Antifouling/Underwater maintenance

Cardiff Marine Services offer the very latest antifouling technologies and use only the most effective systems.

What is Antifouling?

Antifouling relates to the process of protecting boats from sea creatures (ie: limpets, molluscs and algae) attaching themselves to the hull and causing damage. Toxic antifouling paints contain the chemical tributyl tin (TBT) which slowly dissolve off the hull and get into the surrounding seawater and accumulate around harbours and along shipping lanes. This is then ingested by various marine creatures and eventually gets into the food chain.

Why Antifoul your boat in Cardiff Bay?

Heavy fouling not only looks unattractive but also makes your boat slow, less responsive, less fuel efficient and difficult to manoeuvre in close quarter situations. A particular issue for boats mooring in Cardiff Bay is the presence of Zebra Mussels.  They can foul the hull of vessels and lead to blockages or restrict engine cooling water intakes, resulting in engines over-heating. Routine maintenance of vessels will limit this build-up and prevent such problems occurring.

Further information can be found at the Cardiff Harbour Authority website.

We recommend that you antifoul your boat annually as ideally GRP should come out of the water every year as this helps reduce the chance of osmosis. At the same time your boat is out of the water being antifouled we can check the anodes. Given that boats in Cardiff Bay are sailing in fresh water we recommend you have freshwater anodes on your boat.