What is your antifoul secret for props and shafts?

[SailingHarmonie]

Originally Posted by CaptainMarkS

What I'd love to know is if anyone found a solution that can be applied under water. In addition to sex wax (gives me 4 weeks vs 2 for the same growth), I've tried Lanolin (meh). I've heard Tef Gel works though am loathe to apply anything toxic, so haven't tried this. Some folks say tying black plastic bags works for extended stays. Never tried this.

If you are not moving, securing a plastic bag around the prop and shaft is a surefire fix. It doesn't have to be black, it works by excluding Oxygen, not light. If it is sealed reasonably tight around the shaft essentially nothing can grow in the stagnate pool inside the bag. It has to be a pretty robust bag to avoid getting torn by prop blades, the odd barnacle or a curious crab's claws. Once torn, it stops working.

Tef-gel certainly MIGHT work as well as any of the other goods and creams, but a couple months of paying for Tef-Gel and you might as well have sprung for propspeed and get something that works.

A high viscosity silicone grease also is a good choice if you insist on goop and cream route. It is more waterproof than any of the other options you have listed except Tef-Gel, and nothing will be able to stick to it. Many of them are food-rated so not toxic.

None of the "smear it on" things last very long (Hours--if you are lucky) if the propeller is pushing the boat around, so they are best suited to dock queens.