safe bottom paint time

[Robert Lemasters]

I'm not sure that there is an answer that is easy or inexpensive.I love our country, our citizens, our waters and life. Its one reason I now sail. As everyone knows there is not a single bay, river, lake or creek on the entire east coast from Main to Texas or even east of the Misssissippi that can be safely fished for food or hasn't seen it's native fish and animals driven to extinction, and that is not right by the laws of our land, nature, man or whatever you choose to believe in. These new generations of citizens will never in thier lifetimes get to experience what the rivers, creeks and bays of our youth were like, the kinds and numbers of fish and animals ( ever catch a huge river sturgeon or eaten small Delaware Bay clams raw have a river otter climb aboard your rowboat and eat a mussel) or how clean the waters were, the smell has even changed. Wild productive wetlands are a thing of the past. The views from our boats are now endless shorelines dotted with silly looking, badly built McMansions that look like Disney or Hollywood sets. The views from these eyesores are of polluted, dead or dying waters. However, there may be a way. What if boat yards were city, state or fed owned or supported and had a lift system that splashed your boat when you wanted to go out and put in on the hard when you returned, why not,no need for toxic antifouling bottom paint. It would be far less expensive than the clean-up. What is left of the natural resources of our country will only last so long and the few who have enjoyed or benifited from them will soon be gone also... Sorry about the soapbox. Keep sailing and careing. Saving and restoring these old sailboats also goes a long way for conservation and says a lot about the people who do.

[commanderpete]

. Saving and restoring these old sailboats also goes a long way for conservation and says a lot about the people who do.

Thanks Robert, I thought we were just cheap SOBs

Just kidding. Good sentiments there. Nobody seems to care when a municipality flushes a million gallons of sewage into the water. Then you have the fertilizer runoff too. No surprise there's so much algae.

Damn slime slows my boat down

[Mike Goodwin]

A boat bottom only fouls when it is not moving , so go sailing more .

[ebb]

Shark Skin Inspires ship Coating
is the title of the article on
http://www.wired.com/news/technology//,66833-0.html

(hope it comes up)
It is about an experimental coating aimed at large ships because of the large expense of keeping the clean. Sharks do not have an algae or barnacle problem and don't have to be copper coated every 3 years. The structure of their miniscule scales evidently totally discourages anything from growing on them. That's what they are trying to replicate with plastics and rubber at the U of Florida (funded by the Navy).

(it DOESN'T come up -
Could a computer savvy associate please post the correct address?
I copied eggzactly what was at the top of the page, I did, I did)

[Howard]

Shark Skin Inspires ship Coating
is the title of the article on
http://www.wired.com/news/technology//,66833-0.html

(hope it comes up)
It is about an experimental coating aimed at large ships because of the large expense of keeping the clean. Sharks do not have an algae or barnacle problem and don't have to be copper coated every 3 years. The structure of their miniscule scales evidently totally discourages anything from growing on them. That's what they are trying to replicate with plastics and rubber at the U of Florida (funded by the Navy).

(it DOESN'T come up -
Could a computer savvy associate please post the correct address?
I copied eggzactly what was at the top of the page, I did, I did)

Try this instead:
SharkyTypeScaleys

[Bill]

Interesting approach. Might not be accepted by the racing class because of induced drag:

"Shark skin is made up of tiny rectangular scales topped with even smaller spines or bristles. This makes shark skin rough to the touch. This irregular surface makes it difficult for plant spores to get a good grip and grow into algae or other plants."

[ebb]

The thing is with this new paint is that you have to carefully brush it on with single strokes from stem to stern. No back strokes. If you do it backwards, from stern to bow, you can never move the boat out of the marina, it would be stuck there.

The scales on most sharks are really micro and reduce the stickyness of water, reduce eddys that create drag, and reduce the noise of the water passing over the body. Really.

Fishermen like this new coating for its stealth quality, silent running. There have been experiments painting props, but nobody has figured out how to back up.

Boats that sail on their ear like Ariels will probably paint their topsides as well with this stuff. Comes in 3 colors: grey, grey and grey.

The raucus drumming of a fiberglass hull punching thru the joyful waves will all but be forgot as the boat silemtly slithers thru tamed liquid without a bone in her teeth, without making a bow wave, without leaving a wake. snif

[cjackson]

Last time I checked two part epoxy resin products are some of the most toxic things on the planet, and the whole darn boat is made of that...and we're all gassing it off, grinding it, and otherwise spreading particulate fibers of it into the atmosphere all the time...

I guess I'm just playing devil's advocate...but if you start on Bottom Paint, where do you draw the line on toxic products Ebb?