What colour antifoul?

[jcpa]

Not the most significant quandary that I've ever faced, but a quandary is still a quandary.

My new boat has had several previous owners, and currently sports various layers of blue and (lastly) black antifoul (all self eroding it seems). I am fed up with getting black gunge on me and smudging it up the topsides (eg. when climbing aboard from my dinghy or after a swim). I think I want to overcoat the old layers with white (the boot top is mid-blue, the topsides are white - AWB, and the spray hood, etc is also min-blue). But would the old layers bleed through? In which case, could I go to blue, and would navy be better than mid blue.

I would be grateful for any thoughts!

 

[ash2020]

I always alternate each year, maybe light blue then black, so it's easy to see if I've missed a bit.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

We use white so we can see what shite is growing down there.

 

[Refueler]

Whatever self eroding you use - will allow you to smudge onto other surfaces ... and even if you use white - it will discolour and still mark ...

What you could do - if you don't mind the extra cost .... use the regular self-eroding for most underhull - but the upper section .. say top 20cm's or so in Hard ..... but you would need to remove the old AF first before applying the hard.

 

[Daydream believer]

White is not such an effective colour in eroding antifoul paints. Stay with black or dark blue.

 

[Sandy]

Always black.

Why you are getting all over the boat is unusual.

 

[Neeves]

Colour makes no difference to the efficacy of most anti fouls though white might be worse than others.

White anti foul is not white but a blue/green shade of white. White, or blue/green white, does show up fouling as Chiara says.

Use red and it will contrast with what is already there and you will know, easily, when your AF has thinned out to the point of disappearing. Red is good as when your keel falls off and your yacht capsizes - red is the easiest colour to see from a rescue helicopter - all the other colours, white, blue, black, green, merge with the seascape.

Jonathan

 

[steveeasy]

I use white and previously it was blue. No sign of blue leeched thru. To keep it looking good your need to give it a brush mid season.

Steveeasy

 

[jcpa]

Thanks all of you for your very helpful contributions - most of which confirm my thoughts and fears. I was expecting someone to say I needed to scrape (or blast) off all the old and start again. Ideally that may be right, but it would be impossible given the club's lift-in schedule! And, of course, blasting is not allowed in the club's yard!

I will probably go for mid-blue - not navy (too dark) and not light (bit anaemic). Hopefully that will cover the black, which still exists over most most of the underwater hull, and should indicate when the top coat has thinned out. I only began considering white very recently, when I wondered if it might look a bit cleaner or brighter.

Anyway, thanks for all your comments

 

[Bouba]

I prefer white so that it matches the rest of the boat....the wife prefers a darker color...I also have employed the light followed by dark and back to white so that it’s easy to spot missing patches. But quite often I just go with whatever choice the yard that does the work is offering.

 

[Captain Crisp]

Apparently orcas are particularly attracted to black antifoul!
(according to this bloke I know...)

 

[Stemar]

I use the colour the Admiral tells me to use, or the closest I can get. She doesn't like blue or red, so Jazzcat has a black bottom and a grey boot top.

I couldn't get a grey boot top, so I got white and added some black pigment bought to make grey filler for the deck. One thing it's done is show me that getting the colour somewhere near right for the deck is not going to be straightforward, as the deck is a creamy grey rather than a pure mix of black and white

 

[Dellquay13]

I use the colour the Admiral tells me to use, or the closest I can get. She doesn't like blue or red, so Jazzcat has a black bottom and a grey boot top.

I couldn't get a grey boot top, so I got white and added some black pigment bought to make grey filler for the deck. One thing it's done is show me that getting the colour somewhere near right for the deck is not going to be straightforward, as the deck is a creamy grey rather than a pure mix of black and white

Hempel anti slip deck paint in light grey is surprisingly a near perfect match to my cream gel coat. From the other side of the pontoon it’s hard to spot the difference between the paint strips and the bare gelcoat. It takes a tiny edge off the overall aura of MABiness compared to the old pale blue deck paint

 

[Major Tom]

I have gone for red, one because it was discounted stock, and two, because as mentioned above, orcas are reported to favour black and dark hulls - bright red not being a colour found amongst large sea creatures, so hopefully not mistaken as such.

 

[Bouba]

Do fish have better eyesight than dogs

 

[Boathook]

I use the colour the Admiral tells me to use, or the closest I can get. She doesn't like blue or red, so Jazzcat has a black bottom and a grey boot top.

I couldn't get a grey boot top, so I got white and added some black pigment bought to make grey filler for the deck. One thing it's done is show me that getting the colour somewhere near right for the deck is not going to be straightforward, as the deck is a creamy grey rather than a pure mix of black and white

Someone who knows a lot about Catalac's said that the grey was white with a bit of black added during production. Big problem is that the gel coat would have faded over the years so will require some mixing.

If you know a reasonable artist they are normally good with colours, and could mix up some pigments ready to add to clear gelcoat.

 

[Sandy]

Apparently orcas are particularly attracted to black antifoul!
(according to this bloke I know...)

The research on this would be interesting to read. Do you have a source, other than a bloke you know?

I am thinking of returning to A Coruña in the next few years.

 

[Captain Crisp]

The research on this would be interesting to read. Do you have a source, other than a bloke you know?

I am thinking of returning to A Coruña in the next few years.

Apologies, thought I'd answered...
A quick search turned this up:
In Focus: Black antifoul suspected cause of orca attacks

 

[B27]

I don't like blue or especially red, because when you scrub the boat, it makes a very obvious mess, while black or white just fades into the local mud here. Pink seagulls anyone?
We do get dolphins playing around the boat, but not as a contact sport . So far!

 

[westernman]

I use the colour the Admiral tells me to use, or the closest I can get. She doesn't like blue or red, so Jazzcat has a black bottom and a grey boot top.

I couldn't get a grey boot top, so I got white and added some black pigment bought to make grey filler for the deck. One thing it's done is show me that getting the colour somewhere near right for the deck is not going to be straightforward, as the deck is a creamy grey rather than a pure mix of black and white

Also note that women are far better at seeing slight differences in colours than men are.
So you may be happy with the colour you mixed, but she won't be.

Men and Women Really Do See Things Differently