Just wondering what do people use on their undersides?
I use hard racing antifoul because of the boats speed, but have been considering coppercoat to enable the boat to stay in the water longer between lifts, pressure washes and annual treatment of traditional antifoul paint. Anyone use Coppercoat? Apart from the obvious advantage of it lasting many years, are their any disadvantages?
Also, what about the silicone types....any experience anyone??
Hi Dave
I've always used Micron Extra and have had a good 2 seasons, just normally have a lift and hold the 2nd year allowing new Anodes and a scrub of props and shafts.
Good to hear from you Geoff, I hope all is well with Blue swell and your back has recovered??
I had a look at the Micron extra, but not sure if it would be any good for 'Sorcerer' because it says its not suitable for high speed. What they class as high speed I am not sure.
The hard racing Hempel I use, works well enough really, but I do have to apply it every year....well I did on the first 'Sorcerer'!
I just wondered about coppercoat advantages/disadvantages.
Also, Kees pointed out in another topic, I don't have antifoul on my props or shafts. My stainless steel rudders are not coated either. I think its a bit of grey area, as if you read about this some say it can cause problems. At speed it also wont stay on the props.
What do you think? Does anyone else antifoul their sterngear??
Tried a lot of products on my prop to prevent fouling, from expensive Propspeed, epoxy parquet lacquer to cheap lanoline. The only thing that works well is using the boat a lot. But as on the few days that the schedules of our clients don't dictate my life, it storms at sea or it's raining cats and dogs, so hardly use the boat lately. This means a lot of time for all kinds of marine life to settle on everything on Tommy what's underwater, whatever I put on it.
As we only trundle about at 7.5 kn we just use the standard Hempel anti fouling. LJ comes out of the water every winter so no issue for me really. I did have the bottom slurry blasted, gel shield treated and re coated 7 years ago when we bought her and every year I flat off the old anti fouling before applying a new coat as I don't want it t get too thick and drop off in sheets. It seems to work for us. I have never coated the prop or shaft and don't get any growth on either as we are using her so often in summer (almost every day). My stainless steel rudder is anti fouled and has anodes fitted.
Hi all. Well in the end I stuck with the hard racing anti fouling at least for another year. It seems to work well in my area, but the frustrating thing is how the cost of this varies from place to place. I use an online chandlery that delivers to your door at an excellent price. During application I ran a little low so decided it was better to buy another tin and was amazed that it was over 50% more locally.........
Anodes replaced and pleased to see they have been doing their job well.
Back in the water tomorrow with bad weather forecast...great!
I buy the antifouling at a ship repair and dry docking wharf where they coat carco ships and occasionally navy ships.
The smallest tin can they sell is 25 liter and there are only two colors, black and red brown.
It's a neutral can without any brand or text, but very cheap against yacht store prices of 66 / liter.
At home I stir the antifouling and poor it over in 5 liter cans to store it. I once ended up with 15 liter kind of black concrete when I opened the 25 liter can after using 10 liter the years before, but with using only 10 liter and throwing away 15 liter it was still cheaper than buying 10 liter at the yacht store.
Hi all. I went to the Southampton boat show this year and asked about coppercoat on their stand.
The guy reckoned around £1500 to get the right amount of the stuff to coat my boat. The old antifoul has to be removed first, which would be a bit of a pain.
I know it is supposed to last ten years or so but at that price....and the fact the boat would need to come out the water every year anyway for checks/anodes etc, led me to think I will stick to normal antifoul.
Quiet again on here. Whats everyone doing with their boats this winter? Staying in the water like me or coming out?
Coming out of the water soon, probably next week weather permitting.
Just had a quick break on the south coast, spotted a couple of Lochin 33s and one 38. Had a trip out fishing with an old buddy on Wild Frontier 2 from Weymouth, was a good day but a bit rough anchoring off Portland.
We have finished for the season now just waiting to get to the yard and we can start the maintenance.
If I'd been on LJ I would have been looking for somewhere more sheltered for sure. We did get a few bream a top a conger, brill, huss lsd and turbot. Did a bit of fishing when we got home to Mull too.
No, very quiet on here of late, there must still be the same number of Lochins about, I think all that nonsense with the spam frightened folk off.
I will star t the sanding when I get a dry day but we have a workshop booked for 2 weeks next year so can do all the work inside - much easier!
Hope you're all enjoying your boats. We sold up at the start of this year due to the decline in trade, and my Dad needing to take it a bit easier. He had a new knee just before Christmas last year and he'll need the other one doing soon. No point in keeping something sitting on a mooring to look at. We haven't ruled out getting another one in the future, just a matter of timing. I did spot a 33 sports cruiser on the brokerage section, but we've just signed the contract for our new house and I think the Mrs might actually kill me if I even suggest looking at it :)
She is in the Isle of Wight and from what I see on Facebook, getting a lot more use than we did towards the end of the business. The new owner seems happy with her.
The Mitchell was our other boat, also now sold. That is the boat that the engine we bought from your friend went in to, lovely little boat but sadly she now sits on a mooring and hasn't moved for almost a year.
Sorry to hear your Lochin has now gone....the Mitchell too, they were great boats and I had a 31 while I was waiting for my Lochin 40 to be built.
There is quite a cheap Lochin 33 on Simons brokerage page at the moment. I know the interior is not to everyone's taste, but that could be worked on over time. I think she formerly had a rather unusual name too!!!!
I am going to change from Red to Blue next time, but stay with the same manufacturer and type.
I was told it actually makes it easier to see where you have painted, so shouldn't miss anywhere and I guess I will be able to also see which areas wear the fastest under speed when she comes out again.
Probably going to leave my boat in the water for a few more months before haul out, so I hope the winter is reasonable and we can make use of her getting out for some fishing.
Dave - for some reason I didn't see your last message until just now. I spotted that Lochin you mentioned on the site, and by the time we had decided what to do it had sold. I've also messaged Kees about "Tommie" - Kees I will reply as soon as I can.
It was sad to see both our boats go after such a long time working on them, but the business just didn't pay any more. Sadly, since retiring, my Dad has been diagnosed with Vascular Dementia which would ironically have ended up forcing a retirement sale if we hadn't sold when we did. He is 58 which is no age at all, and we are slowly adjusting to his condition. He is unable to use a boat on his own any more which to be totally honest is heartbreaking to see. We are trying to work out a happy medium at the moment which will see him back on the water with our assistance. His longer term memory is mainly intact and boats seem to offer him some therapeutic relief which is nice.
I digresss! - We used to use International antifouling on Ocean Star which we applied yearly. She cruised well at anywhere between 16 & 18kts depending on load. I do know a mate used coppercoat on his Bullet 38 and he said it was the best thing he'd done, even given the cost of it. Over the years we have used red, blue and black. Blue being my preferred colour and on your boat would look beautiful!
All the best guys and happy boating (when weather permits!)
Sorry top hear about your Dad, you are right 58 is no age and has me worried. Not surprised boating offers some therapeutic effects, especially if he has been around boats all his life. What are you currently looking for?
