PropSpeed - I'm A Believer!

Well, I am officially convinced that PropSpeed antifouling for metal works! We applied it to our shafts in the spring of 2005. We had no barnacle growth on the shafts all season – but I didn’t notice much on any of the other running gear either so I figured it was a mild year for barnacles. Note - We have not hauled the boat since last spring and have not reapplied the PropSpeed.

Well this year on the Chesapeake Bay is a totally different story. Over the July 4th weekend we ran the boat for the first time after having changed wheels, having 3 new turbos installed and after having sat idle in the slip for three weeks. What a mess – lost 400 rpms of top end, could hardly get on plane and lots of black smoke and vibration. It was late in the day and I did not have a chance to dive to take a look at the bottom until the following day. When I did, I was appalled but not surprised at what I found. The props, struts and rudders were covered with small barnacles – it looked like Berber carpet! This was after only 3 weeks after installing new wheels and making sure everything was clean. The interesting part was that the shafts had NO barnacle growth!! The Prop Speed that I applied over 14 months prior was working perfectly. I consulted with neighbors on the dock and they are all experiencing similar performance/barnacle probelms.

Even though the PropSpeed is very pricey, a little difficult to work with, and once it is on you can’t touch it or will be forced to re-apply, it WORKS! After seeing this I am planning on adding PropSpeed to our struts and rudders at next haul out (maybe sooner than later). I will still keep the props untreated (fisherman’s superstition and ease of changing wheels). I am confident that this stuff is doing the job.

As an aside, I mentioned having had turbos replaced. Well the terrible sea-trial took place late on a Sunday over a holiday weekend. Since I was not sure what was wrong I placed a call at 2130 to the mechanic that did the turbo work and left a message. I did not expect to hear back until after the forth. I was shocked when he returned my call at 2200 and said he would be at the boat the next morning (July 3rd) at 0830 to inspect his work. At 0825 he arrived and started checking things out with my father. Before I could make it back to the boat to dive over the side he had inspected all four turbos, checked the racks, and sea-trailed to confirm that we were sound mechanically. I was impressed to say the least. If anyone needs a good Detroit mechanic who stands behind his work with integrity in the Annapolis/Baltimore area, feel free to contact me. Maybe I will share him! :D

Glad to hear the great results from Propspeed. Am I correct in understanding that if applied to the props it will only come off after a few months if you run the boat regularly? If so, then no need to put it on the props anyway. Also, hope they didn't apply it over the zincs.

I love the stuff. I don't use the boat a whole lot and it really reduced the growth on my props. From what I've seen in local boatyards, it seems to hold on to slower boats like mine much better than higher speed sportfishes (New Vikings, Hats, Berts etc...) After one year and two trips to the Bahamas just the tips of my props had lost the stuff. I'm going to use it again when I re-paint this summer.

FWIW - One of the bottom paint companies used a slip in our marina a couple of years ago to the test their product due the exceptionally high growth rate during the summer!


Captned
Miami Beach
78 46' SF

Paul (NIMROD),

Where do get it on the Chesapeake? How expensive is it?

Thanks - Rob