Sant Carles antifoul recommendations

**GSL** · 05-10-09, 15:35

I will have my boat lifted at Sant Carles next week to antifoul the shafts and props.

Does anybody have recommendations on suitable materials for use in this area of the Med?

many thanks

Graham

**Hurricane** · 05-10-09, 17:07

Anything will do
Now that the lift and scrub is so cheap its hardly worth putting anything on.

Mike

**PowerYachtBlog** · 05-10-09, 17:56

so Mike no debate with the standard Epoxy paint versus Velox....

**Hurricane** · 05-10-09, 19:14

Originally Posted by PowerYachtBlog

so Mike no debate with the standard Epoxy paint versus Velox....

No - but we've moved on a bit.
The little ?uggers seem to like to eat the primer!!!
Thats the bad news - the good news is that it sticks quite well.

I'm going to try some Coper Coat next year.
Based on it being an epoxy with copper in, it does exactly what I was going to try anyway.
Having had the experience with the two part primer sticking, I was going to try adding copper granules like TCM did for his AF but Coper Coat seems just the stuff to try.

Its all very experimental though.

All the best though
A quietly confident Mike (again)

**GSL** · 06-10-09, 09:19

Mike.....

Are you going to try Coppercoat on shafts and props? My hull was Coppercoated 18 months ago, it is just the stern gear I am concerned about.

Graham

**Hurricane** · 06-10-09, 12:09

Originally Posted by GSL

Mike.....

Are you going to try Coppercoat on shafts and props? My hull was Coppercoated 18 months ago, it is just the stern gear I am concerned about.

Graham

Me too - I'll stick to normal antifouling for the hull - it seems a lot of effort removing the old AF before you can apply Copper Coat.

No I think its worth trying it on the metalwork. My experience is that nothing seems to stick to props etc but I have had a certain amount of success with an epoxy based primer sticking so my next plan was to try mixing copper granules into the two part epoxy primer. This, of course, is exactly what Copper Coat is. At SIBS, I asked Copper Coat themselves about the galvanic argument of putting copper on the props and he thought that it would be OK - apparently, the epoxy in the mix is enough to resist the flow of electricity significantly. I'm not worried anyway because the Noble value difference between copper vs bronze/stainless is significantly less than that of copper/bronze/stainless vs zinc of the anodes. So, I think that next year, I'm going to try some of their Copper Coat, knowing that it will probably come off during the season - but it may just work.

If it does, lots of people on this forum would be interested, I'm sure.

Just put me down as someone who is in search of the ultimate prop treatment.

**GSL** · 06-10-09, 13:48

I spoke to the Coppercoat people on the phone yesterday, and they said that it was not suitable for props and sterngear. I have been very happy with the hull cleanliness in the Solent for 9 months, and then 6 months in the French canals.

I am currently trying to find out what the local fishermen use on their props etc, I spent enough time dodging them all on the overnight trip from Marseille, there are no stortage of them in the area for sure.

Graham

**Hurricane** · 06-10-09, 14:26

Originally Posted by GSL

I spoke to the Coppercoat people on the phone yesterday, and they said that it was not suitable for props and sterngear. I have been very happy with the hull cleanliness in the Solent for 9 months, and then 6 months in the French canals.

I am currently trying to find out what the local fishermen use on their props etc, I spent enough time dodging them all on the overnight trip from Marseille, there are no stortage of them in the area for sure.

Graham

The Copper Coat guy at SIBS wasnt keen until I said that nothing sticks anyway. I still think its worth a try - being epoxy based it might work.

We tried very hard to find out what the local fishermen use - dont forget though that they are using their boats daily so the little critters dont get a chance to attach themselves.
You might like to try the Co-op though - they are the local fishermen's shop. Its very close the the marina - you will find the position of it on my map on the SCMCHAT forum - its a really cheap source of chandlery bits anyway and worth a visit - they seem to do all the usual makes of AF as well. Best of luck communicating though - no English but really nice people.