Anti-Foul Removal
Anti-Foul Stripping Made Easy!
- Increase your performance
- Reduce your fuel bills
- Decrease the risk of osmosis
There is a task so tedious, unpleasant and unrewarding that the average boat owner doesn't even consider it, yet it is an essential part of maintaining the performance and good health of his. her pride and joy. That task is removing the old anti-foul.
Traditional Methods
Until now, you as an owner have had two choices:
A. Slap another coat of anti-foul on and put the job of stripping it all off until next year (again), or:
B. Buy a scraper and/or a bottle of chemical stripper and get down to potentially several weekends hard labour. Don't forget to wear a good mask, as the paint dust is toxic, and be careful not to make too many gouges in your gel-coat with the scraper!
Strata Clean is a locally based company with a solution to this age-old problem, offering an anti-foul removal service using an innovative new British piece of equipment, at surprisingly reasonable prices.
Why does it need to be done?
Whatever type of paint you use, inevitably the number of layers builds up over the years. Apply the average 2-3 coats every season and you don't need a degree in maths to work out how many layers are on the bottom after 5 years!
Have you ever stopped to consider the effects this could have in the long term? All that paint causes a surprising amount of drag - on a yacht this will slow her down, and increase passage times. If you race, your boat's competitive edge could be severely dulled. On a powerboat, the effects on top speed and fuel consumption can be dramatic. Does your boat feel slower than she used to..?
Far more serious are the effects on the well being of a GRP hull. The paint traps moisture in the gel-coat, so that even when the boat is out of the water, the hull never really dries out properly. The effects of this are sufficiently well documented to require no further explanation, except to mention the dread word "OSMOSIS". Worse still, the early signs of osmosis can remain hidden under thick layers of paint, so that by the time you do spot those blisters it can be too late to avoid expensive bills in the boatyard. Catch it early enough and it can often be rectified cheaply and simply.
The Strata Clean Method
By blasting a mixture of synthetic calcium carbonate and water at a surface, Strata Clean can achieve a virtually perfect removal of all the antifouling paint on any boat, leaving behind a slightly matt finish that provides an excellent key for the new anti-foul coating. Our equipment offers a blend of high speed and efficiency that put the cost of the service within the reach of the average owner for the first time.
The use of water means ultra-low dust levels, so the service can be offered virtually anywhere, and the calcium carbonate has no environmental effects whatsoever, unlike dry or chemical-based stripping aids.
Strata Clean offers a fully mobile service.
