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One-Year Report on CopperPoxy Bottom Coating by Greg Delezynsky, #80 In late September and early October, 1996, we sanded all old bottom paint from Guenevere. On 6 and 7 October, 1996, we coated the bottom as directed in the instructions that were provided with the CopperPoxy. We found the product to be thicker than we expected. It was almost the consistency of a light putty. This made application a bit harder than expected. The boat was put in the water on 8 October 96 and has remained in the water, without any below the water cleaning, since that time. The boat is birthed in Peninsula Marina, Redwood City, Cal. This is off of the Redwood Creek Channel, located in the south end of San Francisco Bay. The marina is small and almost landlocked. The water does not move a lot and is very good for stimulating marine growth! We live aboard and sail the boat as often as every other weekend during good weather, as little as once a month or less during the winter. Due to moving aboard, with all the stuff required to still work a full time job, a small amount of the waterline forward is now just at or above the CopperPoxy coating. On this area of the hull, above the Copperpoxy, we are getting a small amount of hard growth (tube worms) that must cleaned off on an every-other-month basis. To clean this requires a wood scraper. Below the waterline we can see soft growth, as predicted by the manufacturer. This soft growth comes off very easy with a light brushing. We have also noticed that after a short bash to windward, we can no longer see any of the soft growth on areas washed by brisk waves. On Sept 13 of 1997, we had a diver clean, inspect, and report on the condition of the boat. His findings were: 1. In some small areas he could see the white undercoat of the hull through brush strokes. We had not applied the product as well as we should have. 1.25 gallons were not sufficient to cover the complete bottom as thick as we should have coated it. On this white area that showed through, small amounts of green algae was present. 2. At the water line, tube worms were present above the bottom coating and he suggested moving the bottom up 2.5 to 3 inches. 3. The prop (bronze) was very heavily covered in hard growth. This took some time to clean. 4. The zinc on the prop shaft was about 80% gone, not bad at all for one full year in the water. He informed us that in the next marina to ours, zincs were being replaced on a 16-week interval. He suggested that from now on I replace it on a twice-a-year basis. 5. A darkish stain was seen in the coating close to the galley outlet extending upward. We were asked if we used any harsh detergents. We ONLY use biodegradable soaps on our boat, but, after some discussion it came to us that at times we put a cup of bleach down the sink to clean and disinfect. We will stop this procedure at once and search for a replacement product. 6. NO hard growth was found on any part of the boat protected by the CopperPoxy. He than stated that it was one of the cleanest bottoms he had done in some time and questioned me if I had truly had this in the water for a full year without any cleaning. When first called, and during our first meeting, the diver quoted us prices for a visit every 12 weeks or every 18 weeks. This is the most common schedule for this area. After the cleaning and inspection, he stated he would like us to be on a twice a year schedule, "Mostly to clean the prop and replace the zincs." We would say the product is performing as advertised at this point. It is our intention to do a haul and pressure wash in November, 1997, touch up the light spots, and raise the bottom coating the 3 inches as suggested, along with a few other work items required. At that time we will take a few pictures and pass them along here on the Web site. The CopperPoxy we used was purchased from: We have just ordered 4 each, one quart kits, for the upcoming haul out. We will provide another report in one year. If you have any further questions you
may contact us by e-Mail at: delezynski@yahoo.com |