Is Coppercoat anti foul worth it?

[Allen Arin]

Wooden ship bottoms were sheathed in copper to ward off worms, barnacles, and other growth. Unfortunately, there are downsides to copper paint and antifouling paint in general. If it’s a hard paint, eventually it flakes and has to be stripped away. If it’s an ablative (sloughing) paint, it can still flake if the application isn’t ideal, and it eventually releases large amounts of copper and other chemicals into the water. There are plenty of national and local regulations restricting the use of copper bottom paints and they are getting expensive too

[tedowens]

I have had Copper Coat for the last 3 years, and I have been disappointed with it. It worked great for the first 6 months. Then It began to get algae, which was difficult to remove. After another year, it would get barnacles. I was in the Caribbean, which might be part of the problem. I complained to Copper Coat about it, and they said that I needed to have the boat hauled out and further sanding done. The copper is suspended in epoxy and it needs to be activated by lightly sanding the top layer of epoxy off. I had this done, but it didn't help. I complained further to Copper Coat and they gave me new paint as a warranty replacement. By this time, I was in Portimao, Portugal, and it turns out that the experts in applying Copper Coat is Slick Hull Service are located there. I had them repaint my boat and it looks great. They believe that my original painters sanded the bottom too much by using a machine. Copper Coat is very particular in its application. Slick Hull did the painting with rollers (which is recommended by Copper Coat), then the did the activation by hand with a fine sandpaper and Scotch Bright. It looks great, now it will have the test of time. I am headed into the Mediterranean, which I understand generally has less growth. I am also adding an ultrasonic anti-fouling system to make double sure that I don't have to scrub the bottom. I am looking forward to seeing how it works.

[robert sailor]

We had copper coat when we were in the Med, it was about 3 years old. Needed to be cleaned every month otherwise you'd not keep up with the growth. Cleaning wasn't hard as the growth came off easy enough but then the coral worms had a go at us and no way we could get them off. You needed to haul and sand them off. Don't mind cleaning the hull every month if I don't need bailouts but the coral worms proved our Master. Final gave up after another year and added Petit Trinidad. Went 3 years with it with cleaning not needed in first year, cleaned it 4 or 5 times in second and 3rd year and in forth year it was about every month but no coral worms. I think if you were younger and cleaned every 3 weeks in year 5 you'd make it financially a pretty good buy.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by tedowens

I am also adding an ultrasonic anti-fouling system to make double sure that I don't have to scrub the bottom.

This is an unrealistic expectation.

[Sulaire]

My coppercoat i now 7 years old, been in the med, and carib, seems pretty good so far. Its all about managing your expectations. Yes i have to clean it off, yes there have been times it got barnacles and white worm, but a good scrub to expose more copper sorted that out.

[bbalan]

Hi All,
I've just posted a review of our 4 year experience with Coppercoat complete with photos and videos of the tests we have been doing. You can find it at https://coppercoat.brucebalan.com


Hope some find it helpful.
Best,
Bruce
s/v Migration

[keithw88]

Hi Bruce,
Thank you for telling us about your experiences with Coppercoat. Maybe not absolutely conclusive, but very valuable to anyone considering this product.
Keith

[bbalan]

Thanks, Keith. Definitely not conclusive. But we hope it will get better as we move away from Mexico.
Cheers,
Bruce

[W.T.Gross]

Originally Posted by bbalan

Hi All,
I've just posted a review of our 4 year experience with Coppercoat complete with photos and videos of the tests we have been doing. You can find it at https://coppercoat.brucebalan.com


Hope some find it helpful.
Best,
Bruce
s/v Migration

Wow!!! That was a very detailed explanation of your experience with Coppercoat. I have seen videos of others that were dissatisfied with the results, but Coppercoat's customer service made it right. If my memory serves, a rep even came out to assist in re application. Their results improved with second application

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ67ekaVlB8&t=961s

[FynAlee]

Not worth it. They say 10 years, it lasted 3.

[ReneJK]

Thanks for the detailed report !

What I do notice however , and i dont know if anyone else has this , is that the CC above the water (in these pics) does not turn green ?

Ours is almost completely green / verdigris as the exposed copper is oxidising and i assume this is what happens below the waterline as well and acts as ‘active AF’

Are we the only ones that have CC turn green above the waterline ? I’ll take a pic tomorrow to show what I mean

[David B]

Originally Posted by FynAlee

Not worth it. They say 10 years, it lasted 3.

Cant be Coppercoat, or you didn't burnish it, or it wasn't applied correctly. Ours is now 9 seasons old and going just fine

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by David B

Cant be Coppercoat, or you didn't burnish it, or it wasn't applied correctly. Ours is now 9 seasons old and going just fine

Methinks he doth protest too much. 🤣

[David B]

Originally Posted by ReneJK

Thanks for the detailed report !

What I do notice however , and i dont know if anyone else has this , is that the CC above the water (in these pics) does not turn green ?

Ours is almost completely green / verdigris as the exposed copper is oxidising and i assume this is what happens below the waterline as well and acts as ‘active AF’

Are we the only ones that have CC turn green above the waterline ? I’ll take a pic tomorrow to show what I mean

Ours is also green, and the ones we see around the place are too - you are not alone .
If it's not green then it is not real Coppercoat, or it hasn't been applied correctly, or it hasn't been burnished to expose copper.

[David B]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

Methinks he doth protest too much. 🤣

Sometime the truth hurts