East Coast Fouling - Scrubbis?

[Egret]

Is it worth while investing in a 'Scrubbis' for my mid season scrub from dinghy on Coppercoat - East Coast

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I used on on coppercoat and it certainly shifts a lot of stuff.

 

[MikeBz]

I have one and use it on Micron 360. It’s quite effective on what you can reach. A friend bought one and the “stainless” pins which hold the sections together turned out not to be stainless and rusted to uselessness in very short order so maybe quality control is an issue.

 

[potentillaCO32]

I have one and it is very good

 

[Egret]

Are those comments for the standard foam head or the 'groovy' head?

Interested as the coppercoat seems to kill the weed quite well and relatively quickly but wondering if one of the Scrubbis heads will be better than a brush for removing the dead residue.

Certainly noted how much weed there would be without the coppercoat when we left the rear ladder in the water for a couple of weeks.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Are those comments for the standard foam head or the 'groovy' head?

As far as I know, mine is the standard head. It has a strip of resilient rubber material that acts as a squeegee.

 

[dansaskip]

Since I first heard of them I wanted one but did read comments of poor quality flimsy poles and the heads rotating and really don't know how they can justify the price. I would want a trial use before spending that much. Besides always found that working from a dinghy you just push the dinghy away from the boat and never really come up with a satisfactory solution to that/

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Since I first heard of them I wanted one but did read comments of poor quality flimsy poles and the heads rotating and really don't know how they can justify the price. I would want a trial use before spending that much. Besides always found that working from a dinghy you just push the dinghy away from the boat and never really come up with a satisfactory solution to that/

I have one and use it on Micron 360. It’s quite effective on what you can reach. A friend bought one and the “stainless” pins which hold the sections together turned out not to be stainless and rusted to uselessness in very short order so maybe quality control is an issue.

As others have said, the spring pins that hold the tubes together aren't very good and break. I replaced them very cheaply with ones that have lasted; unfortunately I cant trace the source I used, but it wasn't anything special. The problem with the original ones doesn't seem to be rust, but some sort of fatigue; they all went at the exact same place, at the tightest curvature of the spring. But once replaced, I have had no problem with the poles.

 

[Plum]

Is it worth while investing in a 'Scrubbis' for my mid season scrub from dinghy on Coppercoat - East Coast

I made my own and have been using it successfully for over 10 years. The head has two articulated brushes to help follow curvature, a fender for a bit of upward pressure and the shaft was from a roller reefing extrusion from the boatyard skip.

 

[MikeBz]

As far as I know, mine is the standard head. It has a strip of resilient rubber material that acts as a squeegee.

Snap.

 

[Snowgoose-1]

Another option is to attach Synthetic grass. Works well.

 

[Egret]

Thanks for all the comments and help. The 'Groovy Head' does look like synthetic grass. I have found a rubber nobbled brush 'with handle which has screw fixing to a standard painting pole that I am going to try, on my 6 months light growth - to see if the weed washes off the brush head better than off a standard brush head - which takes more time than the actual scrubbing - if not then maybe a standard Scrubbis head on my existing substantial but lightweight pole.

Presumably in your collective experience the standard heads don't split easily in the way described in some of the reviews.

 

[MoodySabre]

I have one of the old Brizo Hullmate. It has two sponges - a soft one for eroding AF and a hard one for hard AF which works well on CC.

 

[Parabordi]

I like the look of this - Hull brush

 

[Snowgoose-1]

There is a chap, who I believe operates a "Keel Crab" service based in Woolverstone and will come to your boat.
It is a remote hull and keel cleaner similar to what they use on ships.

I don't know how much it costs .
Anybody used the service ?

 

[MikeBz]

I like the look of this - Hull brush

I know someone who has a homemade version of that - it works well on his Coppercoat.

 

[Parabordi]

I know someone who has a homemade version of that - it works well on his Coppercoat.

Yeah i am going to have a go at making one, in the end its a load of brushes on ropes. maybe some cable ties to keep them in line.

 

[Egret]

Closing the loop, I saw a rubber 'Wonderbroom' in a shop locally, and using with my own angled handle, found that it brushes the 'weed' off well and most importantly doesn't clog - the weed clumps just fall off the brush -

Might buy a blue scrubbis for next year after the jet wash if it is more efficient

 

[bob the ancient mariner]

As others have said, the spring pins that hold the tubes together aren't very good and break. I replaced them very cheaply with ones that have lasted; unfortunately I cant trace the source I used, but it wasn't anything special. The problem with the original ones doesn't seem to be rust, but some sort of fatigue; they all went at the exact same place, at the tightest curvature of the spring. But once replaced, I have had no problem with the poles.

 

[bob the ancient mariner]

the clips are easily available via e bay amazon etc ,known as pole spring clips , I have had my scrubbis for approx 6 years and wrapped in artificial grass with green garden wire when the foam starte to break up.Use it on my 12 year old coppercoat approx every 2 weeks ,best way from the pontoon.,and find the springs last about 12months or so. The artificial grass is very effective, particuarly on the weed growth just below the waterline.yacht is sailed about twice a week, between March and October. IMO that really helps