Only a boatowner could view an image like this as being orgasmic. You’ll recall I’m testing some gear sent over from Ultrasonic Antifouling Ltd. in the UK–in-hull transducers that go clickety-click 24-7 and supposedly prevent nasty critters from growing on Lunacy‘s hull.
Well… Lunacy got hauled a couple of weeks ago after two months in the water with her two new transducers clicking away, and the results seem pretty damn impressive to me. I can’t really say anything definitive yet. Two months ain’t that long, and Lunacy does have a new suit of anti-fouling paint on… BUT the harbor in Portland, Maine, where she lays, is normally a high-growth area, and the boat has been mostly idle, and I have no reason to believe that Lunacy‘s new zinc-based ablative bottom paint is any more effective anti-fouling-wise than her old zinc-based ablative bottom paint (which wasn’t really that effective)…
SO I am tentatively, provisionally, and marginally ecstatically encouraged by these photographs.
I couldn’t attend the haul-out, so I asked Jeff Stack, the service manager at Maine Yacht Center, to be sure to take pix when the old girl was plucked from the briny. He admonished the crew NOT to pressure-wash the hull until he could deploy his camera. And as soon as he saw her, he was sure they had disobeyed orders.
But they hadn’t. Here’s some more pornography on which to feast your eyes:
The other relevant test result concerns power consumption. The Ultra 20 system I installed was advertised as consuming 24 amps a day. I can’t say exactly what the actual consumption on Lunacy was, but I can say that her onboard power-generating systems (a 150-watt solar array and an Air-X wind turbine) had no trouble meeting the demand. Every time I visited and/or used the boat, the batts were all topped up. Of the 60 or so days between the Ultrasonic installation and the haul-out, the boat was actively used for about 10 days, during which time the Ultrasonic system was turned off.
I’ll have more comprehensive results after we get thru next season. So far, however, the trend is distinctly POSITIVE.
Do people still care about all this stuff? Now, if you were to write about something exciting like the New England invasion of killer dinghies, you could capture my interest.
Six trans-atlantics? Don’t you have something better to do than spend weeks in the middle of the ocean getting somewhere an airplane will take you in six hours?
Herb!
How the hell are you? And thanks for stopping by.
For you innocent civilians out there: the above comment is from the ex-publisher of the now-defunct Offshore Magazine, who hired me many many moons ago to edit his comic for him.
No doubt he is quite senile by now. As the Wizard himself once put it: pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!!!
2 months!!!!!! Big deal. Haul her after 2 years and then you’ll have a real test.
Hi Gary! Yeah, I know 2 months ain’t that long. I think I said that. And pls. note the word PRELIMINARY in the title. But there was ZERO slime on the boat. Just inspected it myself today. I am not declaring victory. But I am hopeful.
Come to Naples, Florida. Two months of growth is more than enough to test a bottom paint. For the most part, we all have to have the boat cleaned monthly down here. Barnacles on the bottom, and birds crapping on deck, otherwise it is a great place.
How is the ultrasonic antifouling doing these days…we know the season is hardly gotten started up there, but wondering about the viability for this device for a full time, year round circumnavigating boat….
Rebecca and Patrick Childress
sv Brick House
In response to Patrick & Rebecca: Hey guys! Lunacy just went in less than two weeks ago, so can’t say anything about this season yet. I’ll be sure to let you know how it turns out.
Mr. Doane,
I’m about to purchase this system myself. Now that you are close to a year in, are you still satisfied?
In response to Jeff: Your query is perfectly timed, as the boat just came out yesterday. I’ll have a blog post about it up soon, but the short answer is I am somewhat satisfied. There is some growth on the boat, but not as bad as it would be otherwise, I think.