Coppercoat

[shamrock]

So, there have been more than one threads on antifouling...

I wanted to share my findings with Coppercoat on the Long Island sound.

Due to a move and a newborn in July, my sailboat just sat on the mooring most of the summer. I just went out to scrub the prop so I can haul the boat and while the prop was covered with barnacles and had all sorts of growth hanging from it the bottom was in pretty good shape. there was definitely some slime and shrimp, but nothing that would not come off easily with my bare hand. The boat was launched in June and the bottom has not been cleaned all summer. It is now late September.

Is there anyone that has not had a great experience with Coppercoat?

I'm not looking for anecdotes about some guy you heard of. Is there anyone on this forum that has put Coppercoat on their boat and not been impressed?

Pictures to come when I haul.


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[Roy M]

Here is the experience of my friends, Paul and Celeste Carpenter of THE BEGUINE, while we tied together at Southwestern Yacht Club in San Diego, California, a couple years ago:

[fstbttms]

Good experience with CopperCoat? I guess you could call it that. This guy is about to pay me $300 to clean his Hallberg-Rassey 43 in the Berkeley Marina, again.

[MV Alchemy]

Do we know for sure that these two boats have used genuine Coppercoat and not one of the other copper-based products that are out there and look similar? It seems strange that people have such disparate experiences with the same product.


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[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by thoreed

It seems strange that people have such disparate experiences with the same product.

No it doesn't. Different fouling conditions mean different anti fouling performance from a given product. CopperCoat may work well in low-fouling waters but not so well elsewhere.

[MV Alchemy]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

No it doesn't. Different fouling conditions mean different anti fouling performance from a given product. CopperCoat may work well in low-fouling waters but not so well elsewhere.

Fair enough. I am, rightly or wrongly, having Coppercoat applied to my boat in a couple of weeks in the Canaries and will then be setting off to the Caribbean and South Pacific. I will report back re: performance.


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[onestepcsy37]

What fstbttms says. The difference between the Bahamas and Central Florida - only 200 miles apart - is one example.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by thoreed

Fair enough. I am, rightly or wrongly, having Coppercoat applied to my boat in a couple of weeks in the Canaries and will then be setting off to the Caribbean and South Pacific. I will report back re: performance.
....

Except for the start, that is all tropical waters and is easy to jump in and clean every few weeks -- if you are so inclined. So much of anything will work. I'm just dubious of the approach after a few years and in waters that are not that easy to clean regularly or for those that don't clean regularly.

[shamrock]

Also, what is the expectation for how long an antifouling will work without getting cleaned? For Roy M's example, how long did it take for that growth to develop?

That's why I'm skeptical of these other people's boat stories. Even the best antifouling will get growth eventually.

Also, the real culprit where I'm from is barnacles. The slime and grass after a few months is a breeze to deal with compared to barnacles.


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[shamrock]

Originally Posted by thoreed

Fair enough. I am, rightly or wrongly, having Coppercoat applied to my boat in a couple of weeks in the Canaries and will then be setting off to the Caribbean and South Pacific. I will report back re: performance.


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I would not hesitate. Here is a picture of my boat coming out after last year. It had some mild growth but it came right off with a power washer. I also didn't burnish it like you are supposed to and was still really impressed with the results.

The application was not very easy but I got the hang of it and it moved along finally. I'd take that any day over repainting every year.






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[RaymondR]

Is it the copper itself or the compounds it forms when immersed in seawater which is poisonous to the creatures responsible for fouling?

If it is the copper compounds could it be that some marinas do not have enough say oxygen to form the compounds?

There has to be a reason for the vastly different experiences published in this forum.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

There has to be a reason for the vastly different experiences published in this forum.

There is a reason and it is the same reason some other anti fouling coatings do not perform well in regions of high fouling- they do not deliver biocide to the surface in sufficient quantity to adequately retard fouling growth. CopperCoat releases so little copper into the environment that it was at one time advertised as non-toxic.

[capitangiorg]

I got Coppercoat 7 years ago. I use to sail in the Med in summer and in the Caribbean in the winter, so 2 Atlantic crossing por year. A lot of miles and the boat stays always in a warm waters. To keep the hull very clean for an efficient cruise i have to clean it twice por year with a scuba diver's gear and other twice por year free dive cleaning.
Once I stayed in Trapani harbour for two months, the hull went fouled with a lot of weed, easy to remove but when i went out motoring it was so slow that I had to jump in the water and had a quick cleaning.
In my opinion Coppercoat is a good antifouling even if in the warm waters it need some cleaning. The big advantage is that cleaning in the water is a lot cheaper than hauling out, cleaning and put new antifouling.

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[Rustic Charm]

I'm fairly certain I've decided to give Coppercoat a go on my 36foot in our colder and high foul part of the world. I think it's worth giving it a go.

[Rustic Charm]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

Is it the copper itself or the compounds it forms when immersed in seawater which is poisonous to the creatures responsible for fouling?

If it is the copper compounds could it be that some marinas do not have enough say oxygen to form the compounds?

There has to be a reason for the vastly different experiences published in this forum.

"On immersion, sea water attacks the exposed pure copper, causing the formation of cuprous oxide. This highly effective anti-fouling agent deters growth until the surface degrades further to become cupric hydrochloride. This final copper form is highly unstable, and is washed away by the movement of the yacht, thereby removing any accumulating silt or slime. This automatically reveals a fresh copper-rich surface whereby the process recommences.' From their website.