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Old 10 July 2006, 22:38   #1
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Country: UK - England
Town: Falmouth
Make: Gemini waverider 600
Length: 6m +
Engine: Mariner 150 optimax
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 11
Antifoul topsides

My RIB is six years old and has never been antifouled, it has always been taken out of the water every few weeks. last season it stayed in the water to long without antifoul and the fouling has imbeded it's self in the gel coat, I have tried everything to get it out. I have been advised to very lightly sand the hull and then add a 2 pack epoxy paint. I am thinking of sanding the whole hull including the SMALL area that could be called the topsides and epoxy painting the whole hull and antifouling the whole hull. Any coments please. I have searched previous threads and read a lot about antifoul, but have not found anything along the lines of the advise i have received?
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Old 11 July 2006, 11:30   #2
RAS
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Country: UK - England
Town: Northampton/Devon
Boat name: Cormorant
Make: Southern Pacific
Length: 4m +
Engine: Mariner 40HP O/B
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 5
Having just changed to a Rib after keeping a Fast Fisher on a mooring for the last 15 years, I would be cautious about putting Epoxy on a hull unless you have the facilities to be able to apply the Epoxy by spraying it on in a dust free environment. The surface of a fibreglass hull is normally very smooth, while the surface of hand applied epoxy or antifoul is normally quite rough. To give you an example, on one occasion after cleaning my boat ready to antifoul I opened the tin and found red antifoul in a tin marked white, so while I was waiting for a replacement I used my boat with a cleaned bottom and found that to top speed had increased from 32Kn to 36Kn.

Another problem is that for antifoul to work it is best applied 24 hours before launching, and then needs to be kept wet. If you are taking the boat out of the water for periods of a week or more the antifoul will have dried out completely and then will not work when you put the boat back in the water.

My solution would be on occasions when you need to leave the boat in the water for a few weeks power wash the hull as soon as poss after taking the boat out, or if that is not possible go for a blast in fresh water which will also remove salt water marine life. The other tip is to avoid leaving your boat in the water during May and June as that is the time when all the marine creatures are reproducing and the water is full of spores.

Hope this helps.
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