Seajet 033 Shogun antifouling

£79.95 for 2.5 litres

Regular readers may remember the story I wrote last year about the restoration of a lovely old motor launch that has been in my family for over 70 years. The work was carried out by students at the International Boatbuilding Training College in Portsmouth and although they were mostly learning complex skills such as steaming wooden frames and installing teak decks, they were also happy to take on more basic tasks like painting and antifouling. Given they’d stripped her pitch pine planking back to bare wood, this was an opportunity to start again from scratch with a quality antifouling that would look the part as well as keep the critters at bay. That meant finding something that was compatible with a wooden hull, gave excellent results even on a drying mud berth during the summer months and came in the right shade of red to suit her classic colour scheme of white topsides, blue boot topping and red hull.

Lastly, we needed a true self-polishing antifouling that gradually dissolves in water to leave a fresh layer of paint even when the boat isn’t used for long periods. Because we keep Isabel II afloat all year round to prevent her hull from drying out, she barely moves from her berth in Salterns Marina, Poole for much of the winter. Seajet’s 033 Shogun ticks all those boxes.

With the Shogun beautifully applied by the IBTC team, she looked resplendent at her launch in June 2017, and when she finally came out of the water again for her annual wash and touch-up in April 2018, I was pleasantly surprised to see how good she still looked. There was a slight buildup of slime from her ten months afloat and the odd whisp of weed dangling from her keel band, but no barnacles or jelly growths that might have slowed her progress – unlike her unprotected propeller, which looked like it had the beginnings of a coral reef forming on the blades.

In fact, after a quick hose, the Shogun looked almost as good as when it was first applied and probably could have lasted another season (it’s designed to last two seasons when applied thickly enough), but having gone to the trouble of a lift-out, we decided to add another coat anyway. You can never be too safe when protecting a loved one! Hugo

Contact www.seajetpaint.com

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