May 2008 Project Update

The Project Team has successfully completed several key elements of the Safer Alternatives to Copper Antifouling Paints Project. Forty-six alternative coatings are currently in the field and under evaluation. Of the forty-six coatings, eighteen are zinc-based, four are organic biocide, and twenty-four are non-biocide.  Two routinely used copper-based coatings are included to serve as reference coatings. AF-33, a 33% copper content, and Super KL, a 51-75% copper content are serving as part of the QC standards. 

In May, four boatyards volunteered to aid the Project Team apply the coatings to the panels.  The four participating boatyards were Nielson Beaumont, Koehler Kraft, Marine Group, and Knight and Carver.  The test coatings were applied per suppliers’ instructions by either boatyard employees or supplier representatives.  The coatings were applied to both sides of the panels and allowed to cure prior to placement into the water at boat slips on floating docks within Shelter Island Yacht Basin (SIYB). 

While the coatings were being applied to the panels at the boatyards, the panel test protocol was finalized.  The final version was distributed to the stakeholder workgroup in early June and is presently posted on the website.  The field testing of the coatings officially began on June 3, 2008, when the Project Team completed the installation of panels at marinas within the SIYB.

The current focus of the Project Team is to complete the inspections according to the predetermined schedule established in the panel test protocol.   All test coatings have one panel that is subjected to the standard cleaning method and frequency of every three weeks with a carpet.  There is also one panel per test coating being cleaned according to a supplier recommended method and frequency.  A third panel will serve as a cleaning control and will not be cleaned at all.  The “no-clean” panels enables the Project Team to evaluate the effectiveness of each test coating on its own.  As stated in the panel test protocol, each test coating was assigned a unique alpha numeric code that is being tracked during all inspections and cleaning efforts.

The Project Team has been identifying each panel by this code and not the test coating name in order to maintain a “blind” study with the goal of reducing unintentional bias in the evaluations.         

The panel testing is going well as we enter the third month.  To date, the Project Team has completed the standard cleaning method and inspection twice for all test coatings.  Panels for test coatings with two, four, five, and six week supplier recommended cleaning frequencies have been inspected and cleaned as well.  Test coatings assigned two week cleaning frequencies have been assessed three times since the initiation of this phase.   

The Project Team plans to continue assessing the test coatings until early October, in accordance with the panel test protocol. Upon completion of this phase, the Project Team will begin the assessment of the data to determine which coatings will proceed to the next phase of the project.  A stakeholder workgroup meeting will be held in November or December to present and discuss the results of the panel test phase.