In place of antifoul

[Aeolus]

My 30' fin keel cruiser gets lifted out every other year and is given a thick layer of antifouling which works fine in year 1 and a bit less so towards the end of year 2. This costs me a lift-out, a month ashore plus 11 ltr of good quality antifoul, a total of around £1000 every other year. And I add 5.5 litres of poison to the seas each year.

I'm thinking about the possibility of ceasing antifouling and, instead, drying out against scrubbing piles two or three times per year and pressure washing the hull clean. The cost savings would be useful plus I'd be inflicting less damage on the environment.

There are scrubbing piles close to where I moor and I don't race so am not too worried about a bit of growth developing between washes.

Does this sound feasible/sensible? Does anyone else do this?

 

[Rappey]

Does anyone else do this?

I've been using scrubbing grids for the past 40 plus years to power wash off then slap on a coat of antifouling between tides and nearly all the club members do similar.
You can do as you propose cheaply and even apply another coat when you think the af is no longer working.

 

[Aeolus]

I've been using scrubbing grids for the past 40 plus years to power wash off then slap on a coat of antifouling between tides and nearly all the club members do similar.
You can do as you propose cheaply and even apply another coat when you think the af is no longer working.

My thinking is to cease using antifoul altogether.

 

[Rappey]

I think you will find that you will be nicely slime up within a few weeks with no effective antifouling?
Af may appear pretty rubbish at keeping the weed at bay but it makes it a whole lot easier to remove growth further down the road compared to trying to remove growth on a surface with no antifoul

 

[johnalison]

My impression is that you get about six weeks relief from fouling by using a/f. I just wish that it were the case that the first coat of slime made me go faster rather than slower as happens in real life.

 

[Tranona]

My 30' fin keel cruiser gets lifted out every other year and is given a thick layer of antifouling which works fine in year 1 and a bit less so towards the end of year 2. This costs me a lift-out, a month ashore plus 11 ltr of good quality antifoul, a total of around £1000 every other year. And I add 5.5 litres of poison to the seas each year.

I'm thinking about the possibility of ceasing antifouling and, instead, drying out against scrubbing piles two or three times per year and pressure washing the hull clean. The cost savings would be useful plus I'd be inflicting less damage on the environment.

There are scrubbing piles close to where I moor and I don't race so am not too worried about a bit of growth developing between washes.

Does this sound feasible/sensible? Does anyone else do this?

11l is an awful lot of AF for a 30' boat. You are not putting that amount of "poison" in the water - only a tiny amount of the coating is actually an active ingredient, the rest is just a carrier.

The simple answer is to use Coppercoat. 5 years of your current expenditure would pay for it easily if DIY

 

[Aeolus]

11l is an awful lot of AF for a 30' boat. You are not putting that amount of "poison" in the water - only a tiny amount of the coating is actually an active ingredient, the rest is just a carrier.

The simple answer is to use Coppercoat. 5 years of your current expenditure would pay for it easily if DIY

You're right - it's 6 ltr, 5+1 not 10+1. My mistake. Coppercoat might be tricky as my cast iron keel bubbles up with rust. I treat it each time it gets lifted out but would need very careful treatment if I wanted it to not shed the coppercoat for at least 10 years. I'm not confident that would work.

 

[Farmer Piles]

Hempel Silic One or similar? Relies on creating a smooth coat that weed, etc.. can't fix to so non toxic andsupposed to last a few years.

 

[jwilson]

My 30' fin keel cruiser gets lifted out every other year and is given a thick layer of antifouling which works fine in year 1 and a bit less so towards the end of year 2. This costs me a lift-out, a month ashore plus 11 ltr of good quality antifoul, a total of around £1000 every other year. And I add 5.5 litres of poison to the seas each year.

I'm thinking about the possibility of ceasing antifouling and, instead, drying out against scrubbing piles two or three times per year and pressure washing the hull clean. The cost savings would be useful plus I'd be inflicting less damage on the environment.

There are scrubbing piles close to where I moor and I don't race so am not too worried about a bit of growth developing between washes.

Does this sound feasible/sensible? Does anyone else do this?

You must be in a ridiculously high fouling area if you need 11 litres of AF for two years on a 30-footer. I use 2.5 litres a year on a 35-footer, though I do lift out every winter. For many years I only AF-ed every 4 or 5 years, but that was with TBT and I swam and scrubbed maybe 4-5 times a year. But that was in warm water, not UK.

 

[Tranona]

You're right - it's 6 ltr, 5+1 not 10+1. My mistake. Coppercoat might be tricky as my cast iron keel bubbles up with rust. I treat it each time it gets lifted out but would need very careful treatment if I wanted it to not shed the coppercoat for at least 10 years. I'm not confident that would work.

You are right, difficult to get Coppercoat (or rather epoxy) to stick to cast iron, but good quality blasting followed by 5 coats of an epoxy such as Hempadur will give it a fighting chance. Not unusual to do just the hull and use AF on the keel, or do the whole lot and then if you get bubbles on the keel, local patching and maybe eventually conventional AF on the keel.

 

[johnalison]

Hempel Silic One or similar? Relies on creating a smooth coat that weed, etc.. can't fix to so non toxic andsupposed to last a few years.

Fine if your boat will do eight or more knots to make it self-clean.

 

[Rappey]

. I use 2.5 litres a year on a 35-footer

I have managed similar. I put it down to very thin antifoul.
I've used another brand with a 6" masonary Roller and nearly managed to use 6 litres with one coat ! It was a much thicker a/f but was very fast to apply and could put it on with a decent thickness .
Between tides does not allow for the minimum drying time before immersion but I've not heard about anyone having a problem and if your really keen you could just about get two coats on in a tide.

 

[Aeolus]

I'm hoping for feedback on the idea of not using antifoul, just relying on pressure cleaning every 2 or 3 months.

 

[LONG_KEELER]

The above is a small piece of plastic sheet on a line dangling at about 3'6" at my marina berth. If you double click on the images it may be a bit clearer. I put three good coats of Hempel Hard Racing every 2 years. One side, on the left is divided in two. The upper half has no antifoul but was cleaned about 4 weeks ago. The other half has the Hempel antifoul and was also wiped clean at the same time. It may be worth mentioning that the slime does not come off either, even swishing it about in the water , so a good sail is unlikely to clear slime. The reverse side has had no antifouling and has been untouched since May of this year when launched.

I clean the bottom every two or three weeks during the season with a "Scrubbis" broom from the pontoon.

The untouched side is what happens when you don't do anything and tells some kind of story on what to expect.

The downside is that the hard racing builds up in thickness and removal will be required more often. The system works for me and I suppose we all have our own ideas on how to control fouling. As less biocides are being added to conventional antifoul, Coppercoat will probably work for me as it can take the scrubbing.

 

[Wansworth]

I dry sailed my Albin Vega from Chichester harbour without applying AF.In the water about six weeks with no sign of growth.Simple toputa boat on the piles and stub off as required.Hains the local boatbuilder has foryears been drying out the fleet of racing craft for a scrub,boats painted with a white bottom,your idea quiet feasible

 

[Neeves]

My 30' fin keel cruiser gets lifted out every other year and is given a thick layer of antifouling which works fine in year 1 and a bit less so towards the end of year 2. This costs me a lift-out, a month ashore plus 11 ltr of good quality antifoul, a total of around £1000 every other year. And I add 5.5 litres of poison to the seas each year.

I'm thinking about the possibility of ceasing antifouling and, instead, drying out against scrubbing piles two or three times per year and pressure washing the hull clean. The cost savings would be useful plus I'd be inflicting less damage on the environment.

There are scrubbing piles close to where I moor and I don't race so am not too worried about a bit of growth developing between washes.

Does this sound feasible/sensible? Does anyone else do this?

Why do you need a month ashore to complete antifouling? Power wash, wait for hull to dry, paint, paint second coat, change anodes 2 days max - done.

If you use top of the range paint, and it depends on the level of fouling in your local water, you will achieve 2 years life (assumes you use your yacht regularly).

You could leave your yacht to foul for 4 months (that's washing 3 times a year) - but as you foul you will use more fuel - with some environmental impact.

If you want to minimise environmental impact - dry sail. It may cost as much, or as little as keeping your yacht on a pontoon.

 

[thinwater]

These thread pop up now and then. I know people who have boldly said they would do this. They all hauled and painted within a few months. You can't keep up, and if you leave the boat for a few months, it may be hard to clean without risking barrier coat hull damamge with heavy scraping.

Two coats of a QUALITY 2-year paint, 2-3 days depending on the schedule.