ScottC
Guru
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2019
- Messages
- 1,608
- Location
- SWEDEN
- Vessel Name
- ABsolutely FABulous
- Vessel Make
- Greenline 33 Hybrid (2010)
Hello all -
Hoping your combined years of experience can shed some light on a puzzlement for me...
For years, I have used self-polishing Jotun anti-fouling paint on my boat and it has performed just fine in the Baltic, Öresund and North Sea areas (Salt & Brackish water). Last year, I cruised from Sweden to the Mediterranean, which entailed a few months in Fresh water rivers and canals. A few weeks after arriving in the Mediterranean, I took a stiff brush with me while swimming one day in order to clean "canal scum" off the bottom paint around the water line. Scum came off easily and everything with the paint seemed normal and as expected.
Not long after, I was in the Port of Barcelona for about a week. During one day of my stay there I noticed that the normally clean water at my marina was brown and a bit foamy. The next day, the water looked normal again, but a lot of gunk had stuck to my boat around the waterline. So, I set about brushing off the mess. After a few minutes of my usual brushing maneuvers, I noticed that I was literally painting grey bottom paint onto the adjoining white part of the fiberglass hull with my brush. I looked at the brush and it was totally covered with the gooey gray anti-fouling paint. Only then did I try feeling the bottom paint on the hull, discovering that it was very soft - like it had just been painted.
I spent the next couple of hours cleaning the paint mess off the white part of the hull. Had to throw the brush away.
I had my home boat yard in Sweden contact Jotun, the bottom paint manufacturer, and they had no explanation. They had never heard of anything like this.
A month later, the boat was hauled out of the water for the winter and the paint was STILL quite soft, though not as soft as when I first noticed the issue.
I wonder if there was some type of oil or checmical spill in Barcelona harbor while I was there, causing the brown/foamy water for for a day. And, if it was an oil spill, do any of you know if what I experienced with my bottom paint is something normally caused by the presence of oil in the water?
Perhaps you might have some other thoughts on what might soften anti-fouling paint?
Thank you, in advance for your ideas!
Hoping your combined years of experience can shed some light on a puzzlement for me...
For years, I have used self-polishing Jotun anti-fouling paint on my boat and it has performed just fine in the Baltic, Öresund and North Sea areas (Salt & Brackish water). Last year, I cruised from Sweden to the Mediterranean, which entailed a few months in Fresh water rivers and canals. A few weeks after arriving in the Mediterranean, I took a stiff brush with me while swimming one day in order to clean "canal scum" off the bottom paint around the water line. Scum came off easily and everything with the paint seemed normal and as expected.
Not long after, I was in the Port of Barcelona for about a week. During one day of my stay there I noticed that the normally clean water at my marina was brown and a bit foamy. The next day, the water looked normal again, but a lot of gunk had stuck to my boat around the waterline. So, I set about brushing off the mess. After a few minutes of my usual brushing maneuvers, I noticed that I was literally painting grey bottom paint onto the adjoining white part of the fiberglass hull with my brush. I looked at the brush and it was totally covered with the gooey gray anti-fouling paint. Only then did I try feeling the bottom paint on the hull, discovering that it was very soft - like it had just been painted.
I spent the next couple of hours cleaning the paint mess off the white part of the hull. Had to throw the brush away.
I had my home boat yard in Sweden contact Jotun, the bottom paint manufacturer, and they had no explanation. They had never heard of anything like this.
A month later, the boat was hauled out of the water for the winter and the paint was STILL quite soft, though not as soft as when I first noticed the issue.
I wonder if there was some type of oil or checmical spill in Barcelona harbor while I was there, causing the brown/foamy water for for a day. And, if it was an oil spill, do any of you know if what I experienced with my bottom paint is something normally caused by the presence of oil in the water?
Perhaps you might have some other thoughts on what might soften anti-fouling paint?
Thank you, in advance for your ideas!