Which ablative Antifoul to use tropical waters?

[aberglas]

An old question, but I ask anew as products change over time, usually for the worse.


My sailing yacht had an unknown anti foul on it that lasted several years of neglect and was moderately sound.


I antifouled with Altex5. Six months later, a little bit of green slime, which I gently rubbed off with a soft sponge. A *lot* of anti foul came off with it.


On the hard now, not much of the Altrex survived the water blast, old still good.


I suspect Altex 5 is too soft for tropical waters.


Thoughts?


Anthony

[Alistair242]

Agree. While Altex #5 was ok in and around Sydney we found it was not great in warmer waters up north. We switched to Jotun Seavictor 50 which was pretty good. No hard growth and although also an ablative it lasted much longer. Any paint in Marinas in the tropics will take a beating so best to choose one that does not rub off too easily.

[GordMay]

What fouling growth are you hoping to retard: slime, weed, or hard shell growth?

[Tin Tin]

If the antifouling is coming off then you should have put a primer down as recommended by the manufacturer.:
"Use either AY&B PrimaShield Antifouling
Sealer (for sealing unknown antifouling / spot repairs), or
AY&B MultiPurpose Primer"


I have bought 4 used boats where I did not know the antifoul paint , I primed 3 of them all stuck well, took a chance on one of them, that chance failed miserably despite the underlying paint being sound.

[aberglas]

Trying mainly to stop hard shell. But it starts with slime.


The anti foul is just ablating from the outside, not peeling. Not a priming issue.

[zboss]

I've been through a ton of different bottom paints but the best one I have found so far is the one they use for charter boats in the caribbean. It doesn't have any slime control but that is OK because it works great against barnacles and its easy to clean. I think its made by PPG.