ANTIFOUL

[Carl]

A number of years ago I newly anti-fouled my Tangaroa with a Jotun antifoul in Thailand. It was brilliant. After almost 2 years, there was a slight slimy sheen just at the waterline, but the rest looked as good as new. I know why...it was the really good stuff that was banned a few years later due to the high tin(?) content and nothing would survive on it.

 

I launched my Tiki 21 in October last year, and was shocked to see the growth beneath the waterline in just 4 months. A quick scrub over the weekend removed loads of shells which had firmly stuck to the hulls. I'm now considering pulling the boat out the water in the next couple of weeks, cleaning it, re-antifouling and relaunching.

 

I admit, I had the wool pulled over my eyes when I bought the paint, being told it was as good as the International product, but half the price. Yeah right! I assume over winter the hulls will be upside down and I'll be scraping back all that antifoul, to recoat it with the "good" stuff.

 

On another forum a number of years ago, the discussion surrounding antifouling became quite interesting as people started to add their "recipes" for what worked. I can recall one guy adding bleach before slapping it onto the hull. Another suggested curry powder, other copper filings etc etc. I never tried any of these myself as I did not own a boat at that stage.

 

Does anyone have a tried and tested "brew" that works? Or is it best left alone and applied unaltered? What is a suggested brand, and how long can I expect to have that on before re-coating? Will be good to hear any suggestions!

 

Carl

[Carl]

Charlie,
Sounds like the stuff I've got- black antifoul and locally made. I scrubbed the hulls about 3 months ago (after being applied for only a month), and now it has barnacles growing on the hull - small enough to remove but just annoying. Fortunately for me the Tiki 21 is small and easy to clean/ reapply another coating. The T38 must be quite a task to do a similar job. Have a good weekend - looks like rain in Auckland!
Carl

[kim whitmyre]

What type of bottom paint is it: ablative or hard? I'm in Los Angeles Harbor, and here it seems all the locals use a hard bottom paint. I just (last June) had my boat hauled and painted with the stuff. I get a green slime on the hulls that brushes right off with a pool brush. Haven't had any thing but the slime since the haul-out. On the previous ablative finish, I got all kinds of growth; to be fair, it was almost gone. . .

As far as I know, the paint the yard used was the expensive stuff sold to sailors but re-branded for the yards: thus cheaper. I did pay the yard to do the job, since around here there is no way, place, or time to beach the boat to do it yourself. You'd be dragged off to a deep, dark, hole before you finished!

[Ann and Neville Clement]

We did add some ground hot pepper to our antifoul this time and it did thicken the paint (ablative) and made the painted surface a little rough - almost like a mild anti skid like on decks. We did both hulls so I do not know how well it worked because I painted it everywhere so have no comparison. Our friend sold us "the same stuff the Navy uses" and we got it in Norfolk in 5 gallon cans for 60 bucks a gallon last time and 90 this time. Have no idea what it was. It does seem to work. Stuff just falls off as you sail. You got Navy near you? Our friend makes his living painting boat bottoms and he does say black is the best color. He cleans lots less stuff off of black bottoms, he says.

I sailed my old monohull between Rhode Island and the Bahamas, and also north and south in Europe. That boat had always a clean bottom using Trinidad by Petit. it is expensive, sold in marine stores, and it is a hard paint so you gotta sand it. It works fine in the Atlantic though. If you can afford it, I would go for that paint. It is heavy on copper content. I used the blue if you need to know. Hull speed on that boat was 6.4. Don't know what it will do in Wharrams which go lots faster as you know.

Ann and Nev

[Ann and Neville Clement]

By the way, you can still get the tin based antifoul paint here in Bahamas. Ann and Nev

[Tom]

I used Petit Trinidad on my previous boats, and also had good results with that bottom paint. It worked great for me in waters from San Fransico to northern British Columbia. I hauled out annually though, so I don't have personal experience with it's performance in any time frame longer than about 14 months. I applied it unmodified, per the manufacturer's instructions. Haveing the first coat be a different color from the second is helpful, too.

A friend of mine adds a table spoon per gallon of cayanne pepper to his bottom paint and swears it keeps the slime off.

Yeah, it's fun to start thinking up combinations and custom brews. I wish I had made some test batches of differnt ones and put them in the water when I started building.

For my Wharram, I want to try a hard hydrophobic paint. The problem is, I'm having trouble finding info. Almost everything I read is from a manufacturer, rather than an unbiased user. Anybody ran across anything interesting hydrophobic paint wise?

[Ann and Neville Clement]

I should have said that on my old boat I did have no trouble using the Trinidad bottom paint when applying it between tides with the boat leaning against a stone dock in Cornwall. Of course a Wharram would be easier. No need for the dock! Ann and Nev

[Carl]

Send some over my way!!

I'll probably do the deed next weekend and haul her out on the trailer. There's a bay close to me with fresh running water so can spray off the growth and I'll apply a modified version of the stuff I've previously applied and report any significant differences!

Carl

Ann and Neville Clement said:

By the way, you can still get the tin based antifoul paint here in Bahamas. Ann and Nev

[Tom]

What if you did 2 coats of hard, like Petit, and then two coats of ablative? Think you'd get a year or two out of the ablative, and would have another year or so before you had to haul and sand?

The cheap stuff would be the working paint, backed up by the hard paint.

[Ann and Neville Clement]

If I were doing it, I would put Trinidad by Pettit in blue and put two coats on a beautifully sanded and CLEAN surface as a base paint. Then I would get ablative in red and put 3 coats. Then I would expect to haul every other year or maybe even every third year as we do with Peace IV to lightly sand and repaint using red ablative. Black might give you an added advantage. Ann and Nev

[Carl]

All good replies. Thanks! One thing I need to keep in mind is I will be taking the T21 out the water early May each year for about 4 or 5 months. If I had a larger boat, Ann and Nev's recommendation is good, however for something in the water 7 or 8 months of the year, it may be an overkill. I think Tom's suggestion of a coat or 2 hard and 2 coats ablative with a reputable brand will be the way to go. Would like to think that all it will take for the following season will be a rub down of the hard and add another 2 coats ablative... For now, avoid the cheap stuff!

[Carl]

Just a quick catch up. I re-antifouled last weekend with the modified version of the "stuff" previously used. Cayenne pepper and a "tot" of bleach was mixed in well and applied to the hulls after being cleaned of all the growth. There were less barnacles than originally thought, but the slimy growth was a thick mess. I'll be checking whether this makes any difference at all, and let you all know!

Carl

[Carl]

I took the T21 out the water yesterday. After almost 2 1/2 months with the modified anitfoul, there was very little difference between it and the "unmodified" version. Interestingly enough, there's a patch that was entirely missed ie no anti-foul at all, and it came out clean!! Not even slime on it!
She'll be out the water over winter, and will be relaunched in October. I'll try an International product then and hopefully get better results.
Carl