Fouling release coatings

[tompkin]

Hey guys,

I keep my boat in a slip for 6 months a year (freshwater) and keeping the hull clean has been quite the task for me. At the start of a season I usually apply a coat of Collinite Fleetwax to the entire boat. Topside, I am having no issues but I notice after a month or two the wax on the hull has worn off and the algae stain battle begins. It gets into the gelcoat pores and is VERY hard to scrub off. At the end of the season I find myself scrubbing the hull for way too many hours using about every type of hull cleaner and acid on the market to get the hull back to white. Exhausting.

So, I have been researching anti fouling paints for this season, and was about to pull the trigger on some standard Interlux CSC paint when a professional boat painter recommended I look into "fouling release coatings." After a long talk with a manufacturer I have come to understand these are a type of epoxy with silicone, (at least that's what this specific brand used) that when applied to the hull, provide a surface that is very difficult for marine growth to stick to. They do not contain biocides like most anti fouling paints so they are not bad for the environment, and apparently when you get the boat up over 15 knots the accumulated growth just sloughs right off. They supposedly last much longer than typical antifouling paints and it is relatively easy to touch up with more down the road. (this one boat painter told me he has seen a boat with one of these coatings last over 5 seasons...impressive.)

So just to reiterate, unlike a copper based antifouling paint, the bacteria WILL certainly accumulate on the boat when its sitting around..its just that they will have very little hold and with some speed they should just easily slide right off.

Sorry for the length of this, and just to be clear; I'm not promoting any such product currently as I have not used one yet.

Does anyone here have this on their boat or know of anyone that has used a fouling release coating? Or any opinions on this topic at all.

many thanks!

 

[Boater420]

It almost sounds like ablative bottom paint. Same principal except the paint eventually wears off and then you re-apply the paint. As the paint wears off the barnacles and soft growth fall off along with the paint. It's pretty popular here in Florida.

 

[tompkin]

Thanks for the reply. I do however think this is different than an ablative bottom paint.

Check out this article: (around #3 they mention silicone based paints): http://www.yachtworld.com/boat-content/2015/08/bottom-paint-myths-realities/

The one I am looking at is an actual epoxy/silicone blend which is much harder and slower to wear than ablative paint.

 

[atrick]

Hey guys,

I keep my boat in a slip for 6 months a year (freshwater) and keeping the hull clean has been quite the task for me. At

Have you ever tried Oxalic acid. you mix 4 oz to a quart of hot water spray on the algae and wait 10 minutes and pressure wash off. the algae is running off after 10 to 15 minutes, no scrubbing at all. when done you need to spray your trailer off good if its alum or galvanized. you can buy in over internet 20lbs for like $15. Did my 29 and 21 foots boats last two years and got enough left for next two years. Doesn't seem to eat the wax off but sure melts the algae off!!

 

[tompkin]

Hi,
Yes. I have certainly tried oxalic acid (Starbrite) which was too mild for my algae stains. I would apply, wait, scrub, rinse, apply more, wait, rinse, scrub etc for hours and it was not an easy process whatsoever. I have tried muriatic acid (EZ ON EZ OFF) with slightly better results but still took way too much back breaking scrubbing in the end to get it back to white. Also, not a fan of working with acids with all the fumes and dangers to metal components. I have also used SlimyGrimy too, but again very weak and took me many applications and hard scrubbing to get results.

The weird thing is that my gelcoat appears to be in pretty good condition (doesn't look chalky/oxidized) but still the pores get stained and are very hard to clean at the end of the season.

 

[juggernaut1]

Phosphoric acid is good for stain removal, although as you said you prefer not to use acids. The bottom paint you speak of sounds like the equivalent of prop speed for hulls whereby the growth can't take a hold or if it does falls off with use of the boat or can be wiped off by hand/rag.

 

[tompkin]

Absolutely. A lot of these products have the word "speed" worked into their names.

 

[juggernaut1]

For the record, I have prop speed on all my running gear and underneath the tabs and am very happy with it. The most growth on my boat is on the tops of the tabs, so I will coat them with prop speed next time too.

 

[tompkin]

well I finally spoke with someone with one of these coatings recently and unfortunately he said there was quite a lot of algae build up that didn't easily "slough off"...so I'm leaning back towards my original plan of going with a tried and tested product like Interlux Micron CSC.