Silic One prop antifoul - rubbish

[Tintin]

Last season I decided to try the Hempel silic one propeller antifoul system. I did all the prep correctly, and at haul out this year the prop resembled a sea life centre. To be fair I didn't use the prop as much as I should.

So I decided to try it again this year.

Did the prep meticulously. Boat went back in. Turned the engine on, forward gear, and noticed it all floating away in my wake.

Prop is now a nice primer colour with no silic one left.

Am not gonna waste money on this again, so the quest for prop a/f continues, and am gonna have to scrub it this year regularly.

 

[superheat6k]

Have you tried Velox ?

 

[Neeves]

I hate to be contrary but:

Th fact the first time you used it and the coating did not all float away suggests that the second time you applied, and it did float away, then the second application was different to the first. I don't think you have proven Silic One useless, though it may be I think you have proven your idea of identical and meticulous application might be flawed.

All modern AF of any type depends on the vessel being moved (and prop turned) - if it sits idle then it will collect slime and the fouling will grow on the slime, whether it is Velox, Prop Speed or anything else.

We use Velox (we have tried Trilux, which is a sort of dilute version of Velox, Prop Speed, Prop Gold, I'm a qualified applicator of the latter!, and coating with Lanolin. - We use the yacht frequently - but we still clean the prop and wipe down the hull every 3 months, or so (primarily to remove slime). We are in the water all year round. Velox is, for us, the best of a not very successful solution.

If it is any consolation - once when we tried Trilux I coated (primed) with Interprotect (that was the recommendation) and I followed the instruction meticulously - after 4 days of sailing, and 400nm, most of the Trilux and Interprotect had fallen off. I was not impressed - and assumed my idea of meticulous was flawed. I did try again, everything stayed on - including the fouling.

My experiences with prop and hull AF are all documented in Practical Sailor.

I have found no remarkable prop AF but we are keen on Jotun Sea Quantum Ultra for the hull. Hempel's Globic is also good (and both are better than anything International offer - with a direct comparison). Sadly both have restrictions on who can use them in Europe - though I believe this can be 'overcome'.

Jonathan

 

[Yngmar]

Have you tried Velox ?

Whilst I've been a strong proponent of Velox Plus so far, I've seen ours utterly defeated this winter in Licata, a port well known for it's extreme fouling. The surrounding Coppercoat struggled too with tubeworms, but much less so and as usual things couldn't stick to it well so was fairly easy to clean in the water. All the Velox Plus coated parts were however covered thickly in tubeworm and barnacle growth, to the point where the propeller was barely producing any thrust. This was despite running the engine in gear every two weeks to blast stuff off (and you could see plenty flying away with the propwash). It took a lot of time and grunt to knock it all off, as unlike on the Coppercoat it did not come off easily.

Interestingly, the Velox was mostly intact underneath and since I've used a plastic scraper, most of it is still there. Will see if it has failed completely or if it will do the job for the summer in less fertile waters. Next haulout is planned in Winter.

Another cruiser has decided to apply Coppercoat on his saildrives and propellers, so I'm curious to hear back how that went. I didn't do it as AMC changed their mind about this being safe to do, although in theory it should be.

The Silic One was putting me off with high cost and limited lifespan. I'm a big fan of more permanent solutions like Coppercoat and not afraid of diving in and doing a bit of scrubbing myself.

 

[Quandary]

Are you sure it does not have something to do with the recognized problem with silicone coatings, that is, that once applied nothing will ever stick to that surface again, other than marine organisms of course.

 

[KAL]

I had Silic One applied to the prop, professionally, a couple of years ago. At haul out, it was obvious that much of it had simply gone. I’ve gone back to coating the prop with Hammerite special metals primer (the only thing, apart from barnacles, that has ever stuck to the prop) then three coats of Trilux, abraded between each coat.