Anti-foul in one tide

[thejollysinker]

A few weeks ago I finished my night shifts on a friday morning and got down to the mooring at Polly Steps for 6.15am, car fully loaded for a clean and re-paint of the anti-fouling over one low tide. Pegged down some sleepers near the trot moorings and waited for the tide to flood over them. Took the opportunity to clean my dinghy over high at the same time.

    

Once the dinghy was clean, I went over to my boat and took it from the mooring to the pegged out sleepers and jumped off waiting for the water to ebb far enough to settle her on them.... quite difficult to hold it steady in one place and very boring but once she was down on her side I went and got all the gear out of the car for the job in hand.

The growth in places was starting to get heavy so I set to and started scraping it all off. A stiff brush and sanding pads were used to finish the clean and plenty of fresh water coming from a run off under the bridge were bucketed over to rinse it. I then had to do the other side which involved the use of a hi-lift jack and some adjustable props to 'flip' it over. This side was worse and was a bugger to clean lying down on a rubber backed mat and still in my waders which, on such a hot day kept me reaching for the water bottle...

    

Once this side was clean I flipped her back and could start painting on the now dry side. No time for finesse here so no masking tape used, just a steady hand and a small brush. Rollered the whole side then flipped her again to do the other side. When this was complete I had to address the back end which I had already cleaned so this didn't take long. Cleaning the barnacles off however, from the boarding ladder and outboard PTT took a fair bit of effort! All I had to do now was wait for the tide to come back in.

 

By this time I was absolutely knackered after having already done a whole night shift. I tidied up all the gear and went and sat on the tailgate of the car for a rest. I could almost have thought my waders had been leaking my jeans were that damp from working in such heat but the consolation was the paint was drying very quickly. 

The water reached the hull almost exactly 4 hrs after finishing application which was the minimum immersion time at 23 deg C. As it was hotter than that with a constant breeze blowing I figured that this would be spot on. As she floated, I slid the now un-pegged sleepers out and threw them onboard, spun her out to face the river and jumped aboard from the ladder at the back. By this time, the flooding tide was barrelling in and with wilting energy reserves I motored out to the waiting stern buoy, grabbed hold of the ring with the boat hook and instantly felt overwhelmed by the strenght of the current. I was on my knees by this time and just waited for what felt like a lifetime trying to decide whether to go round again or wait but I was so tired I just wanted the day to end. I mustered up some reserve energy from somewhere and grabbed the rope on the buoy ring with my left hand, boat hook in right and pulled like hell before dropping the hook and quickly cleating the rope... Phew!!

That was it, finished up tying her on the front, put the cover on and hopped back into the dinghy for a quick jaunt back over to the trots. I think I got home about 20:45 and that waiting cold beer tasted soooo good 😋😋😋

After checking the hull at low water two weeks after the event I am pleased to say that all the paint was intact and a fishing trip this past sunday got my hull speed back up to 19.4kts with two up, loads of gear and fuel etc. It had gone down to 14kts max with the mpg decreasing significantly.

Onwards and upwards now for some more trips into the autumn and winter 🙂

 

[Andy135]

Top scrubbing and a great write up! Thanks for sharing Gary 👍

[thejollysinker]

4 minutes ago, Andy135 said:

Top scrubbing and a great write up! Thanks for sharing Gary 👍

Cheers Andy 🙂

 

[Andy135]

She looks great with her new paint on too. Very smart.

[thejollysinker]

49 minutes ago, Andy135 said:

She looks great with her new paint on too. Very smart.

I was very pleased with how it went and yes, she looks much better ☺️

[Saintly Fish]

Nice one Gary, that was some monumental effort, she looks great though. AND... you got to go fishing!! 
Where's the catch report with photos??

[mike farrants]

nice one - looks smart!

[captin slows old outlaw]

i felt exhausted just reading what you did

good job nice pics

[Odyssey]

Mine is copper coated so it’s a quick hose down once per year…. Got to add a new coat this year as old stuff been on for 10 years now so best get it topped up. Won’t be cheap but hopefully last another 10 years…

A lot of work for one tide and in waders…. I’d of filled them up with sweat in that heat 😬😬 at least all done and back to fishing now 🙂 

[GPSguru]

21 hours ago, thejollysinker said:

This side was worse

Probably the side facing the river was worse as it gets the most sun.

Top job in less than ideal conditions.

They scrub and antifoul some of the larger boats using the gravel slip at the back of the BOAT portacabin as it is quiet there, but you need spring tides.

Edited August 19, 2022 by GPSguru

[thejollysinker]

4 hours ago, GPSguru said:

Probably the side facing the river was worse as it gets the most sun.

Top job in less than ideal conditions.

They scrub and antifoul some of the larger boats using the gravel slip at the back of the BOAT portacabin as it is quiet there, but you need spring tides.

That makes sense now you say it... Was wondering why and now I know 😅 I know I use this forum for a reason 🤣 

When you say less than ideal  conditions, it beats the hell out of trailering it home and painting it on that, believe me, I know which method I now prefer 😊 and thanks for the compliment 😉

[thejollysinker]

23 hours ago, Saintly Fish said:

Nice one Gary, that was some monumental effort, she looks great though. AND... you got to go fishing!! 
Where's the catch report with photos??

Cheers Neil... Catch report will be on the way... I'm a busy boy 🤣

[thejollysinker]

5 hours ago, Odyssey said:

Mine is copper coated so it’s a quick hose down once per year…. Got to add a new coat this year as old stuff been on for 10 years now so best get it topped up. Won’t be cheap but hopefully last another 10 years…

A lot of work for one tide and in waders…. I’d of filled them up with sweat in that heat 😬😬 at least all done and back to fishing now 🙂 

Not even sure how copper coat would hold up when your boat comes to rest twice a day on shitty hard stones etc 🤔 the antifouling seems to hold up quite well 🤔🤔 although there were worse patches than others 🤷‍♂️ if yours lasts 10 years that sounds pretty good to me 👌

Don't tell anyone but I did fill them up with sweat 🤫 Just didn't want to announce it on a public forum 🤣

[thejollysinker]

6 hours ago, captin slows old outlaw said:

i felt exhausted just reading what you did

good job nice pics

I felt exhausted remembering what I did 🤣

[Odyssey]

3 hours ago, thejollysinker said:

Not even sure how copper coat would hold up when your boat comes to rest twice a day on shitty hard stones etc 🤔 the antifouling seems to hold up quite well 🤔🤔 although there were worse patches than others 🤷‍♂️ if yours lasts 10 years that sounds pretty good to me 👌

Don't tell anyone but I did fill them up with sweat 🤫 Just didn't want to announce it on a public forum 🤣

Some love it, some hate it but was on there when I got the boat so I’ve stuck with it 🙂