DIY Coppercoat: Scraping, Preparation, Application and Results after 28 months

[Yngmar]

I've been meaning to write something about my DIY Coppercoating ever since I've hand-scraped the boat and applied Coppercoat myself in 2015. In part because of many people here telling me I was crazy and not to do it

Thanks to plenty of rainy weather, I've finally gotten around to doing so. It turned into a three part series, with plenty of photos and some underwater footage. You can find it all on our blog at https://sdfjkl.org

Or use these direct links to the parts:

• Part 1 - The Scrapening
• Part 2 - Application Day
• Part 3 - Results

On the upside, having taken so long to do this, I can now also include the results of it, after 28 months in the water.

 

[Tomaret]

Thanks for taking the trouble to record this, publish it and provide the links. It’s really encouraging to see that it can be done single handed, and good to see the results from a source not connected with the manufacturer, other than as a customer.

Next year, perhaps, I’ll be inspired to do the same.

Mark

 

[Homer J]

Very impressive results. It might have inspired me to pay someone else to do it. It's clearly a labour of love.

 

[zoidberg]

That's an excellent article. Thanks.

 

[Portofino]

Tnx for Sharing
I notice you did not put CC on the skin fittings .
Can you elaborate why not .
I,am in agreement btw ,but we seen to be surrounded by members of the flat earth society on other parts of this forum

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthrea...at-causing-corrosion-on-through-hull-fittings

 

[Tranona]

Difficulty is getting CC to stick to either plastic (which I think Yngmar has) or yellow metal which I have. I mask around them and spray with Trilux, same as used on the saildrive.

 

[vyv_cox]

Difficulty is getting CC to stick to either plastic (which I think Yngmar has) or yellow metal which I have. I mask around them and spray with Trilux, same as used on the saildrive.

Yes. Only my keel is Coppercoated, very successfully. I had to repair some damage using a repair kit and thought I would apply the little bit left over to the P-bracket. By the end of the season it had all fallen off.

 

[p435]

@Yngmar,
Thanks a lot for this very interesting report. I am currently preparing the hull and keel for coppercoating.
And, I am very curious how my hulls, keels and rudders look like after 6, 12, 18,...month.
Like you I want to avoid hauling out the boat because there are not that many place where a 44ft cat can be hauled out - and it is expensive.

 

[Yngmar]

I notice you did not put CC on the skin fittings .
Can you elaborate why not.

There is Coppercoat on all the plastic skin fittings (Tru-Design) and the transducer housings, which after sanding to key stuck very well without further primer. As I wrote in the article, I even applied it into the through-hulls up to the ball and that worked too.

There is no Coppercoat on the stainless steel cockpit drains and rudder post, nor the aluminium saildrive leg, propeller, and rudder bearing housing.

I have no yellow metal underwater, so can't try this on my boat, but based on the good performance on the lead keel, I would suggest to prime with Interprotect and follow its preparation instructions carefully, then sand that and apply CC on top.

Propellers are a special case, as unlike the rest of the boat, they move through the water much faster, can suffer cavitation and countless numbers of micro-collisions with small particles and debris in the water. The stuff I've used did okayish. I'm planning to write another article about the metal antifouling used soon

 

[Tranona]

@Yngmar,
Thanks a lot for this very interesting report. I am currently preparing the hull and keel for coppercoating.
And, I am very curious how my hulls, keels and rudders look like after 6, 12, 18,...month.
Like you I want to avoid hauling out the boat because there are not that many place where a 44ft cat can be hauled out - and it is expensive.

Hopefully it will have gone green as it becomes activated. You should be able to wash the slime off easily. should thgen look the same for the rest of its life.

 

[p435]

... wash the slime off easily.... .

I was very pleased to read that @Yngmar just jumps into the water and clean it. This is what I want to do as well and was a pre-condition for me to decide for CC.

After what time will the hull starts getting green?

 

[Daydream believer]

Have not read the blog but seen the picture of the slime. That would really affect sailing performance of my boat so i would not consider that acceptable. I always have my boat slipped & jet washed before it gets to that state mid season. But then I like sailing , not sitting in a marina

 

[Joshua020]

I was very pleased to read that @Yngmar just jumps into the water and clean it. This is what I want to do as well and was a pre-condition for me to decide for CC.

After what time will the hull starts getting green?

I don't think that it gets green

 

[ianabc]

Interprotect
Reading the manufacturers on line instructions

NOT

The label on the can

Because INTERPROTECT contains aluminium

and will after a short while corrode and lift a y epoxy overcoat.

Interpreted is designed to be used without an epoxy overcoat.

I expect you can guess how I know this.......apart from the manufacturers info which I found out months after applying.

 

[sailaboutvic]

I don't think that it gets green

Yes they all go green , we did our old boat in 2013 , it took three days to get the bottom 100% really ,it then took up another three month to wait for five days of dry weather , we did ours in two part , the hull was CC in one day which left the keel, rudder,and the pads spot to do another day , 11.5 mts boat with one mixing and one applying .
we sold the boat in 2017 , In them five years we was very happy with CC , our went green within five months ,
@ Yagnar as the advantage of being in the Med which mean he can jump in and clean the slim , which all boats will collect over time , what he will find being in the Med at some point he will get little bit or rock worm but again he can jump in and clean it no big deal .
I would say anyone thinking of apply CC , go for it , a one time dirty job but it safe you year after year antifouling and that not cheap any more .
We did fool ourself tho , being full time liveaboard ,
we throught we wouldn't have to haul out for some years only to find most years there was some underwater work that needed doing .
And unlike back home in the U.K. We can't just dry out in the Med .

 

[Joshua020]

Yes they all go green , we did our old boat in 2013 , it took three days to get the bottom 100% really ,it then took up another three month to wait for five days of dry weather , we did ours in two part , the hull was CC in one day which left the keel, rudder,and the pads spot to do another day , 11.5 mts boat with one mixing and one applying .
we sold the boat in 2017 , In them five years we was very happy with CC nolah , our went green within five months ,
@ Yagnar as the advantage of being in the Med which mean he can jump in and clean the slim , which all boats will collect over time , what he will find being in the Med at some point he will get little bit or rock worm but again he can jump in and clean it no big deal .
I would say anyone thinking of apply CC , go for it , a one time dirty job but it safe you year after year antifouling and that not cheap any more .
We did fool ourself tho , being full time liveaboard ,
we throught we wouldn't have to haul out for some years only to find most years there was some underwater work that needed doing .
And unlike back home in the U.K. We can't just dry out in the Med .

 

[SV Kittiwake]

Ours (also DIY with good results) has been in the water for 8 months now, and hasn't gone green at all which surprised us. Cleaning underwater is really easy with our coppercoat, the fouling just wipes off. It's one of the more difficult jobs we did in the yard last year, but that was mostly as we had to remove a lot of layers that the previous owner had built up.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I don't think that it gets green

Coppercoat that is working turns verdigris green - that's essential, as it shows that the copper is reacting with seawater to release copper ions which poison fouling organisms. If it stays brown/chocolate coloured, it isn't working, and probably need serious abrasion as it means that the last coast has too much epoxy in it, keeping the copper from the water.

 

[SV Kittiwake]

Coppercoat that is working turns verdigris green - that's essential, as it shows that the copper is reacting with seawater to release copper ions which poison fouling organisms. If it stays brown/chocolate coloured, it isn't working, and probably need serious abrasion as it means that the last coast has too much epoxy in it, keeping the copper from the water.

Ours isn't green, but is working perfectly. When I abraded it to activate it, I showed it to the guy in the yard who does it professionally, and he said it was well activated.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Ours isn't green, but is working perfectly. When I abraded it to activate it, I showed it to the guy in the yard who does it professionally, and he said it was well activated.

That's odd! What colour is it? Mine is very dark green, and AMC commented on photographs that the green colour indicated that it was well activated, and did not need abrasion (they only recommend abrasion if there is evidence that the Coppercoat is losing its effectiveness; if it is green they don't recommend abrasion beyond that needed for cleaning).