Ban on DIY antifouling?

[Oddfellow]

 

http://www.yachtingmonthly.com/news/antifouling-32382

 

 

[Jona]

So if this gets the go ahead, is there an alternative to "Anti-Fouling" a boat if you wished to still "DIY" it?

 

Regards

Jon & Jo

 

[Baitrunner]

Get your boat done in the Caribbean!!

The guys out there just have their shorts on when they are washing it down, scrubbing, sanding you name it.

And they get hold of stuff which is much more potent than we will ever see in this country!!

Surely if you take reasonable precautions I don't see the point in banning it? Mind you, I have been covered in it before laying on the floor preping and painting (before I probably even thought about the consequences). And not a barnacle in site!!!

[CaptainJoshie]

The EU should get its beak out of OUR rules!!

We give in to all the daft legislation that the EU comes out with, we need to take back control of our own government. That's what we elect MP's for, not some EU bureaucrats! We lost our cheap Red Diesel, let's dump the EU. When we were asked years ago wether we should join, it was the common market, not the common government of Europe.

Rant over! Sorry

 

[RumPunch]

Broads freshwater anti foul, on a boat that has been blasted of loose old fouling by the yard...... and I won't be able to do it.

Interfering, nanny state nonsense

[Heron]

Anyone in favour of protecting the environment?

 

 

[ChrisB]

Don't think silicon A/F has any biocides. 

Back in the 80's I sat on the DG committee of their forerunner The Paint Makers Association and much of the EU proposed legislation just never happens and takes years if it does. 

The real problem is when it becomes law the UK, Germany and Scandinavian members adhere to it, the other member states just ignore it.

With the demise of Courtaulds Coatings the really big players are Akzo Nobel and Hempel who will, l am sure, protect their yacht business.

Edited September 1, 2015 by ChrisB

[Siddy]

We really need to make sure that anyone applying their own antifouling fully understands the risks and warnings on the data sheet of the product they are about to apply

Now at work this is called H&S read COSHH suit up full mask etc vac on back of sander etc, DIY'er sticks finger in air and works upwind so not to stand in the dust. This is call common sense which is not allowed at work.

Part of my job is an enviromental auditor and to visit 6 large call centers twice a year to audit there environmental practices to keep them upto latest regs etc. And it comes down to everything being in a bund from cooking oil to a tin of paint, ok so we all know it's on pallets at your local diy store but rules are rules.

I got pulled last month by a external auditer to why I hadn't picked up on 5 bags of grits on top end of a carpark. reason been if they split and it rains the salt could get into the drainage system, my reply - give it few months and he'll be throwing it round by the shovel full going into the drains - I was marked down for it.

 

 

 

[Samuel]

The EU should get its beak out of OUR rules!!

We give in to all the daft legislation that the EU comes out with, we need to take back control of our own government. That's what we elect MP's for, not some EU bureaucrats! We lost our cheap Red Diesel, let's dump the EU. When we were asked years ago wether we should join, it was the common market, not the common government of Europe.

Rant over! Sorry

 

Yes, I agree it is a rant.

[keifsmate]

Well Siddy, that was not the reply he was expecting to hear! Might have been a pragmatic reply but your Auditor has to toe the line!!!!!

[Hockham Admiral]

Let's keep politics out of it, please, peeps.

[sos247]

We had a 'green' company in once,  who charged us nearly £1000 to remove several old layers of antifouling from a yacht.......They confirmed in writing that the BA supported their methods, plus even removed antifoul on several of the BA's boats.........

after they finished, we noticed that had an endless amount of 'dry' powder antifoul in next door neighbours garden and dyke area!! 

I questioned them why they said it was the most 'green' friendly way to remove antifouling, but they just said " the wind & rain will help that disappear!!!!! Can we have the cheque please" 

 

i think it can become a problem longterm but hopefully it will be a while! Im retired, so i wont need to invest in a complete wash down facility anyway!! Eric @ Cox's already done this i believe??...

 

 

 

 

[Jona]

I'm sure I read somewhere that alternating between "Fresh" and "Salt" water was supposed to keep the fouling at bay quite well. Is this true or another myth ? has anyone any experience of this?

 

Regards

Jon & Jo

 

[marshman]

Time to get reality into this discussion and stop the stupid ranting!!!

There is no doubt that there are harmful substances around which we all breathe and which do us no good!! Surely no one should question that the removal of lead from petrol was beneficial - there was plenty of evidence around that it was harmful.

Similarly TBT - I havn't bothered even looking but I suspect that almost every survey was able to prove that TBT was bad for the environment.And equally so humans.

Any biocide that kills organisms such as weed growth is PROBABLY poisionous to humans as well if ingested enough and perhaps you should take the view that this type of inquiry is only trying to keep you safe!!!   I would not mind betting that many of you would try and sue a manufacturer who had put asbestos into a product, from which you subsequently contracted asbestosis?? Or your relatives might try?? Think about it because all those of you ranting above might fall into this category!!!

Now I am not saying that I agree with this because it seems over the top as I have done it for many many years - I try to take precautions when I have done it by rubbing down with wet and dry and I am always very careful to ensure I never rub it down dry. But perhaps what you should be asking and more relevant to the Broads particularly, is whether antifouling is NEEDED on the Broads? There are many threads around on this topic and many yards use it infrequently or not at all - even low strength ones.

So get off your political soap boxes and get back to the reality - is it really a nanny state that stops you from quite deliberately harming yourself and actually may be doing something in your best interests?? There are many many things in which the state have interfered for your benefit - just perhaps in 20 years time or so we will all look back and say " Did our parents really do it it like this and breathe in this poison???"

[JennyMorgan]

Was speaking to the technical dept at a local paint-makers recently regarding 'Broads' anti fouling. I was told that due to the latest EU dictates anti-fouling paint had had to be reformulated. Maybe it was sarcasm but he then said that I might as well use black tar varnish below the waterline. 

[ChrisB]

The condition of a boats undersides varies so much from location to location there are no general rules except the amount of use does help.

My boat came out this year after four years and Eric at Coxs said it was clean except for slime. However the boat is used about eighty day a year.

If I were buying another brand new boat for the Broads I would have the bottom sprayed with four or five coats of GelShield and finish with a two pack in a colour of choice. I would then lift each spring and pressure wash.

With regards to Tributyltin the toxic effects were known virtually day one. The highly drawn out phasing out has been driven by the shipping and tanker industries not the protective coating industry.

The removal of lead from paint and petrol must be one of the best things for health since the clean air acts. Only recently I read that the IQ of 12 year olds in inner cities has increased by about two points and they contribute this to the removal of lead from fuel.

[ChrisB]

Should read "attribute" sometimes I can edit, sometimes I can't or is it me?

[BroadScot]

Should read "attribute" sometimes I can edit, sometimes I can't or is it me?

Depends how quickly you edit Chris. 

 

Iain.

[Paul]

Personally, I believe this is a cunning plan by the EU to support a "Leave" vote in the upcoming EU membership referendum. Being about as popular in Europe as a fox in the hen house I am convinced the EU dream these things up to annoy us all, hoping that it will annoy us enough to "go away".

[DaveRolaves]

Many of the broads hire fleets only antifoul to just below the waterline and a few years ago the broads Authority recommended this. Dave R...........

[SteveO]

The problem with EU regulations for me is that, whilst most of Europe generally takes a pragmatic/ commonsense view of the way they are applied, the Great British Jobsworth enforces them to the letter and then beyond, come what may.  

The idea of antifouling just below the waterline horrifies me. Our neighbour's boat is ex-hire and was only antifouled just below the waterline. When it was pulled out this year for re-doing, all the underwater bits of the hull that had not been treated were covered with zebra mussels, which had to be scraped off with a shovel before the job could be done properly. I hate to think what all that was doing for his fuel economy.

 

Steve

 

 

[ChrisB]

It all about how much the boat is on the move. It also sounds like they purchased without having the boat lifted for inspection, not the wisest of moves.

Another alternative, all be it on the expensive side is to coppercoat and every year have a couple of nights in Lowestoft Harbour. (Coppercoat is only really effective in salt water) this should then see you through a few years. However lack of use is still going to achieve a foul bottom.

Edited September 5, 2015 by ChrisB
Phone rang

[JennyMorgan]

Many of the broads hire fleets only antifoul to just below the waterline and a few years ago the broads Authority recommended this. Dave R...........

Very true! Call me a cynic if you wish but no anti-fouling means more fouling/weed growth which in turn means increased fuel use. Yard saves £200.00 (guesstimate) per boat and sells more premium priced diesel to its customers, cunning or what?

[ChrisB]

The speed of some of those booze and stag cruisers. out of Stalham the bottoms are self- burnishing

[Heron]

The cost of anti fouling my boat in a yard would be more than £400 including liftout etc. It would have to have a very detrimental effect on my fuel economy to be worthwhile carrying out this work. Add this to the advice from my surveyor at purchase time that it was not needed, but of course the yards love to do it for the private owners, and you can draw your own conclusions.