"Bruce In Bangkok" wrote in message
..

Has anyone tried any of the anti-fouling schemes intended for
propellers, and if so what was your experience?

The question comes about because I just had to dive on my prop and
clean it. When I got down there I discovered a mass of "clams" as big
as a bushel basket. Took two days to scrape them all off.

True, for one reason or another, the boat hasn't moved in the better
part of a year but still I don't believe I have ever seen as much
growth. Must be either global warming or high CO2 content :-)

In any event, it does make one think "there must be a better way".

Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)

Ordinary ablative antifouling might be better than nothing if you hardly use
the boat but it washes off in no time at all if you run the engine. I use
some expensive stuff in a spray can that Volvo produce for their underwater
units. This seems basically to be the same sort of antifouling but harder,
so it does not wash off so quickly. Also it makes a somewhat slick surface
so that barnacles find it harder to stay on while the prop is running.
I have a theory, not yet put to the test, that the very slick paint that has
been produced to make a wall graffiti-proof would be the way to go because
barnacles could not stick to it at all once the prop started to rotate.. The
reason I have not yet tested this idea is because the smallest quantity that
I have found for sale is about 10 gallons.