New approaches to defouling

Defouling 1

Sept 13, 2018

Stripping the antifouling paint from the bottom of a boat is physically demanding and is one of the dirtiest and most toxic jobs faced by boat owners.

Protocol Environmental Solutions located in Coquitlam, British Columbia created “DeFOUL”, their patent-pending technology that is a breakthrough for the marine industry.  It creates two waste streams; liquid waste (product and wash water) which is inert and fully biodegradable and can be washed down the drain; and solid waste (paint material) which can be collected at the drainage point. 

DeFOUL eliminates the need for traditional sanding or blasting removal methods which can damage the gel coat.  Other costly “peel and strip” methods provide inconsistent results and large amounts of waste that needs to be disposed.

Canadian Yachting ONBOARD newsletter decided to pick a worthy boater and give the product a try.

Defouling 2We chose Barry Hack and his boat, a 1981 Catalina 27 named Magic. Kept at Westport Marina in Sidney.

Barry has been sailing since 1973 in his University of Victoria days, racing 420, fireballs, 505s flying juniors and dinghies. He is presently racing on a Flying Tiger named My Tai out of the Sidney North Saanich Yacht Club. Barry has volunteered for many years with the Brentwood Bay Power Squadron, teaching and mentoring students who are taking Power Squadron courses.

Barry’s favorite places to sail and drop anchor in the Pacific Northwest are Wallace island, Portland island, Saturna island or anywhere there is wind. In Barry’s own words “we’re surrounded by beauty everywhere in this area and we are so lucky!”

Defouling 3Barry was under severe time constraints and was not able to let the DeFoul work as long as he would have liked but here is what he had to say “The stripper really did a good job but was physically a lot of hard work. I did all of the work myself. I couldn’t find a rental sprayer that would handle the thickness of the material and so I ended up brushing it on, leaving it for approx. 5 hours and then hand scraping with a cabinet scraper. Neutralizing and cleanup was simple and environmentally friendly.” 

“Thanks for securing this product trial. It worked exceptionally well for me and I have big shoulders to show for all the hard work!”

ONBOARD’s question for Barry was would you use DeFoul again and the answer was a resounding yes!

For complete information about DeFoul go to: http://innercrete.com/products/marine-products/defoul/

BN

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