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Old 31-10-2015, 21:03   #1
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Keeping dinghy bottom clean

I was figuring that since nothing will stick to surfaces that you have previously used cheap silicone caulk on, maybe treating your dinghy bottom with that stuff would work well to keep sealife off.

Any one try this?
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Old 01-11-2015, 02:18   #2
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Re: Keeping dinghy bottom clean

I thought about a novel approach for dinks... don't know if it would work. Find some sort of inexpensive sticky back plastic material... similar to what they apply to some new cars after manufacture to protect them until they are detailed for sale. Dinks are light enough to haul out and regularly apply. When they get foul... remove and apply a new sticky back. Maybe.
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Old 01-11-2015, 16:42   #3
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Re: Keeping dinghy bottom clean

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I thought about a novel approach for dinks... don't know if it would work. Find some sort of inexpensive sticky back plastic material... similar to what they apply to some new cars after manufacture to protect them until they are detailed for sale. Dinks are light enough to haul out and regularly apply. When they get foul... remove and apply a new sticky back. Maybe.
That's not a bad idea. You would only need a dozen every year. That's got to be cheaper than the cost of chemicals/scrapers/labor time.
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Old 01-11-2015, 16:58   #4
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Re: Keeping dinghy bottom clean

$43 for 400SF
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Old 01-11-2015, 17:12   #5
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Re: Keeping dinghy bottom clean

How about just stretching a tarp under the dinghy. Extract out as much of the salt water as possible, then add fresh with a tiny bit of bleach.

If you use it a lot then just hoist one end out of the water behind the boat switching ends every couple of days.
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Old 01-11-2015, 17:55   #6
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Re: Keeping dinghy bottom clean

surplus shrink wrap??
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Old 02-11-2015, 07:37   #7
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Re: Keeping dinghy bottom clean

Carpet mask might do that. I usually flip it over on a beach and scrape. We have a plywood dinghy with Lexan anchor set viewing windows in it and I put vinegar on the windows for 5 minutes or so and the worst growth can be wiped off with a rag. I hope that as the ocean acidity increases to one day have nothing grow on the boat or the dinghy. I think you might be able to make bottomside chaps out of some kevlarish material and remove it every so often and soak it in a tub of vinegar and then hose it off. Seems like more work than scraping on a beach to me though.
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Old 02-11-2015, 07:44   #8
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Re: Keeping dinghy bottom clean

This stuff wears like Kevlar - had it on my F150 for 3 years - but there are less expensive alternatives made by other manufacturers that I am told wear just as well.
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Old 02-11-2015, 08:19   #9
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Re: Keeping dinghy bottom clean

We have a Walker Bay 10 with the inflatable tubes. We just tied the bow to a bow cleat on our Cal 39 and, using a spare halyard and a self made lifting rig, used a spare halyard to haul the dinghy out of the water when not being used. The dinghy was just below the hull-deck joint and the inflatable tube was all that was in contact with the topsides. When underway for short trips we towed, long trips the dinghy was on deck. We never had to worry about the bottom getting fouled. I don't know if this system would work with an inflatable, but I think so.
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Old 02-11-2015, 09:19   #10
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Re: Keeping dinghy bottom clean

I'm thinking some bottom paint. Petit hydro coat is good on dinghys.
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Old 02-11-2015, 09:36   #11
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Re: Keeping dinghy bottom clean

Quote:
Originally Posted by zboss View Post
I was figuring that since nothing will stick to surfaces that you have previously used cheap silicone caulk on, maybe treating your dinghy bottom with that stuff would work well to keep sealife off.

Any one try this?
You will find that marine life will grow on any dirt on or embedded in your silicone coating.

Just look at the mold living on household gutter caulking.

Bottom paint science is a mature field.

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Old 02-11-2015, 09:37   #12
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Re: Keeping dinghy bottom clean

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I'm thinking some bottom paint. Petit hydro coat is good on dinghys.
If you carry your dinghy on deck like I do, you need a fairly hard paint to keep it on the dinghy and not on the house/deck. I have used Pettit's ablative inflatable paint on my RIB for 5 years now with good results. I tried a softer ablative and it was a mess.
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Old 02-11-2015, 09:50   #13
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Re: Keeping dinghy bottom clean

Quote:
Originally Posted by secrabtree View Post
We have a Walker Bay 10 with the inflatable tubes. We just tied the bow to a bow cleat on our Cal 39 and, using a spare halyard and a self made lifting rig, used a spare halyard to haul the dinghy out of the water when not being used. The dinghy was just below the hull-deck joint and the inflatable tube was all that was in contact with the topsides. When underway for short trips we towed, long trips the dinghy was on deck. We never had to worry about the bottom getting fouled. I don't know if this system would work with an inflatable, but I think so.


The best way to keep the bottom clean is to haul the dink when not using it. Easily done if you have davits. And then you don't have to worry about it escaping and going walkabout.
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Old 02-11-2015, 09:59   #14
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Re: Keeping dinghy bottom clean

This is not always practical. Out boat is on a mooring and we have the dink waiting all week at the "dinghy" doc. When we are at our mooring we will leave the dink in the water because we use it to go back and forth to shore to eat, walk the dog and so on. The ONLY time when we could get the dink out of the water is when we cruise to another port for an overnight stay. Hardly seems this would make a bit of difference in the fouling of the bottom.
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Old 02-11-2015, 10:40   #15
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Re: Keeping dinghy bottom clean

Just tow your dinghy upside down. I tried that once.
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