Homemade antifouling copper based experiences

Twister_Ken said:
We're Coppercoated. Lifted in May after 18 months in water. Very slimy but no weed or beasties except on saildrive and around impellers, neither area cc'd.
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I go two years with a normal anti fouling with no intermediate lift out. Even after the second year nothing more than a layer of slime. After a jet wash the hull is pretty much perfect. The antifouling gets a bit thin at the water line, otherwise it could probably last another year.

It all depends very much where you are, the weather and how much sailing you actually do.
Nothing better than surfing in a F9 at 30 knots to get rid of the slime.

It is even more complicated to compare peoples experiences with antifouling that it is with anchors.
 
Very easy to get round a patented recipe by changing it a little, like Henry Ford did with the parent on the motor car, but we a talking about a home brew for own use and it is very unlikely to be charged with breach of copyright for home use as the compensation is based and loss of revenue which would be very small in a home brew product. If any one starts to sell a product that breaches some ones copyright that would be a different matter.
 
stingo said:
Why is it illegal?
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I believe this is a reference to how much copper you are allowed to use per litre of resin. CC supply just enough copper to keep users under the limit.

Having read lots about CC and home-brew equivilent I think there is much more to be gained and/or lost in performance from how it is applied rather than the raw materials.
 
For a good home brew antifoul may i recommend the cheapest, thickest erodible off the shelf antifoul you can find diluted back ~5% with TBT.
TBT is available in small quantities (5 litre) from a number of sources in the UK. A little research on the alternative uses of TBT will point you in the right direction.
 
cliff said:
For a good home brew antifoul may i recommend the cheapest, thickest erodible off the shelf antifoul you can find diluted back ~5% with TBT.
TBT is available in small quantities (5 litre) from a number of sources in the UK. A little research on the alternative uses of TBT will point you in the right direction.
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TBT is illegal for use on yachts.
 
As TBT was shown to cause mutations in certain invertebrates, it's use in anti-fouls was banned by the IMO. Here in the UK this is enforced by the HSE.

To protect the environment (and the applicator!), if you want to make your own anti-foul pesticide you need to submit the proposed formula to the HSE for prior approval. Once authorised, you can produce and test it. But for obvious reasons you can't just go making up any old poison and throw it in the sea (via the hull of your boat)!!!
 
cliff said:
For a good home brew antifoul may i recommend the cheapest, thickest erodible off the shelf antifoul you can find diluted back ~5% with TBT.
TBT is available in small quantities (5 litre) from a number of sources in the UK. A little research on the alternative uses of TBT will point you in the right direction.
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AntarcticPilot said:
TBT is illegal for use on yachts.
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Yes I did read something to that effect hence I did not give any information as to where one might purchase TBT should one have a notion to do something illegal even if it is one of the best antifouling agents available.
I would point out that it is also illegal to use a mobile phone while driving but many people choose to ignore the law and quite happily use their mobile phone (without hands free kit) while driving.
 
cliff said:
I would point out that it is also illegal to use a mobile phone while driving but many people choose to ignore the law and quite happily use their mobile phone (without hands free kit) while driving.
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So that makes it all right for you to use a banned substance on your boat does it?
 
Tranona said:
So that makes it all right for you to use a banned substance on your boat does it?
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Every one has the freedom to choose though weighing the mutation of a few invertabrates against killing and mutilation of humans sort of balances out the argument if one is set on breaking a law or two. BTW, do not put words in my mouth - I did not say that anything was "made all right" - I simply pointed out that many laws are broken - some having more consequences on fellow humans (using a mobile phone whilst driving) than others (protecting ones investment by using a decent antifouling treatment). At the end of the day it is up to the individual if they follow every petty law or not. Oh yes, and don't try telling me you are so holier than holy that you have never broken any laws.
 
I've just posted the below on the "Botton Paint, not Antifoul" thread also running at the moment, I think it's also relevant here.

I think it's a bit of a misconception that with Coppercoat there will be no growth whatsoever. My experience with it is that it will attract some growth if the boat is sat for some time but what does end up on there brushes off easily or mostly comes off when the boat is under way. I use one of those Scrubbis things and that works well enough, have never got barnacles or anything that is very hard to remove and haven't even had the boat out of the water to burnish the coppercoat to reveal fresh copper which is another thing that we're supposed to do.
I know some people have had bad experiences with it, be they down to bad batches or incorrect application I don't know but I would use Coppercoat again without hesitation. If I was buying would regard a boat having been recently Coppercoated as a bonus. My Colvic Watson 34 was epoxied and coppercoated before she was first launched in 2011 and I regard that as a pretty good insurance policy for protecting the hull below the waterline...
 
Elessar said:
...The water based epoxy in Coppercoat very slowly, over 20 years in the UK, erodes exposing fresh copper.

...
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I didn't know that, does that mean there's no need to burnish Coppercoat to reveal fresh copper, i.e. it pretty much does this of it's own accord?
 
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