Drying moorings

[Dino]

Does anyone have their boat on a drying mud mooring and if so what antifoul have you had success with? My previous experience is with yachts and erodable antifoul (5 knots!) so this is new to me.I did consider this new "safeboatskin" but as she is constantly settling in the mud it will probably wear off too quick.Do you have to abrade the hull or can you get away with a good clean, the thought of rubbing down shiny gel coat is frightening,(osmosis etc.)

[Pete7]

If you can get Safe Boat Skin to work in the Solent, I will eat Des's hat

Stu and I have both had mixed results from antifouling but smooth gel coat will simply mean the antifouling just falls off, you really have to abraid it. Normally use the strongest stuff I can find from International with extra copper (tin has a red plastic top to it) but this year tried the cheaper XM antifouling. Lets just say I will be back to International in the Spring as the XM didn't stick very well and triffids grew all over it

The Solent has warm water, lots of nutrients and good tidal flow, all encourage things to grow on your hull. If thats not bad enough the mud will block the antifouling so she will need a good scrub during the season.

Pete

[tue]

My first boat was kept on a dry out mud mooring, and I found the antifoul on the keel would be completely worn off by the end of the season. I used a hard non errosive antifoul (can't remember make it was yaers ago) but it would still wear off at the point the hull touched the bottom.

We have had alot of success with International Tri-lux on all the boats that come into work, but these are all deep water moorings, so I do not know its performance when drying out.

Preparation is the key as with all paints, and a good key up with wet 'n' dry is essential if you want the paint to remain on the hull. Keying will just roughen the surface allowing the paint to stick and will not enhance the risk of osmosis, as this is caused when water soaks into the fibreglass itself from deep chips/scratches.