Antifouling in Florida

[Ironman162]

I will never use Trilux 33 again as long as I live, its expensive junk!
Can you recommend a antifoul that works?

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[Steve Pope]

I have found trilux to be better than trilux33 that being said there doesn't seem to be anything out there that can match the old TBT recipes. everything seems to have copper in it! makes an old aluminium owner very nervous.

[cabo_sailor]

I had a bad experience with Petit Trinidad. One week after 3 coats I had barnacle growth. Turns out about a dozen boats painted about the same time had problems.

Most sailors I know in the Tarpon Springs area, including myself, are using Seahawk paint. My father had a Hatteras in Charlotte Harbor, he too used Seahawk

For what it's worth.
Rich

ps: Barnacle growth in this region is fierce. Everyone on the dock uses a diver once a month. Still after several years, when I pulled the boat, the hull was in good shape. Not so much the running gear because of electrolysis


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[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by cabo_sailor

I had a bad experience with Petit Trinidad. One week after 3 coats I had barnacle growth. Turns out about a dozen boats painted about the same time had problems.

Most sailors I know in the Tarpon Springs area, including myself, are using Seahawk paint. My father had a Hatteras in Charlotte Harbor, he too used Seahawk

That's interesting. I find Trinidad to be one of the best anti fouling paints you can buy and have never found any Seahawk product to be worth a damn. Different regions, different paint performance, I guess.

Originally Posted by cabo_sailor

Everyone on the dock uses a diver once a month. Still after several years, when I pulled the boat, the hull was in good shape. Not so much the running gear because of electrolysis

Your diver didn't alert you to this?

[Cheechako]

I used Trinidad in Fl and the Caribe. Had a lot of barnacle growth. Still, not a lot of good choices out there. I'd go with Seahawk probably.

[RainDog]

We are on month 9 of Trinidad in tx, fl, and bahamas and not a single barnacle yet. First 6 months in gcicw and florida did not even have to wipe the bottom once.

[cabo_sailor]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

Your diver didn't alert you to this?

Due to health issues I severely neglected the boat for several years. I am now paying the price, a very steep price. For the last year there was no diver. Many of the folks on the dock mean well but are, shall we just say lacking in knowledge. I am constantly pulling peoples shore power cords out of the water.

Still, my fault, my responsibility that I failed.

I do agree with you about different areas mean different solutions. I've tried Trinidad and Micron but neither has given me the life of Seahawk. The yard I used, on the Anclote River in Tarpon Springs, only uses Seahawk unless a customer specifies otherwise.

Mea Culpa,
Rich

[cabo_sailor]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

I used Trinidad in Fl and the Caribe. Had a lot of barnacle growth. Still, not a lot of good choices out there. I'd go with Seahawk probably.

I went to their website and filled out a questionnaire. Based upon my answers I was given a choice of "good", "better","best". I chose best and the paint is called BioCop TF.. I won't be able to give an accurate review because the yard screwed up and put 2 coats of Seahawk NuCote on instead of what I specified. No hassle, no problem. They got the correct paint and added 2 coats of that above the NuCote. I've now got 4 coats of bottom paint for the price of two.

Rich

[redsky49]

A couple things I have noted from my experience:

A paint formulation five years ago is likely not the same as two years ago or even now. And the Manufacturers are not very forthcoming about admitting to changes.

Paints absolutely perform differently based on location. Huge difference between the Chesapeake and Florida, for example.

Sitting still, especially if in a marina with little water movement, will defeat any bottom paint. The ablative paints have no advantage if you are not moving.

My sense is that cost is not a particularly good indicator of performance.

The loss of the biocide Irgarol (sp.?) may impact slime growth and I haven't yet heard of a replacement additive coming to market.

Hard epoxies, such as Fast Bottoms recommends, are great until you come to the day that they all have to be removed due to excessive layers. And it is nice with the ablatives that they don't become inactive during dry storage as the hard paints do . That being said, on the Chesapeake, paints like Woolsey Neptune, and Trinidad, were my go to paints in the past.

I have been about four years now with ablatives and I think I am ahead of the game regarding operating costs as opposed to hard epoxies. This has been while operating between North Carolina, Florida and the Bahamas. I have been using Blue Water Paints Copper Pro 67 SCX ablative.

Just my experience.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by redsky49

Hard epoxies, such as Fast Bottoms recommends, are great until you come to the day that they all have to be removed due to excessive layers. And it is nice with the ablatives that they don't become inactive during dry storage as the hard paints do . That being said, on the Chesapeake, paints like Woolsey Neptune, and Trinidad, were my go to paints in the past.

I recommend only two paint- Pettit Trinidad (hard) and Interlux Micron 66 (hybrid ablative.) I think they are both the best examples of their respective types you can buy. That said, there is no ablative that has the durability (and therefore, longevity) of Trinidad. Here in California, two coats of Trinidad will buy you 3+ years of good anti fouling performance, if properly maintained. I know of no ablative product that can match that.

Another strike against ablatives is that they are increasingly looked upon as high-polluters by the regulatory powers that be. Hull divers are not clean them in the water in Washington and San Diego, for instance.

[cabo_sailor]

Along the line of different regions. I have my boat on the Anclote River in Tarpon Springs, FL. This is usually briny but not true salt water. This time of year water temps are in the 80 to 90 deg range.

We are currently REALLY into our wet season. Daily afternoon rain is the norm and we just came out a 27 day period where daily rainfall occasionally exceeded 7 in. The amount of nutrients being flushed into the river must be enormous.

We're going to have to enroll our barnacles on weight watchers ! 🙀


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[redsky49]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

I recommend only two paint- Pettit Trinidad (hard) and Interlux Micron 66 (hybrid ablative.) I think they are both the best examples of their respective types you can buy. That said, there is no ablative that has the durability (and therefore, longevity) of Trinidad. Here in California, two coats of Trinidad will buy you 3+ years of good anti fouling performance, if properly maintained. I know of no ablative product that can match that.

Another strike against ablatives is that they are increasingly looked upon as high-polluters by the regulatory powers that be. Hull divers are not clean them in the water in Washington and San Diego, for instance.

I can't argue with that, but not everyone is in California. Most boaters, Chesapeake and north, are going to haul out for the winter. That pretty much guarantees a fresh bottom paint in the spring for hard paints. For hard paints, that means a thorough sanding (complete with hazard garb) and at least one fresh coat, more likely two, of expensive paint.

As to the pollution effects of ablative paint, my guess is that the result must be similar to hard paint that is scrubbed hard. My diver uses a Scotch pad and just wipes the bottom of my ablative paint. Occasionally I will see a cloud of paint in the water as a result but most time it is just the green growth being removed. Could be the EPA outlaws it at some point, but until there is a true breakthrough in chemistry, it seems we boaters are being legislated into a corner. What's next?

And finally, does California actually have enough water to still go boating anymore

[Captain Bill]

I am aa full time cruiser so my experience may vary since my boat does not typically sit for long periods. I have used pettit trinidad sr since buying the boat. I do stop twice a year in the indian river near Melbourne Fl and in broad creek near Oriental NC for a couple of weeks. Both areas are notorious for fouling, especially with barnicles. My last painting was last November and it has already stopped prventing barnicle growth near the waterline. One item that i have never had to clean barnicles off of is my saildrives. Since I can't use Trinidad sr on the aluminum drives I have been using Pettit Vivid. I followed their protocol for protecting the drives from the copper and it has worked great. Even when the trinidad was near the end of its life and was fouling heavily I never had more than a light slime on the drives. The Vivid was appled at the same time as the trinidad so lasted just as long and was more effective in the long run. I am seriously considering going to Vivid for the entire bottom next time. Too bad the stuff doesn't work on props. I wish I had taken a picture of the heavily fouled props, moderately fouled bottom and clean saildrives after 3 weeks in the Indian river.

[sanibel sailor]

I keep my boat on a canal in Ft Myers Beach, Southwest Florida. Right off the gulf, so it is plenty salty and a residential area so likely has a fair amount of fertilizer runoff. Dead end canal means water is relatively stagnant and stays at 90+ degrees F in the summer. Good setup for fouling. Friends that keep their boats upriver has much less fouling. It is not just region, but location as well.

Just repainted my bottom, 3 years with Ultima. I did not have to do any cleaning for 6 months when new. I usually clean the bottom every month or two. Do it myself so I am aware of the performance of the paint. Seemed good until about two months ago, then just crapped out, lots of baby barnacles started to grow. Maybe I had cleaned down thru to whatever was underneath. Repainted with West CPP which was on sale at 2 for 1 last March. Mixed in the last half gallon of Ultima for the second coat. Good to hear that my paint was ACP-50 repackaged as it seemed satisfactory in the past.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by redsky49

As to the pollution effects of ablative paint, my guess is that the result must be similar to hard paint that is scrubbed hard. My diver uses a Scotch pad and just wipes the bottom of my ablative paint. Occasionally I will see a cloud of paint in the water as a result but most time it is just the green growth being removed.

There is no data proving that ablatives are worse for the environment than hard paints. But the people who make water quality policy pick the low-hanging fruit first and are typically not boaters into the bargain. So they see an anti fouling paint that "plumes" when cleaned and they assume it is a worse polluter than one that doesn't. Again, there is no evidence that this is actually the case.

Originally Posted by redsky49

Could be the EPA outlaws it at some point, but until there is a true breakthrough in chemistry, it seems we boaters are being legislated into a corner.

Just to clarify- Do not look for the USEPA to ban your ablative paints. That is typically done at the state or regional level. The USEPA determines acceptable levels of pollutants (such as copper) in the nation's waterways and it is the regional and local jurisdiction's responsibilty to bring those water bodies into compliance.

Originally Posted by redsky49

And finally, does California actually have enough water to still go boating anymore

Maybe you didn't get the memo- sealevels are rising.