Copper Clad Bottom Process

[skiakhokie]

A boat I am interested in purchasing has a "Copper Clad" bottom. The broker says it''s some sort of process where the bottom is striped to the gelcoat and a copper paint is applied. It''s supposed to last up to 10 years....? Can anyone elaborate and give some pros and cons? Is there a better board or site for this sort of question? Thanks.

Mike

[elhanley]

Well, to me "clad" means covered with sheet copper. The broker is describing "coated". I have seen a lot of copper clad boats, particularly in the tropics and Aussie, all of them wooden. The cladding goes on over a bitumastic, the sheets overlap and are fastened with ring nails two or three inches on center. The cladding is not to protect from rot, but from fouling.

[hamiam]

i would guess he is talking about copperpoxy. they have a website: www.copperpoxy.com / im sure the likes of practical sailor have done a review. i believe it needs alot of in-water scrubbing to keep clean.

[sailnaway]

I used something like that a few years back. It was Falcon Coat or somthing like that. I don''t know how it held up as the boat was gone afrer I applied it.I temember it was a pain in the butt to roll on.

[richardreinhart]

Five years ago I purchased a used Morris 32 with a copper impregnated bottom. The boat is berthed at Cape Canaveral, FL.

For a couple of years I tried the epoxy bottom as the only means of keeping growth away. It didn''t work very well. I wanted to use it as it''s a very smooth surface, but in Florida waters the stuff just wasn''t effective. Before launching after the first trial wasn''t satisfactory, I lightly sanded the bottom to bring the finish back to life as recommended by someone; that added a little time before the growth occurred again, but eventually I gave up and had the bottom painted with Trinidad. Good paints work better than the permanent finish for the obvious reason that the temporary finishes are continuously refreshing themselves by either sloughing off or leaching. The hard copper doesn''t do either.

The manufacturer''s website, as I recall, even concedes this stuff isn''t really effective in southern waters. It may work well in northern climates, and it certainly seems to be ideal for boats that are hauled regularly.

I can''t see any reason not to buy a boat that has this stuff on it so long as you realize it may not be 100% effective in preventing marine growths.