Why is my bottom red?
The underside of the boat is painted with anti-fouling, a paint that stops creatures growing on the hull. On the whole it is surprisingly effective but even the growth over a year that still settles will lose the boat a knot of speed. With an average speed of 7kts, this soon becomes a significant loss of economy, speed etc.
The active ingredient used to be TBT, a harmful chemical that damaged the environment: friendlier active components are used these days.
Why is the anti-fouling red then? Don’t know really. You do get other colours but seeing as nobody has shown me the anti-fouling swatches, or rather I have never been asked, ever, what colour I want the bottom of the boat, I just think of it as one less decision to make.
Anodes corrode in preference to more important metal bits on the boat and also need to be replaced. Otherwise there is little else to do with the boat out of the water beside the obvious visual inspection and daily Halton love-in.
