Below you’ll find seven CopperCoat tips to help better ensure your CopperCoat Antifoul application is a success rather than a disaster. These tips are based on using the services of a boatyard rather than applying the product yourself. Almost all DIY applications are “first-timers” and they usually go well because instructions are followed. The application of Coppercoat is very easy to get right but also easy to get wrong, diligence is the key.
7 CopperCoat Tips For A Successful Application
1. Select a boatyard with a proven track record with numerous happy CopperCoat clients.
Once you decide that CopperCoat is the way to go the next step is to find a boatyard that can do the job properly. Properly being the keyword! This is our number one CopperCoat tip. We’ve had two failed CopperCoat applications, both from very well-known boatyards. Don’t go on the reputation of the boatyard! Find several boatyard customers that have had successful applications. Furthermore, ensure you get the same manager/team that has done the previous applications. Note that every boatyard will say that they’ve done CopperCoat applications or that they know how to do it. Do not take this as reliable information.
2. Understand the CopperCoat application process yourself.
Make sure you know the full CopperCoat application process. There are written instructions and CopperCoat has a video you can watch: CopperCoat Overview. The application process is simply the correct number of units of Coppercoat applied wet on tacky (therefore all in the same day) to a properly prepared surface. The number of units of Coppercoat applied is important, work this out using the online calculator and keep painting until it is all used up. It’s worth noting that in hot dry conditions and on large boat painting may be continuous. While in cooler conditions and on smaller boats half an hour or more may be needed before the next coat can be applied.
3. Ask the manager/team responsible for the job how they plan on doing the job.
Quiz the manager to find out if he/she knows the full instructions, potential problem areas and when he/she plans on completing the work. Determine what has to happen to the condition of the hull before the product is applied. Question how many people will be working on the application, for how long and the estimated number of coats that will be put on. Ultimately determine if your knowledge of the process matches that of the manager’s. If it doesn’t consider walking away.
4. Determine a plan for adverse weather.
What’s going to happen if it rains for a week or if the weather isn’t cooperating as it should? Will the boatyard put protection over the boat? At what cost? You need to protect the paint job from rain for 24 hours in hot/dry conditions. And 48 hours in cooler UK and North America conditions. Carry on reading for more CopperCoat tips.
5. Confirm your expectations in writing and determine how the boatyard will guarantee the work.
If the boat goes back in the water and you find the hull covered in barnacles after a couple of months what course of action will you take? How will you ensure the stated course of action will be accepted by the boatyard. What is acceptable and what is not acceptable? Get your expectations in writing and confirmation that the said boatyard/manager agrees that your expectations are realistic. Furthermore, determine what you can do to protect your investment.
6. Supervise the entire job.
Ensure that you supervise the preparation of the hull. Be onsite for the full application process – the actual paint job will only take hours, not days. Watch the team combine the products, ensure the paint is going on within the appropriate time frame and count the number of coats that are applied to the hull of the boat. During the sanding, stage make sure that the team gets the hull to the appropriate smoothness required to activate the Copper in the paint. Take pictures and videos!
7. Stick around before sailing away.
The biggest issue we’ve had with boatyard jobs is not that they don’t guarantee their work. It’s that they do guarantee their work but by the time we discover they’ve done a bad job we’re in another country! With CopperCoat being such a large investment, the ideal situation is to stay close by until you determine that the application did, indeed, work. Get the boat in the water and allow it to sit around for at least a couple of months so you can confirm the results you’re looking for.
Here are the links to all our CopperCoat Problems Videos:
To get an overview of all our CopperCoat videos and articles please visit: CopperCoatAntifouling Review Otherwise, get more in-depth information below.
- September 2016 – Our First Failed Application by Bennett Brothers in Wilmington, North Carolina. Watch here: CopperCoat Antifoul Failure
- September 2017 – An Update On Our CopperCoat Results One Year Later. It didn’t work! Get the full CopperCoat antifouling review story, up to this point, by reading Our CopperCoat Antifoul Problems
- October 2017 – CopperCoat USA & Bennet Brothers Work To Rectify Our Issues. To see our boat hauled out in Charleston and the USA representative from CopperCoat inspect the hull, watch our sailing Vlog episode that covers our CopperCoat antifouling review entitled: Liveaboard Life
- July 2018 – Haul Out In Trinidad & Tobago – All The Patches Were Barnacle Free But the Rest of the Boat was Full of Barnacles! To view our haul out in Trinidad and get more information about the second failed application, watch the second video on our Trinidad & Tobago Destinations section entitled Haul Out Trinidad & Tobago.
- August 2019 – Evidence of our Failed Peake’s Boatyard Application and Attempted Sanding Touch-up in Antigua. And September 2019 – Arrangements for CopperCoat UK To Come To Grenada. You can see both the August and September 2019 videos here: CopperCoat Antifouling Solution
- November 2019 – Our Third & Final CopperCoat Antifoul Application by Mr. CopperCoat Himself. Watch here: CopperCoat Application
- June 2020 – The Results Of Our Third Full CopperCoat Application Are…?!?!?! Find out here: CopperCoat Problems
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