This is a collection of ideas from our experienced users.  In many cases there is more than one way to do things, and what we talk about here is what we have found works for us.  If you have some different thoughts, we would love to hear them.

First please understand that NO anti foul or foul release which is legal can provide great protection under every single circumstance.  As a business with honesty and fairness at its core, we think it is vital that we tell it like it is, not just say and claim anything regardless of truth just to get the sale.

 (Questions marked with § are the subject of further investigation, check back or call us for updates.)

Is Cop-R-Bote able to prevent any fouling in any circumstances.

No, but then no foul release or anti fouling product currently on the market can do this.  Years ago, anti fouling paints which contained tributyl tin were available and they were pretty effective, but the law now prohibits their use.  There are two main types of anti fouling paints avalable.  There are the ablative types which work by constantly shedding a bit of their active material.  These are quite effective but fairly short lived.  There are the hard anti-fouls which last quite a lot longer, (up to perhaps 18 to 24 months) but which are less effective and which require a bit of maintenance.  Cop-R-Bote releases  fouling and is roughly as effective as the hard antifouls, requires about the same amount of maintenance but lasts for a lot lot longer.

Will Cop-R-Bote work for my boat.

That depends.  No foul release or anti -fouling system currenty available will work in every situation and on every boat.  Things which make a difference are how the boat is used, the water temperature, the nutrients in the water, the fouling organisms present and the degree to which the organisms have become resistant to various fouling protection systems.  The worst possible situation is a boat which spends almost all its time on a mooring in a stagnant creek with nutrient rich run off entering it in the warmer part of the country in an area where there has been a lot of heavy industry pollution over the years.  The situation where we see absolutely magic results is on a frequently used high speed craft moored in a marina with a good tidal flush, or an ocean going vessel which spends nearly all its time out at sea.

It is important to realise that there is a great many fouling organisms.  Some are animals, some are plants, some are fungii and some are bacteria and some defy classification.  Fairly obviously, their life processes are also very varied, so some are more readily released than others.

 What boat type is the Cop-R-Bote ideal for?

Trailer sailers which spend most of their lives on a trailer and once a years spend a month in the water.  Cop-R-Bote is great because it is very hard and will withstand the bumps and scrapes of launching and retrieval, ir is not affected by prolonged drying out and it will still release much of the fouling for that annual month in the water.  It is difficult to think of any other product which can do this as well.

Fibreglass hulls.  Cop-R-Bote is an all solids epoxy system, and as such it has the lowest permeability of any of the paints or coatings readily available.  All polyester fibreglass hulls which remain in the water will eventually suffer osmosis blisters.  Using Cop-R-Bote will significantly delay the appearance of osmosis blisters because of its very low water permeability, making it much more difficult for the water to migrate into the blister location.

Multihulls.  The scourer pad wipe down is easy if the boat is careened onto a sand bank so that at low tide you can walk around and give it a wipe.

Competitive racing boats.  Properly finished Cop-R-Bote is very smooth, and provided it is given a pre race wipe, the underwater surface will be very smooth and have lower water resistance.

What boat type is Cop-R-Bote not recommended for?

Aluminium hulls.  Cop-R-Bote contains metallic copper.  The potential for disasterous electrolytic action is such that we do not recommend it use on aluminium hulls or fittings.

Steel hulls. The same objection as for aluminium hulls.  theoretically if the steel were to be fully coated with epoxy first, so that no copper contacted the steel hull, it should be fine.  How-ever, every boat bumps into things (rocks, sand bars etc) and the potential for the copper to be pushed through the isolating coating is quite high.

Cop-R-Bote costs a bit more than my normal black anti-foul. Why should I spend more?

Over the life of the anti-foul, Cop-R-Bote will cost a lot less.  That is because it lasts and lasts and lasts. We have users who have not needed to recoat it for 8 or more years.  As soon as you add in the cost of re-doing your anti-foul every year or at best two years, Cop-R-Bote is streaks ahead when it comes to cost.

What maintenance is likely to be needed to keep Cop-R-Bote working well?

A bacterial slime will start to cover the Cop-R-Bote and from time to time will need to be wiped off.  If it is not wiped off, it can shield the Cop-R-Bote and allow more troublesome organisms to get attached.  The wiping can be done with a kitchen cleaner pad.  It can be done from a dinghy, by going for a swim eqipped with the pads or by careening the boat on a sand bank at low tide.  (The suction cap grip sold by good chandleries can be a great help if you are in a dinghy or swimming.)  How often this will be needed is very much controlled by how warm the water is, how much nutrient there is in it, what sort of bacteria and other organisms are present in the water and whether there is a tide flowwing past or the water is still.  It might be very month or so or could be longer.  It is roughly the same amount of maintenance as the hard anti-fouls require.

After a year or so, it is necessary to re-expose the metallic copper by rubbing the hull over with wet or dry sandpaper.

In what areas does Cop-R-Bote give good results?

Lake McQuarie, NSW

Tweed River, NSW

Gold Coast, Broadwater

Port River, Adelaide

In what areas does Cop-R-Bote struggle?

Sydney Harbour, toward to eastern end.  The Coral Worm seems immune to the release effect of Cop-R-Bote in Rushcutter Bay.

What preparation do I need to do to change over to Cop-R-Bote?

Cop-R-Bote is a very long life product.  It is epoxy based.  Part of the long life requirement is good adhesion to the underlying surface and equally important is that surface being strongly and permanently adhered to the hull.  Other anti-fouls are not able to guarantee good adhesion for 8 or 10 years or more.  This is one of the reason we recommend that any existing coating be removed.

Compatibility between different coating systems is always a concern. Neither we (nor any other coating manufacturer) has the ability to test all the other coatings out there for compatibility with our own products.  We do test our products for compatibility with our other products.  A general rule, which mostly gives the right answer is that two packs (Cop-R-Bote is a 2 pack) will go over other two packs ( e.g. fibreglass etc), but may have problems over single packs.  For this reason we are very cautious about putting Cop-R-Bote over other manufacturers coating systems.  If the other coating system is a two pack epoxy primer, we would expect it to be OK (although it should be tested first in an inconspicuous place, and in truth, there are no guarantees.)

Can I put Cop-R-Bote over my existing anti-foul paint?

Please see the previous answer.  We would discourage applying Cop-R-Bote over an existing antifoul coating.

Here is an application hint from one of our experienced users.

Mix the resin and hardener together and then have a 15 minute coffee break.  This results in the viscosity increasing a bit which allows a greater amount to be applied to vertical and sloping surfaces before runs occur..

Can Cop-R-Bote be sprayed?

Yes.  How-ever this is not for the faint hearted.  We generally discourage customers from spraying epoxies, unless they have a full set of protective clothing and positive air breathing system.  The reason is that inevitably, the sprayer will beath in the finely divided mist of epoxy.  This would result in him or her ingesting a huge dose into their lungs, with at a minimum a high chance of encounterng allergy problems.  For all that, if you do have the gear, spraying will give the best results.

How long has Cop-R-Bote been in use in Australia.

Dr Bruce McConkey first introduced it onto the Australian market in the early 1990's in Victoria and South Australia.

How hard is it to change back to another anti-foul?

Extremely easy.  It is effectively an epoxy coating, so an alterntive anti-foul can go straight over it.

How is Cop-R-Bote more emvironmentally friendly than anti fouling solutions?

Yes.  Most anti-foul paints rely on either shedding layers into the water to maintain an effective concentration of posion next to the hull ( ablative coatings ) or on dissolving the chemicals in the coating at a rate which keeps the poison concentration effective next to the hull ( Hard antifoul paints ).  Many contain other poisons such as Zineb ( a garden fungicide), Dichlofluanid ( a fungicide ), Diuron ( a herbicide ), or some other agricultural chemical.  In addition, when they are cleaned, they shed material, leading to requirements to clean them into holding tanks at the boat yard.

In contrast, Cop-R-Bote is just copper and epoxy.  It does not shed layers and does not have material scraped off when it is being cleaned.

How much will I need?  What is its coverage?

You can plan on 10 to 12 square metres per litre per coat, with a recommendation of 3 thin coats.  Thus you can expect to use about 250ml per square metre.

Please have a look at our Coverage Page for guidance on to calculate the amount required.

What about skin fittings.

Bronze skin fittings are compatible.  Plastic fittings do not present any compatibility issues.  Steel or galvanized ftiings represent an electrolytic corrosion hazard, so a 50mm barrier around them should be left clear of Cop-R-Bote.

Is it suitable for plywood, strip planked or double or more diagonal planked boats?

Yes.  There are a great many examples of its use on boats of this type of construction.  We would always recommend an underlying coating of epoxy ( preferably on both sides of the hull to help stabilize the hull moisture content and so the longevity of the hull).

Is it suitable on carvel or clinker planked boats?

Yes, but...  Cravel and clinker hulss are designed so that the planks can move relative to one another.  This will lead to cracking along the edges of the planks.

Can it be used on a stern drive or sail drive leg?

Most stern drives or sail drives are made of aluminium so the risk of disasterous electtrolytic corrosion is too high.  We would not recommend this at all.

What about propellor fouling?