Nick_H
Well-Known Member
Whizzed the Windy up to the Sealift in Cowes yesterday for a hull clean. There have been a few questions about the Sealift, so I took a couple of pics.
You approach the lift with it submerged, and steer the boat between the two vertical beams
They chuck you a bow line, and then clamp the boat loosely with the beams while the whole sealift rises out of the water. The boat slips down against the beams until the keel rests on the support blocks.
The guys then powerwash the hull, and scrub the stern gear, then lower the Sealift until the boat floats off.
It was the first opportunity to see how the Coppercoat is doing, which was put on a year ago, and the boat has been in the water since. There was a lot of algae on the hull, whereas the patch that I hadn't been able to Coppercoat, and had been quickly brushed with antifoul by the hoist staff (the red bit), was pretty clear.
That said, there were no barnacles or tubeworms, which there were on the strip around the outdrives which hadn't been treated with anything.
It got more interesting when the algae was powerwashed off. It became clear that some of the Coppercoat has oxidised and gone green, and some hasn't
It was all done at the same time, and I had an electric mixer in use constantly so I know the epoxy and copper powder were mixed well. I can only think that when the roller got drier, it left more of the copper powder exposed, which would explain why it seems to follow the roller strokes. When the roller was loaded with paint, maybe the epoxy completely covered the surface of each copper granule, and stopped it reacting with the sea water? It's a guess, but i'm fairly confident it's the case. That suggests you need to sand the coppercoat after applying it, although the suppliers advice is a bit vague on that and suggests that it's not necessary. What I don't know is whether the oxidised bits performed better than the unreacted bits, as all the algae had been washed off by then.
Unfortunately I was so engrossed in this, that it was a while before I checked the anodes, and I foolishly assumed that the Sealift would stock standard sizes. They don't, and it was too late to go and get some as they had another boat coming in, so I need to lift the boat again now! Has anyone changed the prop anodes on a DPH drive with the boat in the water?
You approach the lift with it submerged, and steer the boat between the two vertical beams
They chuck you a bow line, and then clamp the boat loosely with the beams while the whole sealift rises out of the water. The boat slips down against the beams until the keel rests on the support blocks.
The guys then powerwash the hull, and scrub the stern gear, then lower the Sealift until the boat floats off.
It was the first opportunity to see how the Coppercoat is doing, which was put on a year ago, and the boat has been in the water since. There was a lot of algae on the hull, whereas the patch that I hadn't been able to Coppercoat, and had been quickly brushed with antifoul by the hoist staff (the red bit), was pretty clear.
That said, there were no barnacles or tubeworms, which there were on the strip around the outdrives which hadn't been treated with anything.
It got more interesting when the algae was powerwashed off. It became clear that some of the Coppercoat has oxidised and gone green, and some hasn't
It was all done at the same time, and I had an electric mixer in use constantly so I know the epoxy and copper powder were mixed well. I can only think that when the roller got drier, it left more of the copper powder exposed, which would explain why it seems to follow the roller strokes. When the roller was loaded with paint, maybe the epoxy completely covered the surface of each copper granule, and stopped it reacting with the sea water? It's a guess, but i'm fairly confident it's the case. That suggests you need to sand the coppercoat after applying it, although the suppliers advice is a bit vague on that and suggests that it's not necessary. What I don't know is whether the oxidised bits performed better than the unreacted bits, as all the algae had been washed off by then.
Unfortunately I was so engrossed in this, that it was a while before I checked the anodes, and I foolishly assumed that the Sealift would stock standard sizes. They don't, and it was too late to go and get some as they had another boat coming in, so I need to lift the boat again now! Has anyone changed the prop anodes on a DPH drive with the boat in the water?
