Antigua Slipway, antifouling foul play
Scot Free III
Frank & Anne
Sat 4 Nov 2017 06:00
Decisions on Anti fouling.
An annual task which consists of scraping the bottom and then rolling on the most expensive paint known to man in a vain attempt to fend off the weed, mussels and barnacles, which slow you down a bit.
When I say expensive I'm talking Aluminium hulled boat expensive... Normal antifouling just won't do, because it contains free copper, which, for those of a scientific bent, will know forces the Aluminium to corrode. So we have to use a special aluminium friendly paint, Trilux 33, which from those lovely people at International Paints comes in at £210 for 5 litres. The absolute minimum we can get away with using. That's the UK price. In the Caribbean it's £630 per 5 litres.
Ha!! But I've spotted that in the French islands it's only £420 for 5 litres, I cleverly stocked up with 5 litres, in Martinique, and using A's normal logic for shopping, means I actually saved £210. Bargain!! Also, A who has never been happy with the white painted hull (I'm sure she read an article somewhere about whales trying to mate with white hulled boats) suggested black. So, way back in June, five litres of black it was.
A & I normally do this unpleasant task ourselves but in the Canaries, because of the heat, I was persuaded (via an expensive divorce lawyer) to let the boatyard do it. They only charged the GDP of a small African country to do the job and it did look good, until launch, when it's almost all under-water anyhow.
There was no chance of persuading A to don a set of overalls, mask and latex gloves in temperatures of +30 degrees. Thankfully, one of the yard staff, Mr X, who looked after our boat during the hurricane season, offered to do the job (in true 1970s, pre Thatcher style) as a "homer" over the weekend and thus cut out the unnecessary boatyard price hike. We agreed a price for a two day job and off he went early on Saturday morning. Unfortunately, my quantity surveying skills hadn't accounted for the additional paint required to cover brilliant white with deepest black nor the evaporation rate in the tropics. By early Saturday afternoon Mr X asked if we had another tin, as he'd run out. Thankfully there was only the flat bit on the very bottom of the boat to do, so since it would not be visible, we left it white. So, one coat rather than two and still with a white bottom, I paid him the agreed two-day fee on Saturday evening. Unfortunately, I'd forgotten about the 6 patches left by the supporting cradle pads, which would be very visible. Monday morning; at 08:00; I purchased the smallest tin, 2.5 litres, of Trilux 33 for £215 from the boatyard. Bollocks!!! even by A's unique shopping logic I'm still down £5.