Dare I ask about coppercoat???

[Neeves]

In parts of Tasmania the tidal range can be around 30cm, in Sydney it can be as high as 2m and further north 10/14m - much, much more - but further north they are much more strict on uncontrolled scrubbing of antifouling - and even if all you want to do is change an anode - they can be very 'jobsworth'.

We are lucky, living in the in between bit, 2m tides, isolated bays (15NM, as a crow, from The Bridge) with sand seabeds and two keels. If we had one keel - not a chance.

Kelpie - I think you and we are lucky - what is normal to us - is unthinkable to many.

Jonathan

 

[TiggerToo]

Slight thread drift- I'm seeing people talking about having to pay to get lifted for anode changes and scrubbing down their CC.
Am I just incredibly lucky to live in a part of the world with free harbour walls and a suitable tidal range?

yes

 

[UK-WOOZY]

i want it done on my boat, 27ft waterline, location Erith, Kent. Coppercoat dont know of anyone that can do it. boats out the water and no shed to do it in at our club, looking to find someone that can apply it for me if anyone can reccomend someone please. The current barrier coat needs abrading first.

 

[LONG_KEELER]

Mags are unlikely to give it a go - simply too expensive. You would need to strip the hull back, soda blast. The application is not easy and the instructions need to be followed perfectly. If you see commercial vessels being coated the operators were full HazMat suits and respirators. If it is not effective, or not deemed effective it is very difficult to remove all the silicone and if you do not remove the silicone - nothing else will stick to it. Silicone coatings are easily damages, by lifting in slings or by touching something in the water - once the silicone coating is damaged you are on the slippery slope as removal of fouling that will occur at the damaged area - simply increases the size of the damage. Repairs are very difficult.

Some of the silicone coatings are feared to be carcinogenic and speciality protecting is needed when stripping back (which includes stripping back PropSpeed).

Many commercial vessels have been coated with silicone coatings - and some have reverted to conventional AF. For example Maersk now use one of the Jotun Sea Quantum products (a family of 4 - for different boat speeds).

Silicone coatings have now been around for a significant period of time - if they were trouble free - we would all be using them. Most of the AF companies have a silicone product and have trialed them in 'real life' - they are hardly enthusiastic at trying to persuade us to swap - which is a message in itself.


For anode life - we get from 1-2 years on the segmented anodes attached to the props. For the large anode we get similar but sometimes a bit more - what usually happens is preferential loss at the fixing holes making the anode useless - lots of zinc left but an inability to attach electrically. Not a problem for us but it would be a major issue for a keeled yacht as they cannot easily dry out and then if you are slipping anyway and the CC of questionable performance - you might consider that AF is a better option.


My conclusion is that if you are buying a new yacht it is then worth the risk in having CC applied. Like AFs it may work in your environment and the extra costs you incur are slightly offset as you have another coat of resin on your hull. You can apply a conventional AF over the top. Having CC applied later introduces a large remedial cost, soda blasting, and a danger the application will not be conducted professionally. To add insult to injury - the CC may not work for you anyway.

Jonathan

A very informative post.

Was hoping that some form of silicone coating could be an answer as the green lobby closes in on sailing.

It might all come down to drive through boat washes sometime in the future. Or perhaps underwater drones with scrubbers . Buy five washers with the sixth one free.