DIY Antifouling

[Nicholas123]

It's all such an ordeal,all this scrubbing scraping & painting & it seems to me that once having knocked off the barnacles & polished the bottom to a reasonable state it should be possible to just spray on some sort of hard setting weed killer & you are protected for a reasonable length of time.
Anybody tried it?

 

[duncan99210]

Copper coat.

 

[Nicholas123]

Copper coat.

Far too expensive & far too much of a polava.

 

[Tranona]

No such thing as a free lunch. If there was an effective no cost way of preventing marine growth then somebody would have discovered it by now.

So, make your choice out of the wide range of treatments available just as everybody else does. Alternatively do nothing and enjoy a weedy bottom to your boat and constant work to try and keep it clean.

Or take up bowls.

 

[Nicholas123]

No such thing as a free lunch. If there was an effective no cost way of preventing marine growth then somebody would have discovered it by now.

So, make your choice out of the wide range of treatments available just as everybody else does. Alternatively do nothing and enjoy a weedy bottom to your boat and constant work to try and keep it clean.

Or take up bowls.

I did'nt say no cost it's just that having scrubbed the bottom clean it should be possible to spray on some sort of weed killing preventative rather than the polava of another coat of paint it seems to me.

Some sort of barnacle poison mixed with something that will dry on contact & dos'nt require a lot of faffing about.

 

[Tranona]

I did'nt say no cost it's just that having scrubbed the bottom clean it should be possible to spray on some sort of weed killing preventative rather than the polava of another coat of paint it seems to me.

Some sort of barnacle poison mixed with something that will dry on contact & dos'nt require a lot of faffing about.

That is exactly what antifouling paint is. Full of permitted biocides held in a matrix and progressively released throughout the year to discourage the growth of plant and animal life.

You can spray it on (if you have the right equipment) or apply it with a roller or a brush.

Your prayers have been answered.

 

[Nicholas123]

That is exactly what antifouling paint is. Full of permitted biocides held in a matrix and progressively released throughout the year to discourage the growth of plant and animal life.

You can spray it on (if you have the right equipment) or apply it with a roller or a brush.

Your prayers have been answered.

No they hav'nt.It only lasts for about three months round here before you have to scrub the bottom off & will probably have to give it another coat to cover the full summer.
It will last a month just scrubbed off & I would like to improve upon that.

 

[ianj99]

No they hav'nt.It only lasts for about three months round here before you have to scrub the bottom off & will probably have to give it another coat to cover the full summer.
It will last a month just scrubbed off & I would like to improve upon that.

Stir in some weapons grade chilli powder. That works. Available on ebay.

 

[Nicholas123]

Stir in some weapons grade chilli powder. That works. Available on ebay.

The problem is I can scrub off the bottom & do a pretty good job in one day but painting takes a consecutive day & that is absolutely crippling + you have the expense of the anti-fouling paint itself.If I could make up a spray that is simply sprayed on I could do it on the same tide.

 

[charles_reed]

The problem is I can scrub off the bottom & do a pretty good job in one day but painting takes a consecutive day & that is absolutely crippling + you have the expense of the anti-fouling paint itself.If I could make up a spray that is simply sprayed on I could do it on the same tide.

A business opportunity for you - now do it and stop asking other people how to solve your problem.

 

[ripvan1]

Enlarge the holes on a garden sprayer add thinned down antifoul - sorted - or get a mud berth

 

[Tranona]

No they hav'nt.It only lasts for about three months round here before you have to scrub the bottom off & will probably have to give it another coat to cover the full summer.
It will last a month just scrubbed off & I would like to improve upon that.

Then spend the money and buy a superior product. all anti fouling preparations are fundamentally the same, but not all perform equally well, nor do they perform equally in different locations. There is a reasonable correlation between cost and effectiveness, but not always and there are some that are more effective at lower price such as Jotun Seaqueen, or if you take a long view, Coppercoat.

If you seriously think you can invent a spray that is effective when it seems to have been missed by all the major paint firms then you must have a very high opinion of your knowledge - or you believe in fairies.

Await your solution with interest.

 

[trapezeartist]

It's call TBT. And it's illegal because it's highly toxic to all sealife.

 

[LadyInBed]

It's call TBT. And it's illegal because it's highly toxic to all sealife.

Yes, I was going to say TBT did a job, but it was sea life thalidomide!

I have solved the problem for me. I park my boat near the mouth of a river, the barnicals cant tell if they are in fresh or salt water, so give up
I haven't a/f'ed for 14 years, I just dry out twice a year and pressure wash.
Saved myself a fortune.

PS I have also thought about giving the bottom a coat of emulsion (dosed with pepper maybe) just to make the bottom look pretty when heeled over.

 

[William_H]

It is interesting on this forum realising the huge range of experience of boat owners in different locations regarding fouling and a/f paint or treatments. With our warmish water and stacks of sun a/f is a major concern. While copercoat is available here it is not at all popular. I guess basically it can not cope with the huge fouling problems.
Most people just apply an a/f paint once per season some people claim they go 2 seasons. Most also either dive and scrub or pay someone else to dive and scrub. (those who don't have slow boats) My kids as teenagers had a nice little pocket money earner going scrubbing boats often once every 2 weeks. I know proffessionals prices are much higher now.
Most of my friends seem to just slip the boat pressure wash then slap on more a/f paint. Jotun is popular. I have not seen too many worry about the build up of paint. I am sure it will catch them eventually although the frequent scrubbing does remove a lot of the build up. One outfit at fremantle Saing Club have facility for sand blasting but this is expensive.
My own approach is to give it one coat of Jotun in spring. This lasts about 6weeks without scrubbing then it is a case of scrubbing till at the height of summer it must be scrubbed before any race ie every week and often several times per week. I enjoy the swimming. So by the end of the season large areas have no a/f paint on and not much build up.
I can only suggest that experience will show OP what is best for him. Certainly regarding cleaning and preparation for repaint this depends entirely on your patience and willingness to do a good job. So don't be too embarassed if you skimp on preparation it is a horrible job and only till next time. good luck olewill

 

[oldharry]

If you can invent something that can be applied in half an hour, works for the whole season, and does not poison the environment round your your boat, then a fortune awaits you sir. Not only that but you will have succeeded where the big paint manufacturers R&D departments have failed over the last 50 years, and you will be every boat owners saviour and friend!

I believe Cornish fishermen used to use a homemade preparation involving seagull poo... maybe somthing there to start from?,

 

[Nicholas123]

A business opportunity for you - now do it and stop asking other people how to solve your problem.

Most people have made positive contributions & their input is interesting ,the exception is you & I shall put that down to you being a miserable git

 

[Nicholas123]

Enlarge the holes on a garden sprayer add thinned down antifoul - sorted - or get a mud berth

The problem is the anti-fouling paint itself takes about 6 hours to dry & there is not time to do that + the scrubbing in one tide.
There maybe some kind of weedkiller type stuff that when diluted is easier to spray on & will dry far quicker making it a viable option.Even if it did'nt protect the bottom for as long as the propriety brands but maybe extended protection to say two months would make it a very very attractive proposition.
It also occurs to me that the makers of anti-fouling paint have no incentive to produce something that is super dupa & cheap because of course it would do them out of business.

I have a drying mooring & it seems like the ideal environment for barnacles,bless their little hearts

Stay tuned folks for a revolutionary breakthrough in the anti-fouling,marine growth inhibitor market.Your friendly local technical specialist in marine growth eradication is on the case

PS:If you don't hear from me it could be because the main players have got the wind up & have joined forces to buy me out.Just a thought
It would'nt be the first time something like that has happened
Meanwhile keep buying their expensive products.

 

[josephmoore]

The problem is the anti-fouling paint itself takes about 6 hours to dry

It doesn't really, though. An hour on any reasonably warm day is enough.

Still a horrible, horrible job though; especially on a small bilge keeler.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Once again, we need to be reminded that experimenting with putting nasty chemicals on the bottom of a boat is actually illegal. The anti-fouling manufacturers have to tread a very careful line to ensure that they stay within the law; their products are licensed for use. Anything you whip up in your back-yard will NOT be licensed and if at all effective WILL be illegal. Much of this is because of international regulations - the ban on TBT, for example, is international law. We've been round this loop so many times.

Weed-killer won't work a) because most kinds are deliberately designed to become inactive in water, b) they are all highly soluble and would last maybe ten minutes on your hull and c) won't work anyway; they are designed to work on higher vascular plants (e.g. dandelions!), not the mixture of algae and sessile animals (e.g. barnacles) that form most fouling. Note that weed-killer is so carefully targetted that there are plenty of types you can use to kill the dandelions in your lawn without killing the lawn - hardly what you want in anti-fouling.

A successful anti-fouling has to a) release toxins slowly over a long period, b) use toxins that are effective over a wide range of totally different biological organisms, c) not produce long-term effects away from the paint layer and d) be robust enough to last a reasonable length of time.

a) and d) and mutually opposed; b) means that most of the candidate chemicals are long-term poisons that will kill you, too, given half a chance and c) means that anything like TBT (which is easily the most effective anti-fouling invented) can't be used because of the long-term effects on the fish we catch.

If producing an effective anti-fouling was easy, it would be on the market and we'd all know about it.

If you want to save labour, go for Coppercoat which a) works out cheaper, and b) only needs applying every 10 years or so.