I like the idea of the longer life that International claim for this stuff, but I wonder how true it is for a boat that spends about 95% of its time on a mooring. Has anyone used it and can compare with other paints?

Cheers, Graeme

I have just re-antifouled my boat with 35lts of micron 66. When the boat was pulled out every body were so impressed with the condition of the existing 2 and a half year old antifouling (micron 66). Just a bit of slime round the waterline, no shell growth what so ever except the bottom of the keel where I have been pushing through mud to get into my birth. Another club member also uses 66 on a 55 footer and also gets 3 years. Yes it is expensive but I think it is worth it. It is a shame the Propspeed doesn't last as long, so at mid term we do an overnight lift and hold and re Propspeed the prop. I have used Altex 5 which was not bad, but not as good as 66. If I did not think it was worth it I would not pay the extra money, but I feel it is worth it.

+1 for the Micron 66. I have a diver on mine each month, so easily get 2 years out of the job (same propspeed problem too). I have stopped doing it myself for the past couple of years and the results have been even better than previously.

A tip tho, don't just slap it over the top of 20 years of build up. You will need to get rid of the old crud and give it a good base before starting.

i agree i run a slip in Brisbane and see very good results from 66 though at double the cost of hempel olymic and nearly double the cost of micron extra which give a good 12 to 18 months i find it hard to justify when most of the boats we look after slip annually
the big secret is good bottom prep and lots of paint which jode is obviously doing if you are in a high growth area it may be worth it

Thanks people, that's what I was hoping to hear. At around $700 - $800 for a 4 or 5 day slip, getting an extra year out of 66 means I am way ahead on the $, not to mention the labour.
The International rep stressed the need to get as much of the old stuff off as possible, especially since the last lot was Altex 5 which is apparently quite soft. If you don't, you end up just losing the whole lot in great big chunks as it gets pulled away.

I might pop into Whitworth's Melbourne Boat Show discount sale this weekend and save 15%.

Cheers, Graeme

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boty said..
i agree i run a slip in Brisbane and see very good results from 66 though at double the cost of hempel olymic and nearly double the cost of micron extra which give a good 12 to 18 months i find it hard to justify when most of the boats we look after slip annually
the big secret is good bottom prep and lots of paint which jode is obviously doing if you are in a high growth area it may be worth it

It all comes down to economics. My total slipping bill was just on $6,000.00 so if I can double the time between slipping by paying an extra $1,000.00, it make good economic sense. This may not be the case for smaller boats.

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boty said..
i agree i run a slip in Brisbane and see very good results from 66 though at double the cost of hempel olymic and nearly double the cost of micron extra which give a good 12 to 18 months i find it hard to justify when most of the boats we look after slip annually
the big secret is good bottom prep and lots of paint which jode is obviously doing if you are in a high growth area it may be worth it

I tried Hempel Olympic and it was rubbish after 3 months. Presently have Micron Extra and it's 5 months now and some slime no shell. I reckon it's on par with Altex No5.

In Port Phillip, 66 has a great following. With the occasional clean, many are getting 2 years between haul outs.
A

any of you crew up nth tried Jotun ? and if so , what do you think compared to the micron ?

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SandS said..
any of you crew up nth tried Jotun ? and if so , what do you think compared to the micron ?

Boty may be able to help with on this one, but I do not know of anyone.

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Ramona said..

boty said..
i agree i run a slip in Brisbane and see very good results from 66 though at double the cost of hempel olymic and nearly double the cost of micron extra which give a good 12 to 18 months i find it hard to justify when most of the boats we look after slip annually
the big secret is good bottom prep and lots of paint which jode is obviously doing if you are in a high growth area it may be worth it

I tried Hempel Olympic and it was rubbish after 3 months. Presently have Micron Extra and it's 5 months now and some slime no shell. I reckon it's on par with Altex No5.

Hi Ramona

Interesting that you say that because I use Hempel Olympic down here and after 18 months all I had was a bit of slime on her

This is a photo of her after she was pulled out before she was washed

Perhaps the colder water temp helps

Regards Don

I tried The Hempel when it first came out. It was cheap and came in 5 litre tins. At the moment I have it under the Micron as an undercoat just to get rid of the extra can I had.
Jotun is a good product as well. Just make sure you buy the right one. The Seagardian is good for about 12 months but there are some longer life Jotun about that that will give 36 months.

Antifouling paint is one of the few products you get what you pay for.

Unfortunately comparing antifouls from one end of the country to the other, from one end of the state to the other, hell from one end of a river to another, is just never going to work.

I have seen Jotun work better than Micron 66 in some areas, Hempel work better than Micron 66 in others, but on the whole Micron 66 is probably the best.
I (and other boats around my mooring) tried Mocron 66 with Ok-good results but no better than Olympic Hard, where as just uo the road in the Marina, Micron out performs everything!!

Even your fouling area matters....have a really dirty boat that never moves just next/uptrream of you will double your fouling!!

Mate of mine adds 1/2 kg of "copperoxychloride" to his antifouling that he uses on his steel yacht and claims it greatly enhances the antifouling effect.

Anybody else done or heard of that??

www.yates.co.nz/products/disease-control/concentrates/yates-copper-oxychloride/

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cisco said..
Mate of mine adds 1/2 kg of "copperoxychloride" to his antifouling that he uses on his steel yacht and claims it greatly enhances the antifouling effect.

Anybody else done or heard of that??

www.yates.co.nz/products/disease-control/concentrates/yates-copper-oxychloride/

I've heard of a few home-brew upgrades to AF including a dose of Roundup, but I must say I'm not keen. I wouldn't want to inadvertently add more gunk to the environment than I already do.

Cheers, Graeme

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wongaga said..
I've heard of a few home-brew upgrades to AF including a dose of Roundup, but I must say I'm not keen. I wouldn't want to inadvertently add more gunk to the environment than I already do.

Cheers, Graeme

Dear wongaga, While I, and I am sure everybody else here supports the ethic of minimizing environmental impact from how we live our daily lives, I think you need to put some "reality check" into your thinking.

Us "rich yachties" have been accused by the political correct lefties of doing irreparable harm to the environment through our sewage discharge, that toxic paint we use on out yachts and those thousands of poor little barnacles that die when we scrape them off our boats because the "toxic" paint we used did not work.

Commercial vessels, in particular, large international bulk carriers, are allowed to put the most toxic paints of all on their bottoms in the name of "economic international trade". They fill their ballast tanks with water from the other side of the world full of organisms from there and dump them on the other side of the world where they previously did not exist.

Port Phillip Bay is a prime example of the environmental destruction that practice has caused.

But no!! Us small boat owners are the criminals causing "huge environmental damage" and that is why we cannot buy antifouling paint that actually works and have to fit holding tanks for our occasional discharge of human waste that bacterially dies in salt water.

Oh the shame of it all!!!!!

Copper Oxychloride is a common product that is sold at Bunnings and just about any garden shop. People buy it, spread it on their gardens, it rains and it gets washed down to where???

If you mix it in your antifoul paint and it stops barnacles etc from growing on your hull, has it actually leeched into the environment??

Am I trying to justify it's use on boat hulls by comparison with the multinational environmental vandals?? Not at all.

If the barnacles etc stay in their natural environment ie not on boat hulls and the copper oxychloride stays in it's environment, ie the paint, where is the harm??

It's interesting that when antifouls are restricted, the "politically correct lefties" are blamed, but when bulk carriers cause destroy the environment the politics of those responsible are ignored. Surely if the left is blamed for restricting antifouls then a balanced post would blame the right for the environmental destruction caused by shipping?

The boating community can take some blame for the restrictions (which are OTT) because so many people in the industry give the impression that only rich people have moored boats. Certainly, a lot of people in the industry only care about the rich people, so it's not surprising that the government gets the impression we can all afford to get our boats slipped more often.

we slip on average about 75 boats a year most local to Brisbane though some which come from interstate on a semi regular basis these vary in size construction and usage patterns considerably naturally i would have built up some knowledge of anti fouling characteristics over the last 16 years of running the slip and the previous 20 years of owning and maintaining yachts and fishing boats for myself and others
as some have stated on the forum with antifoul you generally get what you pay for the best results i see would come from 66 next would be hempel globic with hempel olympic and micron extra on even par closely followed by joutun sea gardiun and though i see good results out of altex no5 im not that keen on it as its very soft and you often experience flaking if all of the previous coat is not removed .
i point out that this is with prep and application by our staff with a heavy sand tiecoat where nessacary and sprayed finish. As with all painting prep is everything and the amount of antifoul applied is also very important a minimum of 2 coats with a 21 tip on the airless and if you are applying with a brush and roller 3 coats

boty said "i point out that this is with prep and application by our staff with a heavy sand tie coat where necessary and sprayed finish. As with all painting prep is everything and the amount of antifoul applied is also very important a minimum of 2 coats with a 21 tip on the airless and if you are applying with a brush and roller 3 coats"


In 2015 I did my antifouling with Altex No 5 at Horizon Shores and then cruised to Bowen and back to the Laurieton in NSW and then this year to Lake Macquarie and back. Only now am I starting to see some growth on the hull [and the Camden Haven River is a high fouling river] after just over two years.

The secret as boty said is prep and with a roller - 3 coats.

I actually put on 4 as I only need 2 litres per coat on my Top Hat and Altex don't produce a 6 or 2 litre tin

Most failures I think are related to how many coats are applied.

But an extra $230 for a tin [for an extra year or so] compared to a $850 plus yearly haul out works for me.

FWIW, I get 2 years in South Australian waters with 2 coats of Micron CSC (extra black).

BTW, there are various reports on the web that Micron 66 should be avoided in low-salinity brackish waters.

Frequent use of your boat is one of your best defenses against fouling