, Hannah

 

[Koeketiene]

@Koeketiene, sorry to change the subject of your thread, but where did you get that swim platform on the back of your boat, visible in post #1? I’ve been looking for something similar for a while.
Thanks, Hannah

PLATEFORME INOX ET BOIS 450 X 480 MM

 

[Sonnenschein]

Thanks!

 

[Koeketiene]

Follow up on my original post.

After the haul out April 6th I contacted Coppercoat and asked for advice.
Got a reply the very next day.

It seems likely that you have sufficient copper exposed for the coating to work well in Brittany, but not sufficient exposed for it to work well in the conditions you have now of the Mediterranean. Consequently my advice is that once you have thoroughly stripped the hull back to clean Coppercoat, you give it a more thorough burnish with 320-400 grade wet-and-dry (or a burnishing pad). By exposing more copper this way, you should solve the problem.

Two weeks later I hauled out again and followed their advice.
Since then the boat has seen plenty of use.

Was out yesterday in just perfect conditions - 15kts TWS, flat seas.
In that kind of weather, she's usually good for 7.5kts of boat speed.
Yesterday she struggled to make 6kts.

10 weeks after the last haul out, this is what I found.



Needless to say, I less than impressed with the results and I am now actively researching alternatives.
Suggestions welcome.

PS: one of the alternatives I am considering is Hempel Silic One.
If you have this one the boat, I would love to hear from you.

 

[Cariadco]

I abrade mine, every winter with wet-n-dry P180, here in Corfu. A very gentle rub though, just enough to see the brown copper.
OK, so it waers out the CC Layers, but I never have probs with build up, and it's now into it's 6th year.

 

[geem]

I abrade mine, every winter with wet-n-dry P180, here in Corfu. A very gentle rub though, just enough to see the brown copper.
OK, so it waers out the CC Layers, but I never have probs with build up, and it's now into it's 6th year.

The advice from the makers of CC is to use 300/400 grit. Anything move aggressive leaves scratches that allow growth to attach.

 

[Trident]

Silic one needs speed - I looked at it for my 50 foot cat that can easily do 10-14 knots (fast enough for the stuff to work) but in discussion with one of the first shipwrights to be an official centre for Silic One he advised me not to - his experience suggests that the limits suggested by Hempel are a bit low and that really its a product for motorboats that reach speed most of the time. The problem is that if you find it doesn't work the removal process is a lot of work.

 

[Cariadco]

The advice from the makers of CC is to use 300/400 grit. Anything move aggressive leaves scratches that allow growth to attach.

Hardly any growth at all, just a bit of slime....as I said, been the same, every year for nearly 6 years.

 

[geem]

Hardly any growth at all, just a bit of slime....as I said, been the same, every year for nearly 6 years.

It doesn't change the advice

 

[Cariadco]

It doesn't change the advice

No, but my point is, and I though this was clear, is that their advice doesn't apply to all situations. Is that clear or should I draw you a picture???