anti-foul the prop?

[shorebird]

Backed out of my slip this morning heading for a spring haul out and bottom paint, but almost smacked another boat in the marina due to a foul prop and not enough speed to steer properly. I hadn't used the boat for about 6 months, but I wonder if there is anything I can put on the prop, shaft and maybe the knotmeter wheel, which had a ball of mussels hanging from it 8 inches across. I was told to use zinc paste, you know, the kind you use for suntan lotion. Anyone ever tried this? Anything else work? At the very least, in future, I will run the engine in gear a few times a winter.

[Snowpetrel]

I etch prime and then antifoul mine. Seems to work better for me than leaving it polished.

[daddle]

Jump in and clean it every two weeks. Takes only a minute. But wait, who cleans the boat bottom? Can't they clean the prop too?

[NZGrant]

We use prop speed and it works very well

[HopCar]

I second Prop Speed. It works. It lasts more than a year for me.

[Snowpetrel]

I got hold of some of the prop speed two part etch primer once. It worked much better than the PA10. Stuck like glue for a few seasons. Unlike the PA 10 which drops of over one season.

[Greg4cocokai]

We had Prop Speed professionally applied in Fiji our last haul out and wasn't impressed. Currently doing a major refit in Phuket, Thailand and am going to try smearing Desatin ointment on the prop this time. $4 a tube, the stuff you put on the babies arse. I put it on the bottom of a dingy 15 years ago and it was clean after 6 months. Read about it in Practical Sailor. I'll where gloves when applying as we couldn't get the stuff off our hands! I'll post my findings when back in the water a couple months.

Greg

[delmarrey]

If your not going to move the boat for awhile you can dive down and put a tight weave nylon or other synthetic bag over the prop and tie it off. This will allow the oxygen in, but not the critters.

In San Diego I use to put a whole tarp under the power boat and fill the tarp with fresh water. That sure kept the critters off.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, NZGrant.

Penaten or Desitin diaper rash creams contain Zinc Oxide, also used a a sunblock. Apparently, they are moderately effective in preventing fouling of static props & appendages.

[Surrymark]

Desatin sounds interesting. For the past few years, in Maine, I have been using lithium grease. I was a bit concerned because lithium is a metal, but the end-of-the-year result has been a white fuzziness on the prop, but no animal growth. (Probably a total coincidence has been the prop zinc going through the season almost untouched, whereas in previous years it virtually went away. I'm on a mooring, and many other things could have caused this.)

[shorebird]

One of the boats in the yard applied a zinc spray to the prop and shaft, but when I asked how effective it was, he said he had just been told to try it, and had no idea if it was going to work.

[Celestialsailor]

I just started using bee's wax. We'll see how it goes. the Desatin sounds cool. Maybe I'll try it on my dinghy.

[sailorboy1]

I used the zinc spray last year, it worked pretty good so I redid it again this year.

[s/v 'Faith']

Tempo used to make a clear spray with TBT that worked great. Might still be able to find it if you are cruising.

[Paperbird]

we used the zinc spray paint last year (cold galvanizing Rustoleum paint from the local HW store, not the expensve marine version). Worked fantastic. Used it again this year. Am hoping for similar results.