Westcoast Ultrasonics
Westcoast Ultrasonics
Welcome to our October newsletter and we hope that you have enjoyed the good summer weather and had lots of fun on the water. We also trust that all our Canadian customers and friends had a great Thanksgiving.
Unfortunately it's almost that time when you will be considering the annual haul out of your boat for inspection, maintenance and cleaning the hull and stern gear, so if you haven't, now is the ideal time to consider fitting an Ultrasonic antifouling system.
The theme of this newsletter is Marine Growth something that can be costly and of concern to all boat owners.
The types and severity of marine growth commonly found on boat hulls varies from place to place, and generally depends on the temperature, salinity, and oxygen content of the water, how much light penetrates the water's surface, and other factors. A boat kept in the clear, cool, nutrient rich water of a coastal harbour is likely to attract more marine growth than one kept in a warm, brackish, heavily silted estuary. Additionally, a boat that fits snugly in its slip will likely generate less growth than the same boat in a larger slip. This is because the smaller slip will hug the boat more tightly, and shade the sides of the hull thus robbing marine growth of the light it needs to grow rapidly.
This leads to an interesting question that we received from one customer who has fitted an ultrasonic system to his boat that is moored throughout the winter months, with no shore power available. He was concerned that during the winter months his solar panel would not produce sufficient power to keep the batteries charged up. As stated above, agae is totally reliant on light to grow i.e it does not grow in the dark, so if you are using a solar panel to keep your batteries topped up you could use a 12V timer to turn the ultrasonic system off during nighttime thus conserving battery power. These 12V timers can be bought from many stores (see the Internet) and cost between $10 and $50 it needs to be fitted on the positive side of the battery before the control panel and remember to keep the ultrasonic unit switched on so when daylight comes it will function automatically.
Types of Marine Growth
Hard growth includes hard algae that create the relatively thin but hard or flaky
encrustations commonly found on any underwater surface, making the hull rough and less hydrodynamic.
Soft growth includes everything from the thin slime common to hulls, to the hairy and leafy algae that in usually found on the waterline and the running gear of a boat. Soft growth can grow long and bushy, causing considerable drag and an unsightly appearance.
Finally, Animal growth can be the biggest problem and can be the hardest to remove. This growth includes invertebrate organisms such as mussels, barnacles, tube worms, and others. These organisms can attach themselves anywhere on the hull, although they generally find the best anchorages in area's not protected by the bottom paint (running gear, vents and thru-hulls, bare spots in the paint, etc.). Barnacles can grow large, penetrating the surface with their natural adhesives, leading to permanent damage. Mussels can attach themselves to the inside of highly confined spaces, if the confined space is a thru-hull or vent, the mussel can eventually grow so large as to block a water passage almost completely.
These problems can be almost eliminated by using an ultrasonic antifouling system.
Our Product:
Ultrasonic antifouling is a safe and enviromentally friendly alternative to using bottom paint, the system keeps the hull clean and free from marine growth. Cleaning and applying anti-fouling paint is costly, time consuming and more importantly, is toxic and unfriendly to the environment.
We have been testing and distributing Soanar ultrasonic antifouling systems for over two years with considerable success.
Units have been distributed and installed, in boats of different hull materials, throughout the USA and Canada, the feedback from our customers has been very encouraging, with useful comments and meaningful testimonials.
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