Anti-fouling?
Anti-fouling is commonly used in boats that remain in water, like sailboats and yachts.
The anti-fouling is not your standard paint. It's applied over a bottom coat as a top coat to protect your hull from a marine growth. There are many different types of fouling paint but the results are the same.
First, you have to have a good, hard bottom coat that is the base for your anti-fouling. The anti-fouling is usually applied just before the bottom coat dries. This causes it to be bonded with that coat.
In older fouling coats, there was a poison type ingredient added that kept the marine growth from attaching itself to the hull. Once they tried to attach, like barannacles, their roots were contaminated by the poison and they'd die.
Now days, it's mostly copolymers and other organics. Some use copper oxides and salts.
The anti-fouling never really gets hard. What ever growth might be on it, will be removed from the forward motion of the boat. Kinda like combining the bottom of all slim and tangles. In doing this, you are also loosing small amounts of fouling all the time. This coating should be inspected yearly and depending on what type you purchase, it has to be re-applied anywhere between once a year to every 4 or 5 years. The cheaper coatings are yearly with more expensive being longer.
My experience with anti-foulings comes from several years back, when I owned a 22 foot Calalina sail boat. I also have experience with these coatings in a ship yard work environment.
But, I think there is a huge piece of this picture being left out. The reason we don't leave our boats in the water is because of marine growth, it's because the jet pump, thru hull seal and impeller bearing system not being designed for continous submersion. You'll also have a problem with electroylsis. This will be worse if you leave an electrical connection from the pier to the boat. You'll notice the effects of this when you try to remove a carb. The aluminum and stainless fasteners are more likely to seize from aluminum oxide that occurs through electroylsis.
Copper does not provide any protection from electrolysis. Only zinc anode bars can do this. Brass however is less likely to be affected from the salts of ocean water.
Fresh water boats will be exposed to marine growth, just not the horrible growth of barannacles. But, I have seen boats on lakes that have mussels, slime and algae growht on them. So, just because your in fresh water, doesn't make you immune to marine growth.
Remember, if you leave your boat un-attended in the water, you stand the chance of sinking if your thru hull seal gives way or leaks badly. You will be relying totally on your bilge pump. All these seals usually leak by to some degree. So, it's because of this that BRP suggests that you remove the boat from the water when finished.
The last thing you have to realize is, no back flushing. If you don't remove the boat, then you'll likely neglect your regular maintenance.:cheers:
