I did not get a chance to do the pureseal plate inspection before the holiday so they stayed in the water a few weeks longer than usual. I dont know if this contributed to the result, I doubt it, but there was a change. Usually I lift the panel and the only growth is algal. For the first time on this test plate and 2 and a half years after it went into the water, I found the first evidence of crustacean growth. A few of them, and very sharp. I could not perform the usual clean with just the pad of my finger and I also could not lift them with my finger nail. Because this is a small panel I could rub it against the edge of the timber pier which then easily removed them. Of course you would not be able to do this on the cats hulls but you could use a scraper. They came off easily enough which made me feel I could probably get them off with a scraper, but I was a little disappointed to see them. I had hoped the material would keep working for 3 years, so 2 more tests. I was able to clean them up again to look very clean but I think the effect is now starting to wear off. It will be interesting to see the result in 3 months.

It may be that 3 years is about its useful life. If that were so, and considering that you must sand this stuff off before being able to apply anything else (and I have no idea how difficult that may be), perhaps that is not quite long enough to warrant using it. 5 years and I would say no question, saving 2 haul outs would make it worthwhile, but saving just one given the complexity of getting the stuff off, may not quite be enough. This is a big turn around from my previous positions, but I have not been able to contact the manufacturer (they dont reply to my emails) and as a result I dont know if this stuff is going to be available for recoat anyway, nor if the 9 litres I have is enough to cover the 2 hulls twice. Still lets see how it looks in another 3 months, which will be 2 years 9 months in the water. I also am a bit annoyed now that I did not perform tests on normal ablative and also copper epoxy over the same period so that we have something to compare this stuff to. Dennis on 9 Lives also used the same Copper Epoxy formulation I did is already reporting crustacean growth on his hulls after just 6 months in the water, but having said that, he did not perform a sand back prior to launch. I believe this to be critical to the performance of copper epoxy as you have to expose the copper by sanding the epoxy back. Hopefully after doing that now, the stuff will start to work properly. I am watching his result with interest.