Anti-fouling in the Mediterranean

Antifouling is something we generally need to think about once a year. There are solutions out there that make yearly anti-fouling unnecessary. These solutions are often expensive, need to be professionally applied and often give only a few years between applications. Everyone has their opinion. It sounds great in principle, but I, like many other boat owners opt to apply anti-fouling myself.

Having anti-fouled my own boats on may occasions and having worked for marine maintenance businesses anti-fouling other people vessels, I feel I can offer some useful tips:

• Follow the manufacturers instructions- obvious I know, nevertheless.
• Use fluffy rollers as opposed to sponge or mohair rollers. Mohair rollers are good, racers often use them, but I feel they carry too little paint and leave streaks. The slightly lumpy feel that fluffy rollers give makes little difference to all but the most pedantic club racers. Using fluffy rollers allows you to blend the anti-fouling easier.
• Watch the Temperature! Frequently the yard's one has to work in have very little shade. Mornings and evenings are best, but watch the dew very early in the morning.
• Place a plastic bag over the tray - ensure there is no logo. Then pour the paint into the tray. Once you have finished painting , simply peel the plastic bag from the tray, put on a new bag and off you go again. Masking tape can be used to secure the plastic bag. This saves you time and allows you to use the same tray with different types of paint. I have never had a reaction with the paint and the plastic but I suppose you should watch out for this. Your choice.
• Apply fine line tape or masking tape in long lengths, preferably with a little help from someone. This helps avoid the wobbly lines one often sees on boot tops. Remember to firmly press down on the tape you have applied. Remove the tape when the paint is still wet.
• Always polish the topsides first. This is because the polish, cutting agent and fluids often run. They will often then stain the anti-fouling.
• Ensure the yard in the Mediterranean allows you to work on your own vessel. Very important.
• Try and take chandlery from the UK. Its normally very expensive in the Mediterranean and they often don't have the chandlery you are used to.