What I might did wrong with my antifauling?

[slawosz]

Boat ashore. It seems to be better this year, although there was thick amount of growth, but like 1-2 mm, not more. I am thinking about putting coppercoat, but is a bit complicated, lot can go wrong. Price is not huge for all the years that I won't need to do anything. And I can scrub coppercoat mid season with brush. This year, I scrubbed AF with soft cloth mid July.

 

[Bobc]

Boat ashore. It seems to be better this year, although there was thick amount of growth, but like 1-2 mm, not more. I am thinking about putting coppercoat, but is a bit complicated, lot can go wrong. Price is not huge for all the years that I won't need to do anything. And I can scrub coppercoat mid season with brush. This year, I scrubbed AF with soft cloth mid July.

Looks like you used a cheap antifouling like Dulux. Forget Coppercoat, just buy a strong antifoul like CU45 from SLM Paints.

 

[Sandy]

Boat ashore. It seems to be better this year, although there was thick amount of growth, but like 1-2 mm, not more. I am thinking about putting coppercoat, but is a bit complicated, lot can go wrong. Price is not huge for all the years that I won't need to do anything. And I can scrub coppercoat mid season with brush. This year, I scrubbed AF with soft cloth mid July.

Coppercoat is AMAZING stuff. Just make sure that you get it applied properly. Ideally, sprayed on in a shed in the middle of summer.

Had my boat done three years a go and a wipe down to remove the slime is all it needs. I was lifted out this winter since getting it done and it did not even need a power wash. In three years it has almost paid for itself. It is rated to last 10 years so I've another seven years of cost, and ball aching, free antifouling.

 

[Daydream believer]

My experience of coppercoat is that it does not work as claimed. I only launch for the sailing season & have to haulout for a scrub mid season

 

[Biggles Wader]

Looks like you used a cheap antifouling like Dulux. Forget Coppercoat, just buy a strong antifoul like CU45 from SLM Paints.

Agree. Get hold of some commercial quality antifoul and it should last you three years. Cheaper than coppercoat especially if you go shares with three or even four other smallish boats

 

[Tranona]

Coppercoat is AMAZING stuff. Just make sure that you get it applied properly. Ideally, sprayed on in a shed in the middle of summer.

Had my boat done three years a go and a wipe down to remove the slime is all it needs. I was lifted out this winter since getting it done and it did not even need a power wash. In three years it has almost paid for itself. It is rated to last 10 years so I've another seven years of cost, and ball aching, free antifouling.

+1. If you have a long time horizon with the boat, then Coppercoat is a good investment. It works - far more people are satisfied than the odd one who says it does not. The main complaints come poor adhesion to iron keels or poor application.

 

[Laser310]

although I'm a British citizen, I've never owned a boat in Britain - only in the USA

I have a diver clean my boat every two weeks for the season - and i don't race it.

This is not an uncommon practice in the USA, as i don't think anyone expects bottom paint to do the job by itself.

it seems that in Britain, the belief is that one can just paint the bottom, and expect it to stay clean all season- is that right?

Even though I don't race my boat, i do use a racing paint - VC Offshore by Interlux. although one can touch up a bit it pretty much needs to be professionally sprayed. It is a very hard paint that burnishes to quite a smooth, even shiny, surface.

I just hauled my boat for the season, and there was more crud than I was happy with - i was thinking of having a word with the diver...

 

[thinwater]

No wonder the OP is confused. So much scattered advise.

And missing information. If he said what paint he used, I missed it. Soft vs. hard, multi-season vs. single. No mention of surface prep. No pictures or descriptions of other boats from his area, since they are all different.

I just place panels with ~ 25 paints in the wate for a long term test. 6 are on the boat. We'll see.

 

[slawosz]

No wonder the OP is confused. So much scattered advise.

And missing information. If he said what paint he used, I missed it.

Regarding paint, I used Flag Cruising. I think I mentioned it somewhere - but thread grow quite a lot.

Regarding Coppercoat - I know it has mixed opinions. I am planning to do it exactly as manufacturer said. There is lot of interesting materials on the YT and they give some advice. Even if I will have some growth it will be less then now, will be much easier to clean in using brush or jet wash. Plus no antifauling job before season. I might take a look into some products mentioned here as well.

 

[Elemental]

Just for info, I used Cupro from SML the last couple of times... It's rated for the years, I put on two coats, then recoated after one year. Two years later I saw very minimal fouling on haulout. Boat is marina based at Shotley on the East Coast.
I have a new boat coming soon. She'll have coppercoat applied at the factory....

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

Correct. Turnover can mean a number of things, and to the unitiated be confusing.
However, my use of the word turnover was used in the normal understanding, that is income that is derived from sales, regardless of payment methods, and includes the debtors account for the same period as turnover.
Profits occur after deducting cost of sales which, depending on the type of business can include all expenses connected to the production of a product. That is gross profit.
Deducting rentals, utilities etc from gross gives you operating profit, from which taxes, loan charges if any gives you a Nett profit.
If however there isnt any then you may be operating insolvently, and continuing to do so is a serious offence.

Most accountants and financial experts, God save us from them, are not businessmen, entrepreneurs, traders, risk takers, and as such are rarely involved in decision making at boardroom level, other than their submitted reports.

My wife, for my sins, is both an accountant and an enterpreneurial businesswoman, (as well as being an outstanding I.S.A. Keelboat Instructor), and it is she who told me this.

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

Will do! Will buy proper stirrer. I bought paint soon after lockdown (first one) eased, so this could be the case.

Regarding false economy - I got my boat in June 2019 just antifouled, and previous owner claimed he put Flag on her. After 4 months in the water, there was just a slime. Hence trying the Flag again. But I am more and more inclined to Coppercoat the boat. Coppercoat said it would cost 400 quid, which is reasonable (4 x good antifouling, as my owner association says you need 2.5 liters for 2 coats + bit on edges). Although I need to do investigation, as some people in my club claims CC does not work so well. Although I don't mind to swim mid-season and clean up the hull, so with CC I can use more aggressive tools.

If you buy a drill powered stirrer, make sure that the drill is in forward gear

 

[Tranona]

No wonder the OP is confused. So much scattered advise.

And missing information. If he said what paint he used, I missed it. Soft vs. hard, multi-season vs. single. No mention of surface prep. No pictures or descriptions of other boats from his area, since they are all different.

I just place panels with ~ 25 paints in the wate for a long term test. 6 are on the boat. We'll see.

That is just the nature of the beast. No one type of AF is best, nor does paying more necessarily get better results. Add to that some treatments are better (or worse) in one location compared with another, and even in the same location from year to year. The magazines here have done regular tests like yours over the years with different formulations in different locations using both test panels and real boats. All this does is confirm my second sentence.

Coppercoat if properly applied is generally good as an antifoul in most situations and cleans off more easily than others, usually just a wash, but its real bonus is the life between recoating and the lower annual cost and workload - particularly if you pay for annual antifoul.

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

To the OP; The fouling on your boat seems to be mainly vegetative, rather than marine mollusc. Marine plant life thrives best when light levels are highest, e.g. less fouling in Winter than in Summer, more fouling near the surface. The deeper you go under the surface, the less the light penetrates. This is demonstrated by the distribution of fouling on your hull and keel. You would perhaps have been better off having put one coat on the keel and two on the hull
But, as advised above two thick coats all over, plus an extra coat on the leading edges of the rudder, keel and forefoot seems about right. The best tool to use is a 'wooly' roller on a radiator roller frame. The short roller can allow your efforts to conform to concave curves more effectively as well as the lighter weight aspect mentioned above. Attached is Internation Yacht Paint's guide book, where there are formulae for calculating quantities on Page 4. To be sure you have the correct thickness of antifouling on your hull, buy the correct quantity for your boat and keep painting until it is used up.
https://international.brand.akzonobel.com/m/133b49fdfb592bdb/original/Boat-Painting-Guide-Aus-NZ.pdf

 

[thinwater]

PBO paint review.
Regarding paint, I used Flag Cruising. I think I mentioned it somewhere - but thread grow quite a lot.

Regarding Coppercoat - I know it has mixed opinions. I am planning to do it exactly as manufacturer said. There is lot of interesting materials on the YT and they give some advice. Even if I will have some growth it will be less then now, will be much easier to clean in using brush or jet wash. Plus no antifauling job before season. I might take a look into some products mentioned here as well.

You cannot effectively scrub an ablative paint like Flag Cruising. You probably scrubbed off most of the paint. It also appears to be a super low-end paint for low fouling areas (read the label) I would not expect to work well. Try Pettit Odyssy HD as an economical alternative. But good AF paint is not cheap. Sorry to bear bad news. Pettit Odyssy Triton is very good and several times as expensive as what you paid.

If you feel in-water scrubbing will be needed, use a hard paint.

There are VERY few reports of success with Coppercoat in high fouling areas like yours. Surface prep must be near perfect, and I think you will be disappointed. There are good reasons it is not popular, but we could all be wrong.

Try reading the PBO review.PBO review. In the US, Practical Sailor reviews paints.

 

[Rappey]

My friends boat in portsmouth harbour which is generally high fouling has copper coat.. It was not doing that great, probably because the boat was not used for a long period.. He threw caution to the wind and attacked in with p80 and electric sander.. since then im astonished how well its been working over the past year...
One problem with commercial for sailing boats is that its generally for ships that rarely stop and do an average of 18 knts.. It is not great on small private leisure boats..

 

[jwfrary]

Hempel Globic and Jotun Quantum Ultra - 2 excellent AF - professional use only. Globic is better than Olympic - both Globic and Quantum are expensive. Quantum was the AF of choice for Maersk (if its good enough for them, its good enough for me!(

Apply any AF liberally - don't try to eke it out (which is what most appear to do) - spread it thickly - its thickness that does the work not getting the colour coverage, If you spread it thinly it simply will not last long - and slipping is a large part of your AF costs. If you are having your AF done by a sub-contractor specifiy what AF you want used - and check they use it (appear unexpectedly and check the tins! - you are paying).

Jonathan

I was under the impression from both these companies that the paint was licenced for commercial use only....

Mille NCT from hempel is professional application only and the two pack one from international (I cant remember the name of) which I expect is ok if wearing the correct pipe.

Antifouling for ships generally relies on a faster sea service speed 20 or so knots than most sailors achieve. Also they are designed for short stationary periods, so may not work as well as you might assume and also leech more into the environment than your fair share to boot.

In the OP's case it seems not enough of it applied and perhaps a different product next time.

 

[Rappey]

it seems that in Britain, the belief is that one can just paint the bottom, and expect it to stay clean all season- is that right?

It used to be when tbt based antifoul was available ! Now it just seems to be less effective every year as more of the nasties get removed from paints.

 

[WoodyP]

Perhaps a change of antifoul. Jotun is good stuff. Two coats.

 

[Tranona]

There are VERY few reports of success with Coppercoat in high fouling areas like yours. Surface prep must be near perfect, and I think you will be disappointed. There are good reasons it is not popular, but we could all be wrong.

Would you care to expand on this and provide some concrete evidence to support the statement - which in itself does not make sense. Surely if it is no good in heavy fouling areas you would get large numbers of reports of failure rather than " VERY few reports of success". Surely if it is successful people are unlikely to report on it - in general people only complain of lack of success.

BTW I would not call the OPs level of fouling particularly heavy given that he used a low cost basic product. Much the same as I would get in the past in an all year round marina berth with a similar AF. In the same berth with Coppercoat I just get slime. Note that the waterline on his boat needs raising, but pretty sure that coppercoat would be a good investment - and would work as an effective antifoul - if he was keeping the boat.