How frequently should grp hull be out of the water/cleaned?

[Alan de Enfield]

11 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

In the end that was why they sold it and bought a Fairline Holiday instead.

We had one of those on the Thames - only problem (for me) was the Volvo 170 petrol engine - then it sat in our yard for 3 years and never saw water - eventually gave it to the Farrier - it passed it BSSC with no problems and he had it on the Witham.

Edited February 14, 2018 by Alan de Enfield

[Naughty Cal]

It is probably still on the Witham.

The Fairline Holiday in question had been rengined with a diesel VP KAD32. It was tight in the engine bay but bloody hell did the thing fly. 

[peterboat]

16 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Its not cheap, from memory its about £80 per litre.

http://coppercoat.com/coppercoat-info/

The life of Coppercoat depends on a variety of factors such as water temperature and salinity. However, typically in Northern Europe one should expect effective performance for at least 10 years, whereas in the Caribbean, 8 to 10 years would be more normal. Many of the first boats treated in 1991 are still performing well after more than 20 years! With an average thickness of 250 microns of Coppercoat being applied in a treatment, and a typical corrosion rate of less than 5 microns per year, it is easy to appreciate how this coating offers such long lasting and effective protection.

 

How to work out how much you need :

http://coppercoat.com/coppercoat-info/application/how-much-will-i-need/

 

 

Cheers for that Alan, looks good stuff and it lasts so cheaper in the long run

[Naughty Cal]

Just now, peterboat said:

Cheers for that Alan, looks good stuff and it lasts so cheaper in the long run

You have to do some fairly intensive prep work first though it you want it to last the full ten years.

They recommend stripping the hull back to GRP, applying several coats of an epoxy primer and then the coppercoat.

We had our boat stripped back to bare GRP about five years ago but decided against it and went for a normal primer and antifoul.

[Momac]

On ‎12‎/‎02‎/‎2018 at 22:23, Alan de Enfield said:

We used to lift ours out every Winter, we now have 'copper-coat' on the bottom which should be good for inspection every 5 years.

Do your anodes last 5 years ?

[Alan de Enfield]

15 minutes ago, MartynG said:

Do your anodes last 5 years ?

Yes.

Even on the steel bots they have lasted 2 x blackings and still not be too 'worn down'.

 

A 5 year old 'set' and a 2 year old 'set'

 

[Naughty Cal]

2 hours ago, MartynG said:

Do your anodes last 5 years ?

Ours do now we have switched to aluminium. 

[Momac]

44 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

Ours do now we have switched to aluminium. 

Interesting.  I have aluminium too .

They are presently a few months off three years old .  Perhaps I may be surprised to find them with material remaining when my boat is next lifted .

[David Mack]

21 hours ago, ronnietucker said:

I think they blacken narrowboats. Dunno. Don't have one. But I'm pretty sure you have to anti-foul a GRP every couple of years.

Most folk only black the hull sides and leave the bottom unpainted (although we don't).

[ronnietucker]

Did we come to a consensus as to whether a GRP needs anti-fouling at all or every few years?

[Momac]

Just now, ronnietucker said:

Did we come to a consensus as to whether a GRP needs anti-fouling at all or every few years?

On salt water certainly.

On fresh water . Yes it does otherwise , even if there is no fouling a s such,  limescale would accumulate and would become difficult to clean off. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Naughty Cal]

2 hours ago, MartynG said:

Interesting.  I have aluminium too .

They are presently a few months off three years old .  Perhaps I may be surprised to find them with material remaining when my boat is next lifted .

I suspect you will. 

39 minutes ago, ronnietucker said:

Did we come to a consensus as to whether a GRP needs anti-fouling at all or every few years?

Depends on the level of fouling in the area you cruise. It will vary depending on location and the product used so no right or wrong answer.

[ronnietucker]

3 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

Depends on the level of fouling in the area you cruise. It will vary depending on location and the product used so no right or wrong answer.

Oh well. There's goes my bank balance next year. Nice knowing you *waves at bank balance* 

 

[ditchcrawler]

Some are just going for a hull scrub these days

 

[Dr Bob]

2 hours ago, ronnietucker said:

Did we come to a consensus as to whether a GRP needs anti-fouling at all or every few years?

On our lumpy water boat, we used to dry it out every year, between tides, and re-antifoul, and then in the racing season we got a diver to go down every 3 weeks to give the hull a clean to remove the fouling.......it made us go faster! That was of course salt water. Most of the racers did this.

[Naughty Cal]

11 hours ago, ronnietucker said:

Oh well. There's goes my bank balance next year. Nice knowing you *waves at bank balance* 

 

BOAT = Bring Out Another Thousand

You are doing well if you still have money in the bank balance 

On a more serious note getting the boat ashore, pressure washing it, prepping the hull, reapplying some fresh paint and then getting the boat back in the water should not be an expensive job. It is the other bits and bobs that you decide to do whilst the boat is out of the water that add up.

ETA: We use this stuff on our boat. Works a treat and is considerably cheaper then other brands.

https://www.premiermarinepaints.co.uk/buy/premier-one-can-semi-hard-antifouling-yacht-boat-paint/13

They also do a version for non planing boats which is cheaper still (wouldn't work on our boat as it would just wash off at high speeds):

https://www.premiermarinepaints.co.uk/buy/premier-cruising-plus-soft-antifouling-yacht-boat-paint/19

Works a treat and is very easy to apply. They have change the formula in recent years as it now keeps it's colour much better. Previously it went a very light blue as the year progressed.

 

Edited February 15, 2018 by Naughty Cal