T&T: Barnacle Barrier performance report

[Rich]

As promised, I am reporting on what the diver had to say today about the
Pettit spray-on Barnacle Barrier I had the boatyard apply in early June 2013
to both shafts, four shaft struts, both props, and both (bronze) rudders.

He said the boat hull (Trinidad also painted on in June) and running gear
looked like it had just been plopped back in the water from the boatyard.
He at first thought the running gear had been painted with red bottom paint
because the Barnacle Barrier had turned from its original light gray to
brick red. I ascribe that staining to the intense amount of tannin in the
bayou after the record-setting rains we had in July and August 2013.

This performance is in stark contrast to what Brent Hodges earlier reported,
but he may have reported on a longer period - I cannot remember. Clear
Lake, TX is also a much different environment than my brackish bayou. I
will look at mine again myself in the Spring when the water warms up enough.


Rich Gano
Calypso (1972 Grand Banks 42)
Panama City, FL




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[Bob]

Rich, two questions on your post: Was this your first in-water
inspection/cleaning, and how many hours did you put on the boat after
painting? I tried the product just before a 150 hour 1200 mile trip and
the paint was completely gone at the end.

Bob

[bill]

I had a similar experience to Bob's.  I applied the product prior to launch last March.  In June I made a 1000 mile trip and the coating disappeared despite proper surface prep and application.  I'll use Prop Speed next time....

Bill

[Rich]

Good points, Bob. This is the third look/scrub of the bottom since June
2013 with two dives by me in late Summer and early Fall and yesterday's by a
diver.

The boat has had only 22 hours underway since the BB application, and I
expected to have little use of the boat for a while when I had this stuff
sprayed on. I was hoping the high zinc content of BB would help keep the
running gear clear for a year or so of what will be essentially storage in
the water behind the house in our brackish bayou because in my mind, a boat
sitting a lot has more chance of barnacle and oyster collection around here
than one being cruised. This report is still early in the game with only
seven months' time on the coating. However, a couple of those hours since
application were consumed while blowing out a spare slip here at the house,
a very severe experience for running gear paint.

Application instructions were strictly followed. I even had the yard
sandblast off a coat of barrier Epoxy paint they had mistakenly applied to
the running gear because the instructions are for three coats over bared
metal - odd to me, but it's working. Hopefully what others are reporting
about BB are on applications done this way so we have a scientifically sound
comparison of use of this stuff in differing conditions.

For 26 years I have invariably applied hard bottom paint to the running gear
of this boat, usually over a barrier coat. Within a few months of normal
local use, the outer 1/4 to 1/3 of the prop blades were down to bare metal
with rudders showing minor bits of bare metal and struts and shafts usually
being OK. After a 2400-mile trip up the Tenn-Tom a few years back, there
was a bit of hard bottom paint left around the hubs of the props with the
rest bare metal - struts and shafts did better and rudders had portions down
to bare metal.

When the yard around the corner here hauled a whole bunch of boats in
anticipation of a tropical storm a year or so back, I took the opportunity
to examine the running gear of all of them, many of them "gold-platers" from
the local high-dollar resort marina down the bay near the Gulf. While we
are brackish here in Fanning Bayou 14 miles from the Gulf, the resort is
much closer to true seawater. There were a lot of them with PropSpeed
applied to the props, and I do not recall a single one with the new Barnacle
Barrier - I guess it was too new. Where I found evidence of a boat that had
sat a lot and probably was rarely cleaned, the PropSpeed was barnacle-coated
at about the same density as the waterline barnacle growth. You could tell
when a boat had been run a fair amount by the wear on the PropSpeed and
consequent lack of growth on the props and waterline. Other boats with
bottom paint on their running gear and looking like they were not pier
queens tended to have little growth where the paint was still in place,
maybe a few barnacles on the bared metal. So I think, like so many other
things boat-related, growth on the running gear, no matter what is applied
is highly dependent on the use of the boat. Bare props are the norm for
charter boats hereabout, but they run all the time.

I see no magic coating for props. Folks use differing coatings and methods
in differing use and water conditions. Having a wooden boat requires that
mine remain waterborne when "stored;" so I did what I did. If I were not
running the boat out into the bay for a couple of hours every couple of
weeks or so the whole year round, I'd have bagged the props with black trash
bags.

[Joseph Pica]

I've used it successfully(so far) over the past 3 seasons and several thousand miles salt and fresh. The boat wintered over spending 4 months at the dock in St Pete. When hauled in Solomon's this past fall showed just a few small Barnacles in the hub area. There was still some coating on some surfaces but was patchy. Verdict...it worked well for us in the areas and manner we cruise. Sediment ladened water or close sandy bottom groundings would abrade the coating quickly. Stray current would also strip it off thru electrolysis(it is zinc based). We are a slow shaft rpm vessel. So there are variables beyond prep and application that can impact it's effectiveness but it is inexpensive and simple to apply. I'm sure prop speed is a better solution if affordable and prep/application is meticulous.

Joe
"Carolyn Ann" GH N-37

Sent from my iPhone

[Randy Pickelmann]

I almost hate to mention this but.....
We tried the Pettit zinc Barnacle Barrier product in the fall of 2012. During the year we traveled south to Florida where we spent the winter before heading back north to the Chesapeake Bay. After spending the summer of 2013 in the Bay we hauled out for a bottom job. The prop was not perfect but it was close so we had the Pettit product reapplied. Our fingers are crossed!

Regards,
Randy Pickelmann
Morning Star
lying Sunset Bay Marina-Stuart, Fl
www.CruisingMorningStar.com
Sent from my iPad