CopperCoating the Bottom Continued
14 November 2016 | Clark's Court Grenada
Greig Carroll, Still Freakin' Hot
When we got back to Grenada, we looked for a stretch of 5 days of no rain. We cleaned the bottom of dust and dirt with water and a scrub brush. The directions advised against a chemical cleaner. We put on a couple of coats of AmeriCoat to top up the original barrier coat, one in the afternoon and one the next day. According to an email from the company, you should wait only 2-3 hours before starting the CopperCoat layers or when it was dry to the touch and could still leave a mark with a fingernail.
When we had the correct conditions we started the first layer of CopperCoat with the help of some good friends, Greg and LizAnn off Lagniappe and Dave off Mythago. To do the job properly, you need more than one person. Let me just say here that without their help we would have been hooped; with CopperCoat you need to apply 4 coats minimum and it must be done in one day.
CopperCoat's website is pretty good and has videos as well (http://www.coppercoatusa.com/application.php). We also made sure that we added one capful (CopperCoat part B lid) of 94% rubbing alcohol per kit. We had 4 of us rolling on the CopperCoat and one mixing. The directions say to only mix one kit at a time. Pour part A and part B into a container and then add the alcohol. Make sure you mix very well before slowly addng the copper a bit at a time. Mix for about 5 minutes. Once it is well combined, pour a small amount in the tray and away you go.
**What I missed in the video, were the rollers. For a good and even coat, you need to use 6" or 8" mohair rollers not the 4" rollers. This was the "almost good advice" we got from TOBY's. Because all we had were the smaller ones, the Coppercoat didn't go on as planned. The first coat went on and looked horrible but Greg, who did his a few weeks before, said it looked like his did, so we carried on. The second coat went on and it was worse. We had runs and sags but there was nothing we could do about it, we just had to carry on.
The directions say to put on thin coats, with a minimum of 4 coats. We found we could do the whole bottom with 2 kits. We held back one kit to do under the stands. We ended up putting 5 coats on. Once done, we had to make sure that if it rained, the rain wouldn't wash away the CopperCoat as the CopperCoat is actually water based. So we tented the boat with some plastic drop sheets we had brought from home and plugged the scuppers and left it for the night.
Of course, for the first time in a week, it rained pretty well all night. Fortunately the CopperCoat held up. 3 days later we had the stands moved and I did under the pads. When you only need to do small bits like this it's a waste to make up a full kit. Most of it goes to waste. One of the great things about this product is, if you need to split the kit, it works on a 1 to 1 to 1. So one part of part A, one of part of part B and one part of the copper. I used 2oz (the container was in imperial) of each part and it was just enough. I even had a bit left over.
The next step was to let it all cure for about 5 days then give a light sanding. It goes against everything I believe in where bottom paint is concerned. You have to sand the bottom to take off the layer of epoxy and expose the copper. This is done with 330 grit. The website shows how much to take off and what it should look like. Once that's done, you can launch any time and carry on with the fun stuff. All you need to do to clean the bottom in the water is use a green scouring pad and wipe. No more spending hours under the boat with a scraper taking off a small reef system and layers of paint. You only have to replace the CopperCoat every ten years or so they say.
Stay tuned for updates on how well it's standing up to real world conditions. And now back to our regularly scheduled blog,
Peace, Out, Greig