Which antifouling?

[davidphillips]

Can anyone advise a suitable antifouling. I'm moored in a tidal river (Southampton Itchen) and am aground in mud at low tide. Last year's antifouling lasted about 2-3 months before we acquired a zoo of barnacles and weed. I guess the layer of mud on the hull protects marine organisms against the biocides in the paint.

 

[Gaffer]

You are absolutely right, the mud you sit in at low tide forms a layer on the antifouling which seals it and prevents it from working, then the fouling grows on the layer of mud. Antifouling paints are formulated to work when constantly imersed in water, any other senario reduces it's performance. Your best bet is to apply a "cheepie" antifouling as money spent on an expensive one will be money wasted. You are saving money by being on a drying mooring, so the down side is that you have to put up with the concequences. Just keep an eye on the fouling and when it has built up to a point where you notice the drag when under way go on the scrubbing piles and clean off.

 

[Guest]

Sitting on a drying mooring will certainly not help the anti-fouling to do its job. However since the change in law about what is and is not permitted in an antifouling paint, I would be inclined to recommend the cheapest one possible! Our last boat had a drying mooring on the East Coast, and we used Mariner Speedclean at about £25 for 2.5ltr tin which did as good a job as a boat just ahead of us in the river also on a drying mooring that was using a well known brand (no names no pack drill!!) at over £70 for the same size tin!!

As an old timer said "Now the companies are putting Growmore in the paint instead of TBT you may as well use a B&Q Emulsion!!"

www.boatsyachtsmarinas.com

 

[Gaffer]

Actually, you could use some B&Q emulsion with some weed killer from the garden section added. It would work after a fashion, and for a boat on a mudbirth it may work better than antifouling at £25.00 a tin. The added bonus is that you could choose from dozens of colours.

 

[Trevor_swfyc]

David,

One of the problems of using an erroding antifouling is that when you scrub off all the antifoul comes away and you end up worse off. I use a cheap self erroding antifoul and resist the temptation to scrub off which is easy to do on a drying mooring, mine is on shingle and only dries completly on springs.
Have you considered using a hard antifoul which would allow you to wash off without the loss of antifoul protection. Maybe worth trying a sample area on the hull to compare also try an area of no antifoul to get the worst case senario.
The use of weed killer will not protect against barnicles you would have to add copper oxide to do this. Far safer to buy a cheap antifoul than mess about with various mixtures that may not work at all.
Good Luck!
Trevor

 

[quaelgeist2]

VC17m - a teflon/copper antifouling did the trick pretty well fro 3 years on the Medway, mudberth drying out each tide.
When you use the boat the mud is removed again and the copper does the trick again.

An easy removal of barnacles - visit fresh water region for more than a day!

cheers
chris

 

[ccscott49]

I think the guys were joking reference weed killer!

 

[Gaffer]

Yes,...... but the choice of all those colours was appealing.

By the way it is cuprous oxide not copper oxide......

 

[heerenleed]

Ever heard of a product called "sealcoat"? It is a good anti-fouling product which does not work like all the others. It is a mechanical protection unlike the poisonous ones we used to use. In the Netherlands, the law has imposed us to try other methods, as all copper containing products have been banned. You can bet your boat that this will be the case in the UK shortly.

Therefore, and also out of layziness, we tried something different, very much to our satisfaction so far. We discovered the system in Greece some four years ago. When we got our actual boat we decided to give it a go.

It is a system which has to be put on professionally, so the initial costs are a lot higher than a conventional antifouling. BUT.... it has been on the boat since three years now, and does hardly need any maintenance. Only the odd small damage has to bee repaired, no big deal. We are normally in fresh water, spend the weekends in sea water, so yes, that helps, but even in the notorious Grevelingen lake (SW-Netherlands), were no anti fouling works properly, the latest version of sealcoat seems to do its job.

This is how it works: they put three layers of epoxy resin on the hull, then they use a machine (very much like an upside-down vacuum cleaner) which blows fine polyester fibres into the fresh and still wet epoxy. The result is a skin very much like a seal. It does not really effect boat speed (not in a way we were able te measure at least). The best feature is, that barnacles do not like this moving "skin". They seem to need a hard surface to grow on. Weeds might grow, but are easily swept off. No effort at all. The producer gives a 5 year warrantee. After three years, it certainly looks like holding on for much more than that. Even if your hull is covered with a layer uf mud, as soon as you start moving this will fall off and the effect of the material is not at all effected.

I believe that this stuff has won an innovation prize in the UK recently. At least it is friendly to the environment and you won't be pestered by new governmental rules and regulations in the future.

I have no clue about prices in Britain. Here in the Netherlands I reckon that after three years we have reached a break-even with normal products, so from now on we are having benefits from that point of view also. (Not to mention the work I now do not have to do). I suppose it will be more expensive in the UK (but then, isn't everything related to boating a rip-off in the UK) but at the end of the day i reckon it is a good investment.

If you need any more information, just let me know.




Peter a/b SV Heerenleed, Netherlands

 

[BigLes]

I used Blakes last year on my boat on a drying mooring in Chichester Harbour, and needless to say with all that mud it didn't perform too well. Judging by other comments in this posting a less expensive anti-foul should do the job, but with a mid-season scrub. Luckily I have a kinder mooring this year (dries only at low water Springs) but I'm trying Coopers anti-foul for the first time. Picked it up from Coopers stand at a recent Sothampton Boat Jumble - £30 for 3 litres. See their web site - www.coopersgb.co.uk. And no I don't work for them, but I will comment on it at the end of the season when the boat comes out.

 

[vyv_cox]

Peter,

I looked at this product about three years ago (I live in the Netherlands). Several boatyards (Numansdorp, Middelharnis, and some contacts, advised that this stuff was most ineffective if permanently berthed in seawater. Our sailing is vitually the same as yours, kept in fresh and weekends on the sea, and we really don't have a fouling problem at all. Even with no antifouling we only get the usual freshwater black slime deposit that is easily removed with a brush. Sea fouling doesn't have time to develop, even on our summer cruise, and even if it does it is killed off by the fresh water.

I would be very pleased to hear of trials carried out by independent testers in seawater. UK antifoulings are normally compared in Poole harbour, where there is an independent testing resource. Has Sealcoat been tested there?

 

[heerenleed]

Vyv,

The problem is, that there are (at least in the Netherlands) only a limited number of yards that are licenced to apply sealcoat. Logical result is, that all the others would advise against it, also because of the strong lobby of International and Sikkens Coatings there is very little publicity about sealcoat. I shall try and find out what the innovation prize was, that sealcoat received in the UK recently. I can hardly imagine that they have been awarded without having tested the product thoroughly. Of course, I do not know if Sealcoat has been tested by the Poole testing resource. We shall soon know, however, when I find out about the award. Also, I shall ask the yard, where we have our maintenance done, the one thas also has a licence for Sealcoat in the dutch SW, if they applied the stuff to any boat which is permanently in sea water.

Wherebout are you in the Netherlands? It should be easy enough to go and have a look at a boat which has Sealcoat when it is being taken out of the water there. They will certainly tell me when such a boat is due at the yard if I ask them. Also, it would be possible for you to see the stuff actually being applied.

In any case, I know that the earlier Sealcoat applications (the one we have) had shorter hairs and was not very effective in the Grevelingen lake. But, as I said, in Grevelingen lake nothing really is effective. It has something to do with the water temperature and the amount of salt as it has no real connection to tidal waters. Some two years ago they updated the system and now it seems to be effective even in Grevelingen lake.





Peter a/b SV Heerenleed, Steenbeergen, Netherlands

 

[davidphillips]

Thanks - Can you let me have the address?

 

[vyv_cox]

I'm in Den Haag, boat is in Hellevoetsluis. Would be very pleased to see this type of antifouling and hear of test results.

The anti-copper move doesn't seem very effective yet. Most owners seem to be using the same stuff as previously, and since the chandlers are allowed to sell it, many don't seem to understand what is allowed and what is not. Our havenmeester is totally confused, the information he gave me was in direct contradiction to the notice that was one metre behind his head!

Vyv

 

[heerenleed]

Absolutely.

It's

Stevens Jachbouw
Markweg Zuid 5A
Dintelmond (industrial estate)
4794 SN Fijnaart/Heijningen
phone 0167-528200
fax 0167 528201

web site www.stevensjachtbouw.nl

The Dintelmond Industrial Estate is located close to the village of Dinteloord.
Best motorway exit is Willemstad. On the motorway going south from Rotterdam direction Zierikzee, then at the Hellegatsplein junction take the south-east bound motorway direction Roosendaal/Steenbergen, first exit after the bridge/locks.

Good luck

Peter a/b SV Heerenleed, Steenbeergen, Netherlands

 

[heerenleed]

Sorry about that. This is the Dutch yard where I had the stuff applied. I shall have to find out who are the licensed yards in Britain. The internet hasn't got any english sites about sealcoat yet. (at least I did not find them in Altavista.) Just give me a couple of days and I'll hopefully come up with a UK supplier.

Peter a/b SV Heerenleed, Steenbeergen, Netherlands

 

[heerenleed]

Great, not very far from the yard I mentioned.
Here' s the adress:
Stevens Jachtbouw
Markweg Zuid 5a
4794 SN Fijnaart.
web site: www.stevensjachtbouw.nl

They are in Dintelmond Industrial Estate, on the mouth of river Dintel, just through the Volkerak Locks at Willemstad. If you drive, go to Willemstad via Rotterdam, take the A29 motorway and exit at Willemstad.

About the ban on anti foulings: The police are actually checking now. I know of a lot of yards that already had visits. Your harbourmaster should know this. Anyone using banned products is taking serious and expensive risks.

Meanwhile we are, of course, laughing our socks off.



Pity we did not get in touch earlier, our boat is going back into the water this morning. You could have seen her out up to last night.....

Peter a/b SV Heerenleed, Steenbeergen, Netherlands