Making your own Antifouling

[Guest]

Since the beginning of this year is copperbased antifouling in the Netherlands forbidden. The reason lies in the protection of the enviroment. A good tought. Unfortunately there is no working alternative for sale. I bought allowed antifouling from International and that is already fouled quite severe within 6 weeks.
Is it possible to make your own antifouling or add something to existing antifoulings so it work properly? Naturally if a good working environment friendly antifouling will become available I will buy that.

This is a very good example of how thing are being regulated over here. They forbid things but they do not give an acceptable alternative

 

[vyv_cox]

Over the years that this forum has existed there have been many suggestions regarding alternatives to commercial antifoulings. Baby's bottom creams, Lanolin, zinc oxide pastes, have all been recommended but then rejected as people tried them. Later there were suggestions that mixing red pepper with various of these products would make them fouling proof, but experience suggested that none of these were effective. Recently there have been several advocates of either Vaseline applied hot, or black lead, for antifouling propellers, followed by postings from dissatisfied users of these same methods.

Unfortunately, the commercial products themselves have gradually become weaker and less effective, with the result that virtually no antifoulings seem to last a full season. Even in countries where copper based products are not banned, it seems that the additive antibiotics and chemicals are becoming so restricted that copper alone is nearly useless.

It will surely not be long before no effective antifoulings will be available anywhere. At the moment the only proven and legal way to keep your hull clean is to scrub it regularly. This situation is going to get worse. The market is wide open for a completely new approach, such as the "car-wash" method that somebody built a few years ago. Whatever happened to that? Hauling out on a monthly basis to scrub is prohibitively expensive, but surely there must be other ways? What about underwater high pressure water washing? Ultrasonic baths? How about a big tank with ports down the sides that have gasketted brushes permanently installed? You could then scrub your hull manually with the boat still afloat.

 

[keplero]

By hearsay, somebody experienced with success wax instead of auntifouling.
I have never tried but .... if you have no choice....
Good luck !


Max

 

[bedouin]

The 'car wash' has recently re-emerged at Haslar - I'm still waiting to find someone who has tried it.

 

[heerenleed]

Oh yes, there is a good alternative. It's called Sealskin. We have it on our boat since three years now. Apart from some minor damages we did not have to do anything. It has to be applied professionally though. Have a look at my earlier posts on Which Antifouling or go to www.stevensjachtbouw.nl and click on Sealskin for an explanation in Dutch. (I gather that's where you live, you did not fill in your profile)

good luck

Peter a/b SV Heerenleed, Steenbergen, Netherlands

 

[billmacfarlane]

VCM do , or used to do an antifoul based on Teflon , the theory being that it makes the hull to slippy for any fouling to occur. I don't know if it's still available and whether it's effective or not.

 

[dickh]

Re: Making your own Antifouling/Sealcoat??

As previous post from dutch poster, has any one else tried sealcoat?? I've looked at their web site sealcoats.com and it looks interesting - used on anything underwater etc.
dickh

 

[vyv_cox]

Re: Making your own Antifouling/Sealcoat??

A Dutch yard owner who operates very close to Dintelmond, one of the licencees of Sealcoat, told me two years ago that it didn't work. I would be glad to hear of experience to the contrary but have not so far.

As I understand fouling, it progresses in distinct phases. First phase is always slime, followed by either weed or shell or a mixture of the two. If I look at natural surfaces that become covered in slime, they are often composed of fibres, i.e. just like Sealcoat. Leave a nylon sack or fur coat in the water for a few weeks and it will become coated in slime. Leave them both a few weeks more and the shell/weed will start.

There is a well established testing facility for antifouling at Poole. At one time a colleague used to go there on a monthly basis to evaluate coatings that he was working on. I would like to see Sealcoat tested there, in the nearest we have to standard conditions.

A friend tried the Teflon coating marketed then by VC about five years ago. It was an unmitigated disaster. International's hard scrubbable with Teflon has a high copper content and is banned in Holland.

 

[heerenleed]

Re: Making your own Antifouling/Sealcoat??

I have. And succesfully so. After 3 years of use still no repairs necessary, apart from some manor damages. No fouling. Just some slime which can be hosed off once lifted out. Read my other posts on this.


Peter a/b SV Heerenleed, Steenbergen, Netherlands

 

[dickh]

Re: Making your own Antifouling/Sealcoat??

Interesting, are you in salt water or fresh? and are you tidal? Perhaps there is a difference in dutch / UK waters( or perhaps we have more pollutants...) As previous post it would interesting to have a trial in say Poole and other areas to test against established a/f. Who is the UK distributor for sealcoat and would they be willing to subject it to such a comparison. Also does the hull material make a difference. So many questions... would be nice to have some firm evidence from trials.

 

[quaelgeist2]

..and another boat wash is -as a pilot- in the Marina in Medemblik/Ijsselmeer.
Should be fully operational soon.
So far they are only allowed to treat non-antifouled boats (in order to not have hazardous waste from the brush off).
I saw a couple of test boats cleaned in about 20min, very impressive indeed.
chris

 

[bedouin]

Re: Making your own Antifouling/Sealcoat??

Reading their website closely, sealcoat only claim to be effective against 'hard fouling', it doesn't appear to claim to prevent slime or weed.

I'm thinking of investing in scuba gear and a scrubbing brush!

 

[heerenleed]

Re: Making your own Antifouling/Sealcoat??

I'm usually in fresh water, non tidal, but normally in summer weekends in sea water. We live aboard and therefore we remain in the water all through the winter. Still no real fouling. We know that in some places there is a little bit more fouling, you can read my earlier posts on this. You can find SealCoat on www.sealcoats.com or send them an email for more details.



Peter a/b SV Heerenleed, Steenbergen, Netherlands

 

[vyv_cox]

Re: Making your own Antifouling/Sealcoat??

Unfortunately, this is not a very severe duty. When I kept my boat on the sea in Anglesey it was well known that if you put your boat into Port Dinorwic (fresh water) for a week it would remove all seawater fouling. It was cheaper than hauling out and pressure washing. I keep my boat at Hellevoetsluis (fresh water) with weekend and summer cruise trips onto the sea and I get relatively minor coatings of black slime, even when I had no antifouling at all. My boat remains in the water all winter. We brush from the dinghy a couple of times per year, most slime is on the topmost 50-60 cm plus the rudder and virtually all is removed by this. Sometime in late summer we haul out and get pressure washed, but there is rarely very much fouling.

 

[heerenleed]

Re: Making your own Antifouling/Sealcoat??

I know. But then again, my boat is taken out every spring at the yard where the stuff is applied, and I see other boats that are in different places which mostly good results. I suggest you contact them in Dintelmond (www.stevensjachtbouw.nl) and check when a boat kept in sea water is being hauled out. Then you can see for yourself is the result suites you.

Peter a/b SV Heerenleed, Steenbergen, Netherlands

 

[Trevethan]

Is that coppersheeting they wrote about in last month's Sailing Today also banned? Basically its copper foil with an epoxy based adhesive on the back and you "tile" your boat with it. Claims to last a long time. At first I thought it was an April Fool joke, but they mentioned it again in this month's.

Maybe because you are copper plating your boat with metal rather than painting on a compound it might fall outside the law?

 

[vyv_cox]

No, it's copper. I wanted to Copperbot my boat about three years ago but was not allowed to.

 

[AndrewB]

Trained Mullet?

In Dover marina there is a large shoal of grey mullet that do a wonderful job nibbling the algae off the bottom of yachts. It pays not to antifoul, as they avoid yachts with fresh antifouling.

I've just come out for the first time in three years, and my yacht has no more than a slight coating of slime. Maybe the ecological solution is trained mullet?

 

[peterk]

hi,
I don't live in Europe
about a decade ago I read in a US sailing mag
that an antibiotic mixed in with soft or semisoft bottompaint
would double the aintfouling properties.

I tried it when I careened the next time.

It did NOT double the clean time
but :
after six months in the tropics
my test patches had a lot less fuzz on them
than the rest of the boat
which already had small barnacles growing, inspite of monthly brushing
after the 3rd month.

I understand they sell an antibiotic additive to bottompaint now in the States.

I don't know anything about it's environmental impact.

I do know that antibiotics are used in fish-and shrimp farming
and the seafoof thus produced is not to be ingested in quantity.

...peter, www.juprowa.com/kittel

 

[Keithw]

I have read the same article, and have tried the idea on my boat. I agree, it does increase the time between antifouling substantially. The antibiotic mentioned was tetracycline. It is important to use tetracycline base rather than the hydrochloride which is very water soluble and leaches from the antifouling quickly. A cheaper version of the antibiotic can sometimes be obtained from a veterinary practice. Be sure to mix the powder in to a small quantity of antifoul first then into the bulk amount. The effect on the environment should be minimal considering the small quantities involved and it's rapid degeneration once into the water.