Foul talk

[lockhughes]

Ain't boats great?

Where else can a bunch of old guys get together and talk about their hairy bottoms (OK, please don't answer that!)

About antifouling...

I woke up from a siesta aboard the Phoenix yesterday to the usual Spring sounds of scrapers and electric sanders and curses, etc around the yard as folks get ready for launch.

As a dinghy sailor, dealing with a 32-footer is a whole new experience for me that I really have ignored all these years whether dinghy sailing or crewing larger craft.

So because I am so ignorant, I get to "free-think" outside the realms of reality <grin>

Why not a copper bottom? (ie copper foil laminated to the hull.)

(Hey, it's a heck of a lot more traditional than the g.d.diseasal engine!!!)

Anyway, of course, there is already product out there.

Here, for example:
http://www.cda.org.uk/megab2/corr_rs/pub157/157_lo.pdf
A coupla articles here:
http://www.sailnet.com/search/result...riteria=copper

The application in my case is a 32-foot wooden hull (glassed outside), restricted to harbour waters ("fresh" Great Lakes water) and slow speeds (6kts.max.) - in fact a liveaboard tied up alongside 99% of the time.

Concerns include pollutions in the water attacking the copper, and adhesives for bonding to the hull (after prev. antifouling paint removed)...

Objectives include reducing bottom work (antifouling removal/replacement) to only once every few years or so, instead of annually, and fewer consumables used up in the process (masking tapes, face masks, full-body environmental suits, ear drums, etc.)

And the pleasure of working to the music of CDs and birds and bees insteada grinders and sanders, with no dust to go up my neighbours noses...

Apart from any commercial product, it turns out that the stained glass hobby-type folks use copper foil (1.5mil thickness), which can be special ordered in rolls up to 24" wide.

Someone has already suggested soldering the copper sheets where they overlap.

My thought was cyanoacrylics (not foil to hull - just to glue overlaps in foil sheets)... Dunno how "crazyglues" perform L/T under water...

I'm really not interested in putting any nails into the hull!

Sooooo.... anyone aboard here with any knowledge or experience with copper sheeting/foils as anti-fouling?

Thx for any replies

Lock

Don't know about the copper sheathing process but I found out a long time ago with rc sailboats :cyano hates water; definitely do NOT use it under water!

[Sean Herron]

Hello...

Copper shim comes in rolls - copper screws or bott nails come in boxes...

Cupric oxide comes in cans and is mixed into epoxy...

Me - I come at you in a '79 Pontiac - so I merge first...

SH.

[mackid068]

I say perhaps to copper. It's been in use for quite some time. Royal Navy used it...until METAL ships. Maybe just cover in epoxy or something, since its fresh albeit polluted, water.

[Willallison]

Copper is still the active ingredient in most wood/frp boat antifoulings - and regular types include both hard and ablative types.
We recently 'antifouled' the bottom of our 23' Formula with a product made in the UK called Coppercoat. Originally called Copperbot, it is not to be confused a similarly named product made by International.
It is essentially copper dust in a mix of two-pack eopxy which is applied to the bottom after it has been suitably prepared. It's about 2 times the cost of regular antifoul - but is supposed to LAST 10 YEARS

http://www.coppercoat.com/

On another note, thin copper sheet was the material of choice for many-a-decade before antifouling paints were developed. I remember about 20 years ago a Canadian chap came to work for us for a year or so. He had sailed his 26 foot wooden boat here via Japan (yes I did say twenty six foot! ). The bottom was sheathed with copper. Nailed on as I recall. No doubt pretty effective, so long as you don't mind the weight.

[PowerTech]

there is a good artical some were about some folks restoring the reproduced Nina ,Pint,and Santa Maria with a coper bottom like they used in the old days.I saw those ships in miami It must of been around 10 years ago you would think they would be bigger.Funky looking boats.

[cyclops]

I remember reading a piece on race boat bottoms. They use a product called something like KIS or KISS ,no joke. It is a super slick liquid that is wiped over all the surfaces in water to reduce friction. Claimed it is used by the off shore racers all the time.---------- Copper, Aluminum and SS. There is galvanic action.