I've used it on two boats, a mono and a cat, and although it is great stuff if you want a few more knots out of the boat it is no great shakes as an antifouling. You need about 4 coats then a lot of polishing and burnishing. I still had to go down and polish it every couple of months. John Hitch had more success by making his own brew, he made the copper to epoxy ratio so high he had to put it on with a trowel, but it did work on Exit.
Select to expand quoteFreeRadical said..
My money, if I had any, would be on robotics. Like the proliferation of drone technology, I can see cost effective automatic underwater drones scurrying continuously over the hull cleaning it, popping up only to solar recharge.
Like this but much smaller, cheaper and completely autonomous. I'm off to the patent office!
How about a robotic crab with suckers at the end of its legs and small scrapers replacing its claws attach some fishing line to it so when it falls off it can be retrieved this idea just writes itself, why has nobody designed it b4
Select to expand quotePhoenixStar said..
I've used it on two boats, a mono and a cat, and although it is great stuff if you want a few more knots out of the boat it is no great shakes as an antifouling. You need about 4 coats then a lot of polishing and burnishing. I still had to go down and polish it every couple of months. John Hitch had more success by making his own brew, he made the copper to epoxy ratio so high he had to put it on with a trowel, but it did work on Exit.
If one applies it to the manufacturer's spec and it does not work, surely there is a come back on the manufacturer.
Your comment puzzles me, quote, " and although it is great stuff if you want a few more knots out of the boat it is no great shakes as an antifouling.".
I put Copper Coat on the Adams 10 I had and it was not worth a pinch in the hot water we get in Queensland. The water temperature in the harbor and canals here gets to over 30 degrees in summer. It may work better in the cold waters of Tasmania. I have found the best antifouling to be Micron 66 which is not cheap but lasts over 2 years in hot water. Altex 5 runs a close second and is reasonably priced. I use Propspeed on the propeller. Some people push it to 3 years but I like to pull my boats out of the water very 2 years just to check there are no problems. The underwater treatment of your boat is a complete system. It is no use having an antifouling on the bottom of the boat tha lasts for 2 years if the coating on the propeller only lasts 1 year. Unfortunately there are a lot of variables when it comes to antifouling, water temperature, how often you use you boat, do you mind giving you boat the occasional underwater scrub or are you racing and want a really smooth bottom. My advise is to pick the brains of the professional antifouling blokes at your local boat yard to see exactly works in your area. Over the years I have heard of lots of concoctions for Antifouling, but I am still to see one that really works. The people that claim to have something that works are usually in cold water where nearly any sort of coating will retard growth. You might as well wipe Grease on your boat and propeller as it will work just as well.
Select to expand quoteJode5 said...
I put Copper Coat on the Adams 10 I had and it was not worth a pinch in the hot water we get in Queensland. The water temperature in the harbor and canals here gets to over 30 degrees in summer. It may work better in the cold waters of Tasmania. I have found the best antifouling to be Micron 66 which is not cheap but lasts over 2 years in hot water. Altex 5 runs a close second and is reasonably priced. I use Propspeed on the propeller. Some people push it to 3 years but I like to pull my boats out of the water very 2 years just to check there are no problems. The underwater treatment of your boat is a complete system. It is no use having an antifouling on the bottom of the boat tha lasts for 2 years if the coating on the propeller only lasts 1 year. Unfortunately there are a lot of variables when it comes to antifouling, water temperature, how often you use you boat, do you mind giving you boat the occasional underwater scrub or are you racing and want a really smooth bottom. My advise is to pick the brains of the professional antifouling blokes at your local boat yard to see exactly works in your area. Over the years I have heard of lots of concoctions for Antifouling, but I am still to see one that really works. The people that claim to have something that works are usually in cold water where nearly any sort of coating will retard growth. You might as well wipe Grease on your boat and propeller as it will work just as well.
Thanks for that jode 5 just save a heap of time and money
I use micron 66....and I anti foul each Christmas.
I could say confident. ...you could get a year and a half out of it but I believe two years would be too long.
I'm in tropical waters. it's a $$$ product but you get what you pay for.
Its a interesting thread....I'd love a anti foul that lasted ten years but having said that...really need to do other maintenance annually and ...well....kinda....enjoy Christmas in marina on the hard. ...kinda nice spend it with other boat randoms . Its something how strangers can bond over a **** job like antifouling and help each other.
Once told by a true crusty old seadog who lived at sea his whole life the ultimate antifouling product is " fire....burn the bloody boat son and start a new life back on land" was his advice! 
Second Wind was antifouled with Altex 5 maybe 6 months before I bought her 2 years ago and she has very little growth on her to date so I guess I will go with that again.
Ok, after all the burnishing the bottom is very slick, so you do go faster, but I never got more than a couple of months before I had to dry out and scrub the bottom. It does last for a long time but I did get sick of the continual maintenance so switched back to the conventional stuff after a few months. I tried it on a planked boat and a glass boat, obeyed the makers instructions faithfully but same results.
John Hitch's home made brew of epoxy and powdered copper worked a lot better, I think because he got a lot more copper exposed after the polishing.
Select to expand quoteTrek said..
I kind of have.
At one time when racing and keen for every bit of speed I tied and araldited some empty fruit juice bottles to the top of a brush broom head. Then instead of attaching a stick to the brush head like a normal broom I used 1/2" electrical conduit so it would bend. Using that I could scrub the boat bottom because the broom bristles would float upwards against the hull when I pushed the broom head under with the conduit. Hard work though.
I would love to now the truth about the ultrasonic antifoul idea. The story goes that someone noticed no growth around the sonar transponder of navy ships and therefore ultrasonics all over the hull would keep it clean. I bought a kit to do it but haven't put it on the boat yet.
Searching high and low I could never find someone willing to stand up and guarantee it works. You can find the systems for sale, but no proof. If anyone knows they work or has seen proof let me know, I would love to save the painful $$$ every year or so.
warwickl had a thread going back in 2012-13 reviewing an ultrasonic system just installed. I emailed to see if we can get a long term review.My two cents on the coppercoat sub-topic; I am a new boat owner of a Catalina 270LE and am scouring the net in search of how best to outfit and maintain her. From the info I have gathered here and on other forums and websites, I am planning to go with Coppercoat and regular bottom scrubbings with a scotchbrite pad (every 1-2 months). It seems to be an effective solution that requires a small amount of maintenance but my reasoning is:
1. one application every 8-12 years is better than every 1-2 years and I plan to bottom clean regularly regardless.
2. Non-ablative means I won't be adding 6 gallons of antifouling paint to the environment every 1-2 years as well as conserving on the haul outs.
I am in Santa Barbara, California, where the water is warmer than San Francisco but still not quite tropical.
I am curious about the ultrasonic systems as an addition to the coppercoat epoxy to further reduce fouling in a sustainable system. I am planning on adding solar to the vessel but that is lower on my priority list of improvements as I want to get a good idea of how much power I will need to install and the ultrasonic would need to be calculated into that equation if I go that route.
Select to expand quotecisco said..HG02 said..
I have heard some fishos out in Bass straight use a mixture of anti foul and hot chili powder
Some buy tetracycline powder from rural supplies shops and mix it in with antifoul and there are copper based compounds/molecules you can buy from landscape shops also.
Has anybody used Copper Coat with success on a fibreglass hull?? I suppose if it worked and was economical, everybody would be using it.
My father Copper Coated his Lotus 950 three years ago. He swears by it, however that is in Auckland so the water is a lot cooler than Queensland.
Select to expand quotecisco said..HG02 said..cisco said..HG02 said..
I have heard some fishos out in Bass straight use a mixture of anti foul and hot chili powder
Some buy tetracycline powder from rural supplies shops and mix it in with antifoul and there are copper based compounds/molecules you can buy from landscape shops also.
Has anybody used Copper Coat with success on a fibreglass hull?? I suppose if it worked and was economical, everybody would be using it.
Copper Coat
I wipe it on bolts every day 
it would be slippery and make a mess of the lift out slings
I am talking about a different product HG.
Copper Coat is an epoxy resin with copper powder mixed in with it.
Check it out here:- coppercoat.com/
hi guys
i have copper coat and its great the slime still sticks but not hard and can be wiped away or a broom
I used this on my last boat for a bottom scrub which worked brilliantly, nice and soft yet scrubbed everything off.
So I tried to make a new one for the new boat which is a bit flatter in the rear section. Ended up 6 mtrs long and utterly useless 
Hi, regarding copper based anti-foul, I just noticed this warning in my Volvo manual under the saildrive section:
"Underwater hull Anti fouling agent containing copper oxide can increase the risk of galvanic corrosion and therefore should never be used".
Select to expand quote2bish said..
Hi, regarding copper based anti-foul, I just noticed this warning in my Volvo manual under the saildrive section:
"Underwater hull Anti fouling agent containing copper oxide can increase the risk of galvanic corrosion and therefore should never be used".
People with boats with saildrives usually paint them and a couple of feet around them with non copper based hard antifouling.
