What is the Best Anti fouling Paint

[Geoff S.]

Interesting. Well, the prospect of litigation might be a bigger stick to wave than legislation; and it seems to prevail not just in the US, but also where US citizens do business. Case in point is my management group, who are now careful not to subcontract any antifouling on a US-owned boat that isn't copacetic in the US.

[Geoff S.]

Oops, it appears I've killed a rousing 60-post discussion by introducing Politics. Mea culpa.

But, this post gave me my second star! Woo Hoo!

[btrayfors]

Here's another vote for Trinidad SR. Been using Trinidad for 17 years now, including 11 in the Caribbean.

Re: additives, there's a product that Boat U.S. carries called "Compound-X". Comes in a little brown bottle in a white and red package. It's actually commercial tetracyclene. Add one bottle per gallon of paint. Works very well. Been using it for over a decade, with good results I think.

Bill

[Canibul]

I wondered what the deal was with the little stars under names. is that tied to number of posts?

[hellosailor]

"It's actually commercial tetracyclene."
You know what happens when you scatter antiobiotics in the wild? The critters rapidly become resistant to them, AND the antibiotics become useless when you're trying to save someone's life with them. The vast majority of the anitbiotics used 10-20 years ago with great results, are now somewhere in between "useless" and "might work" today, thanks to critters breeding to resist them.

No thanks, I'd rather put TBT on my bottom and carpetbomb the oceans.

If I could just get a good feel for what happens to fiberglass and metal when it sits in Chlorox for six months...I'd rig a blanket under the boat and kill the critters that way!

[Vasco]

I specified Trinidad SR when I bought my new boat two years ago. On my other boat I had switched to Trinidad after having Micron CSC so I thought the SR would be even better. I was disappointed in the SR. In the second season I had tons of growth and had to scrub every two or three weeks in the Bahamas. I don't know if the dealer did a poor job or the divers scrubbed it all off. I had it dived three times in FL where the boat was stored in the water.. Last year I was very impressed with a cheap ablative that a few of my friends used. $80 a gallon vs $180 for CSC. I'm going to use it when I get to the boat next month. The copper content is the same as CSC - 38%. It's more of a commercial product, at $80 a gallon it sure doesn't qualify as bottom paint for pleasure boats, much too cheap!!

I bought a couple of gallons to paint the bottom of the boat I've got in Toronto. It's amazing that I have not painted the bottom of this boat for four years. When hauled in the fall for the past few years the bottom has been clean, just a bit of slime that the power wash got rid of. Its got Trinidad on it. I guess the zebra mussels have really cleaned up the lake. We'll be hauling in two weeks and if it's still clean I might wait another year.

[GordMay]

Adding tetracycline hydrochloride (Compound-X, et al) to your bottom paint should, at least, ensure that you have acne-free barnacles, although (perhaps) with a tendency towards sunburn ...

[Intentional Drifter]

Although referenced earlier in the thread, I just came across the patent information on e-Paint. It can be seen, here: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-P...&RS=PN/6063849

Looks interesting. An effective and non-polluting antifoul would certainly be a good thing.

ID

[Canibul]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Adding tetracycline hydrochloride (Compound-X, et al) to your bottom paint should, at least, ensure that you have acne-free barnacles, although (perhaps) with a tendency towards sunburn ...

Ok...so, does the tetracycline paint help with hull blisters, or cause them?

[colemj]

ID,

I have no experience with E-Paint products and don't have an opinion either way. Just passing along a recent thread on it from another BB...

http://www.cs-bb.com/forums/CSBB/index.cgi?read=63748

Mark

[lolanreg@smartc]

Alan Wheeler, I've had a few boats in Australian waters from Wollongong to the tropics, In all the harbours, all the boat owners that I knew, tried every additive(pepper,anti bacterial, tree and grass killers.N/Z sheep lanolin,had the Nzers laughing!) suggested to make the A/F last longer. None,to the best of my knowlege worked at all. As you remarked the pepper turned up like sandpaper. I had a copper epoxy job on one which was no better than the rest and needed a scrub more often.and had a reaction within a metre of the prop and peeled off.
No doubt the better one was the tin which the oysters turned their shells up to it, until we get something better we're stuck with a lot of hard work too often. Natureboy

[bastonjock]

i keep my boat on a drying mooring during the season,it was antifouled 7 years ago,i get some barnacles on my transponder at the stern but the hull remains clean,during a day the boat has water under the hull for 5 hours each high tide then it drys out.

i was going to reapply new antifoul but i dont see the point,also i was interested to read that ablative needs to stay wet,i guess ill need to go with hard antifoul.

anyone else keep their boat on a drying mooring?

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by bastonjock

i was interested to read that ablative needs to stay wet,i guess ill need to go with hard antifoul.

I am unaware of any antifouling product, regardless of type, that will remain active if allowed to be exposed to air for long periods of time.

[Robertcateran]

It is possible to have hydrogen peroxide produced when light hits some substrates in contact with water. For example, tianium oxide with UV produces an energised electron, which can lead to the production of hydrogen peroxide and is sometimes used painted on a nearby surface to increase the efficiency of UV sterilizing. The concentration only needs to be at the surface of the material. It doeas not need to extend deep into the water column. The free radicals produced by light hitting plants chloroplasts have to be very carefully kept under control or they will poison the rest of the cell. One of the reasons for coral bleaching is leaky membranes in the zooxanthallae poisoning the host. It may not just be H2O2 being produced but other free radicals. I think the paint well worth a look.

Originally Posted by GordMay

Epaint “EP-ZO”

Although Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) is a well known oxidizing* biocide & disinfectant, which is non-persistent**, it does require a fairly substantial dosage*** to be effective.

I wonder what concentrations of H2O2 the ePaint produces, and how well it would work in moving water, where it would be rapidly removed from hull contact?

* The oxidation potential of hydrogen peroxide (1.8) is just below that of ozone (2.1), and higher than chlorine (1.4).
** Rapidly beaks down in the presence of sunlight (photolysis) to water & oxygen, hence has little residual efficacy.
*** Dosage rates of 10%/volume (2-3 hours exposure time), or > 30% for contact

[Atmo]

Hi Guys,

last year we spend a few weeks to mechanically scrape off our old cheep fisherman's Coop antifoul.
We did not have the money to apply Coppercoat which would have cost us about €1200,- for the kit plus the extra two pack primer.
We were also scared about the problems with application.
At the end we applied a one pack primer (International) and 20l of Micron Exra which gave us four coats.

Well now, 10 months later, I totally regret it.
First it would have been worthwhile to apply the two pack primer to keep future options for a two pack antifoul.
Second, Micron Extra is completely useless.
Slime and Barnacles started after four weeks only.
But we sail a lot...
Now, in the Canaries waiting to go crossing the Atlantic, I have to clean the hull at least once every two weeks.
This antifoul is a growth accelerator, definitely not an inhibitor.

Lesson learned: Found an expensive way to save money.
Don't believe a word the Chandler is telling you.
There is no antifoul available in Europe which will last longer then the three month season.
Right now I try to find out if I can add cuprous oxide to a cheap antifoul to make it work.
Sorry about not to be able to give you any positve information.

Petra & Atmo
SV Elfrun
Privilege 39 Catamaran