So now if I can get the bottom dry enough for one coat of antifouling I will be right. If not well, I'd rather not think about that, be positive, you know.
On the plus side I have taken off the tiller and planed it back and reshaped it. It has always been a bit of a hefty lump of wood. Rather ugly but strong. I have never gotten around to doing anything about it because I want a telescopic fancy aluminium tiller so I have always seen this as a temporary tiller. Anyway I decided I needed to have at least one nice looking thing to cheer me up and I have planed it down to a nice shape and started varnishing it. As soon as I started planing it I realised they did a nice job of laminating the tiller with alternating light and dark strips... WOW it's going to look great. I have put alot more taper into it and it will fit the hand better then the original old lump of wood.
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| It's amazing what hides under the old grey wood... |
I have spent alot of time investigating stray currents because they may be the cause of some of the failure of the base layers of paint. I think that it is mostly due to the old age of the bottom paint and million layers of old antifouling but I want to eliminate any stray currents before I strip all the paint of and start again. It would be heart breaking go to all the trouble of doing this and then find the new paint coming off as well... So if anyone has any tips on a good stray current meter or using a multimeter to find leaks let me know. Some interesting sites on stray currents; this one seems very good, Yacht survey - and I would like to find out more about these meters and if they are any good or just a dressed up multimeter (I have heard one fellow around here swear by them). What other options are out there for testing? I guess my anodes have started working for the first time in 7 years or so so that makes me slightly suspicious. But they still aren't working hard.
I also would like to hear from anyone with information about sandblasting vs. mechanically cleaning with a sander. Or other options such as ultra-high pressure water blasting, soda or dry ice blasting. More research for me before the next slip in six-eight months time...
Anyway the sun is peaking out... time to head down to the boat
Cheers
Ben
BTW what does the rest of the world call coming out of the water, we call it slipping the boat.
Ben, a few decades ago, I lost 1/3 of my prop blades to a badly wired dock. Actually, had I gone in the polluted water, the electrons would have killed me before the germs. They had switched the white and green wires at the head of the dock. If the water had been any saltier, we would have seen bubbles. My point is your issue may not be your boat, but either land power or another boat nearby. Just a thought. Chris
ReplyDeletewhat a great find, I agree with your last sentence, I was just thinking as the sun popped up I would like to take my boat out.
ReplyDeleteI have been that before, since I'm keep on gathering information then finally found it, according to my knowledge I can say sandblasting is the most important.
ReplyDeleteantifouling