Featherstream propeller antifouling

[KREW2]

Following this with interest. I was thinking about a featherstream, but now I fancy a 2 blade flexofold.
I get a lot of tube worm in Portland harbour, a friend moored 150 meters away gets none at all. Neither of us can understand why.
Velox has done the trick for me on my old fixed 2 blade. On liftout my prop shaft is covered but the prop is not too bad.
The problem I foresee with the Flexofold is the velox will surely wear off where the cogs grind and worm may grow on it inhibiting opening and closing of the prop

 

[chubby]

Just reflecting on my own experience having used Hammerite primer and Velox on previous fixed bronze prop/shaft/P bracket - lots of barnacles/tube worms. Seem to be a consensus that spaying will lead to better adhesion and you can get thinner to allow Hammerite to be sprayed but I found the it stuck well even though brushed on and abraded with 180 grade rather than recommended coarse. The problem is the Velox sticking to the primer - I can't be sure but maybe growth is just where the Velox has just fallen off so next time will spray it on.

Supplementary thought - has anyone with a feathering prop had a problem with fouling jamming the mechanism? I asked Darglow about this and they said it wouldn't because its full of grease.

is the problem getting the velox to stick to the primer? if brushed rather than sprayed, does the thicker coat not adhere so well? the barnacles may well be where the velox fell off. velox comes in tins but both ecoprop and prop o drev are in spray cans, so regardless of the merit of the paint, it has to stay on! the special mets primer seems to ahere ok

 

[vyv_cox]

I abrade the Hammerite before applying the Velox. In the first season that I used Velox I applied four coats, as instructed, and much of it chipped off. Next season I applied two, which I believe is now the instruction. This did far better. The abrasion is necessary for Velox adhesion but after six seasons I find the combination to be excellent in the Mediterranean.

 

[vyv_cox]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/137605927@N05/

The prop was underwater all season, from Inverness Firth, Stornoway and down the Outer Hebs, then back up the Caley canal. There was no growth at all, where the boat had had a lot of long, light growth when alongside in Tarbert Isle of Harris.

Surely the Caledonian canal is fresh water? That's why you had no fouling. Try it the other way around and I think you will find very different results.

 

[jamie N]

Surely the Caledonian canal is fresh water? That's why you had no fouling. Try it the other way around and I think you will find very different results.

We were in the canal for 3 days out of the 80'ish days. They were the last days of the trip, but the prop wasn't used at all as the engine was U/S.

 

[vyv_cox]

We were in the canal for 3 days out of the 80'ish days. They were the last days of the trip, but the prop wasn't used at all as the engine was U/S.

We used to visit fresh water Port Dinorwic towards the end of the season. After a long weekend all the fouling fell off.

 

[winsbury]

Its our 3rd season with a Featherstream and have tried polishing, lanolin and mould release wax, all to no avail, those barnacles just keep coming back. Interestingly this is the only bit of the boat that gets heavily infested so have started investigating other possibilities. We have an anode on the prop, another on the hull nearby plus the beautifully shaped one on the prob itself. We are on a swinging mooring and almost never plug in to mains even when in a marina. There is some evidence that excess anodes can actually attract barnacles ( see http://www.galvatest.com/WP_Cathodic_Protection.pdf page 7 )... I have yet to figure out if this is the cause and some way of measuring it definitively.

 

[Pavalijo]

Its our 3rd season with a Featherstream and have tried polishing, lanolin and mould release wax, all to no avail, those barnacles just keep coming back. Interestingly this is the only bit of the boat that gets heavily infested so have started investigating other possibilities.

Can I ask how long your yacht stays in the water each year? We will be fitting a Featherstream this year and after trying Prop Shield for three years we just highly polished our Volvo folder last year, and the result after just under 5 months in the water is shown below, which I was happy with (not the rope, obviously, which we got when approaching the boatyard). We will continue to be in water for 5 months a year and so will polish and apply lanolin and see how we go.

The second photo shows the state of the Prop Shield application after around 400 metres of motoring and one night in the water (we had an issue!) I had warmed the prop in the oven to 50c, let it cool a little and then followed the instructions meticulously, applying the product in a warm room (after gently warming with blowtorch and applying outdoors had failed previous year) so not impressed!

 

[xeitosaphil]

Can I ask how long your yacht stays in the water each year? We will be fitting a Featherstream this year and after trying Prop Shield for three years we just highly polished our Volvo folder last year, and the result after just under 5 months in the water is shown below, which I was happy with (not the rope, obviously, which we got when approaching the boatyard). We will continue to be in water for 5 months a year and so will polish and apply lanolin and see how we go.

The second photo shows the state of the Prop Shield application after around 400 metres of motoring and one night in the water (we had an issue!) I had warmed the prop in the oven to 50c, let it cool a little and then followed the instructions meticulously, applying the product in a warm room (after gently warming with blowtorch and applying outdoors had failed previous year) so not impressed!

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Hi I have had a feather stream prop fitted now for also three years +?. When enquiries with Darglow they didn't recommend antifouling prop. Also said barnacles or growth would not effect prop working. I was a little dubious but followed their recommendations. Boat is in the water 11 months of the year in Torbay. Fouling is not horendous but do get a few banackles and silver worm. 30 mins with a square edged price of Hardwood scrapping the worst off and 20 mins with a scotch pad gives good as new finish. See photos before and after.

 

[sailorman]

I use Prop-O-Drev as did my previous owner, this is haul-out after 12 months