In again, out again

One of my favourite green alternatives on Calypso is the antifoul - or 'foul release' if I'm to be precise (see Building Calypso). So, when we pulled her out of the water last week we were all really intrigued to see how well it had worked. At first glance she looked pretty much like any boat which has been in the water for six months, but the difference is that after a light spray the paint looks shiny and new. Apart from a few minor war wounds from our eventful weekend at Newtown Creek (see earlier blog "Solent Adventures) she looks absolutely like she was painted yesterday. The manufacturer Hempel say that this new product (called Hempasil X3) should work well for a good 10 years, in which case this is a very, very exciting development - imagine no more copper leaching out into the water, no more annual scrubbing and repainting. Amazing.