Coppercoat

[arsenelupiga]

Question for divers:

is it possible not to antifoul at all and give money to divers instead ?

If yes, what is the owner $ balance ?

I am antifouling and paying diver.

Crossed my mind that diver could pocket all "hull clean" dollars.

???

[sailnow2011]

The last owner of our boat kept it in greenport, ny. They cleaned it every 6 months, and the paint lasted for 7 years. They had traditional ablative. Much cheaper then coppercoat, and it last a long time up there.

[sailnow2011]

Originally Posted by arsenelupiga

Question for divers:

is it possible not to antifoul at all and give money to divers instead ?

If yes, what is the owner $ balance ?

I am antifouling and paying diver.

Crossed my mind that diver could pocket all "hull clean" dollars.

???

I had someone with a new boat call me for a bottom clean. The dealer told him he didn't need to bother with painting it. It took me 3 hours to chizzle off the growth from a 24' boat after 2 months in florida. so no, if you are in salt water you cannot skip the bottom paint.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by arsenelupiga

Question for divers:

is it possible not to antifoul at all and give money to divers instead ?

This is penny-wise and pound-foolish. I am occasionally asked to clean unpainted boats (typically by someone who normally drysails or moved a boat from freshwater etc.) and my stock answer is, "Let me refer you to another diver." Last summer I let a racer with an Andrews 28 talk me into it though. Despite cleaning the boat twice a week, the bottom quickly reached the point where it simply couldn't be gotten truly clean. Fortunately, the owner put the boat on a trailer after about a month.

As previously stated- if the boat lives in saltwater, it needs anti fouling paint.

[Roy M]

The fouling to the Carpenter's boat occurred over a roughly six month period. The materials were sent by Coppercote to Driscoll's Marine Works in San Diego, who had extensive experience with the product. The Carpenters are currently in New Zealand, so I'll try to contact them for an update.

[Ribbit]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

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

Copper works, there's no doubt about that, it is why "dependable" is associated with the term "Copper Bottomed" (this dependability associated with long term use on boat bottoms World wide).

I think I may have stumbled upon what is probably the major reason for different experiences.

Improper application by unscrupulous people doing the copper coating.

I looked at a boat at the weekend, that had been copper coated 3 years ago. Many areas of the hull had the coating completely disappeared (a wide band along the waterline for example), and what was left was patchy (you could easily see the underneath colour - which was white - even on the 'better' parts), and very thin on copper content.

It was patently obvious that nothing like the recommended quantities of copper were mixed in the resin, and rather than four coats, this boat had only had one. The more unscrupulous, the less copper, and the less coats, you get.

That hull should not have looked that bad after 10+ years.

So if having copper coating done, insist on being present for the mixing (take scales and weigh the copper prior to addition to ensure you get the right mix), AND be present for the necessary number of applications of coats.

If the yard doing the work won't agree to that level of supervision, find one that will (if having barrier/primer work done underneath prior to copper coat, I'd be there for that as well).

Caveat Emptor.

If possible, the best option is to do the work yourself (and you can make your own copper coating at the same time).

[Muckle Flugga]

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.


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

Do it. I find it works slightly less well than the more aggressive ablatives… but lasts FAR longer. You are to be sailing in places where it is giong to be very hard to renew traditional antifouling. Coppercoat, as another poster has noted, can be effectively maintained while the boat remains in the water. I have just renewed my coppercoat after nearly a decade and very many thousands of miles in Atlantic, Pacific and Indian, both high and tropical latitudes. As another poster says, however, it MUST be correctly applied. This is a somewhat tedious and exacting process. Be present or else do it yourself.

[Rustic Charm]

I've just received 12 liters of copper coat which I'll be applying after Christmas.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by Ribbit

I think I may have stumbled upon what is probably the major reason for different experiences.

Improper application by unscrupulous people doing the copper coating.

I looked at a boat at the weekend, that had been copper coated 3 years ago. Many areas of the hull had the coating completely disappeared (a wide band along the waterline for example), and what was left was patchy (you could easily see the underneath colour - which was white - even on the 'better' parts), and very thin on copper content.

It was patently obvious that nothing like the recommended quantities of copper were mixed in the resin, and rather than four coats, this boat had only had one. The more unscrupulous, the less copper, and the less coats, you get.

I don't know how you get from the casual inspection of a single boat to a blanket indictment of a large percentage of the boatyard industry. Further, I don't see how, upon casual inspection, it could possibly be "patently obvious" how much copper had been mixed into the epoxy at application of the product years previous or how many coats had been applied.

The likely reality is that Coppercoat users have different experiences with the product because Coppercoat is simply not an effective anti fouling coating for all fouling in all regions. I think if you took the time to do a little more research on this and other forums, you'd find that the great majority of anecdotal reports indicating satisfaction with Coppercoat come from areas where fouling tends to be light.

[Muckle Flugga]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

...

The likely reality is that Coppercoat users have different experiences with the product because Coppercoat is simply not an effective anti fouling coating for all fouling in all regions. I think if you took the time to do a little more research on this and other forums, you'd find that the great majority of anecdotal reports indicating satisfaction with Coppercoat come from areas where fouling tends to be light.

Well, not my experience. I have found it effective in all waters from high Northern latitudes (Northern Norway to the South island of New Zealand, from Spain and the West coasts of Africa to Thailand. All temperatures and salinities, and whether growth on my prop and shaft was rapid or slow. So… I'm a fan.

[Roy M]

fstbttms, we might as well back off. We are trying to communicate with "true believers". Our lack of faith makes us unworthy of judging their beloved hope. I can live with that since I probably share no other beliefs in common with the chosen people. Good thing the ocean is wide.

[Rustic Charm]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

I don't know how you get from the casual inspection of a single boat to a blanket indictment of a large percentage of the boatyard industry. Further, I don't see how, upon casual inspection, it could possibly be "patently obvious" how much copper had been mixed into the epoxy at application of the product years previous or how many coats had been applied.

The likely reality is that Coppercoat users have different experiences with the product because Coppercoat is simply not an effective anti fouling coating for all fouling in all regions. I think if you took the time to do a little more research on this and other forums, you'd find that the great majority of anecdotal reports indicating satisfaction with Coppercoat come from areas where fouling tends to be light.

When my email came through with this post I took a guess it would be you saying this. You must be the most prolific anti copper coat poster on cf

Very clearly, from people who have posted, there are claims that copper coat works in high fouling areas. I live in a high foul area and I've elected to use it for the first time this year because whilst it's not common, those who have it swear by it here.

[Muckle Flugga]

Originally Posted by Roy M

fstbttms, we might as well back off. We are trying to communicate with "true believers". Our lack of faith makes us unworthy of judging their beloved hope. I can live with that since I probably share no other beliefs in common with the chosen people. Good thing the ocean is wide.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by Roy M

fstbttms, we might as well back off. We are trying to communicate with "true believers". Our lack of faith makes us unworthy of judging their beloved hope. I can live with that since I probably share no other beliefs in common with the chosen people. Good thing the ocean is wide.

There are people who will read this thread who have never heard of Coppercoat before or read previous threads about it. Unfortunately (or not) it is nature of online forums to repeat topics of discussions over and over. But that lets everybody in on the fun.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by Rustic Charm

I live in a high foul area and I've elected to use it for the first time this year because whilst it's not common, those who have it swear by it here.

How often do you have your hull cleaned?