How Often Should My Boat's Hull Be Cleaned ?

[fstbttms]

"How often should my boat's hull be cleaned?"

This is a question hull divers are often asked. It is a common misconception that frequent hull cleaning reduces the length of time your anti fouling paint remains viable. But by employing an experienced, knowledgeable hull cleaner using Best Management Practices, quite the opposite is true.

The key to making your anti fouling paint last a long time is to never let it get so dirty that it cannot be cleaned with the softest cleaning media (and by that we mean carpet or a white pad.) A typical hull cleaning frequency here in the San Francisco Bay Area is every three months. This schedule virtually ensures that within the first year, your diver will have to clean the boat with something more abrasive. And that means scrubbing paint off unnecessarily which, of course, shortens your paint's lifespan. A typical bottom job cleaned on a quarterly schedule will last about two years.

You paid a lot of money for your bottom job and you want it last as long as possible. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, a 2-month cleaning frequency is recommended. This ensures that your diver can use the softest pad when cleaning your hull, often for the entire life of the paint. A less frequent regimen means a more abrasive pad will have to be used, which not only shortens the lifespan of your anti fouling paint but releases more copper into the water than otherwise would be. Further, with the 2-month cleaning cycle, your hull is clean more of the time, thereby improving performance both under power and sail and reducing your fuel consumption and carbon emissions. By gently cleaning your hull just 6 times per year (as opposed to 4 times) your bottom paint can last three years or more, potentially saving you thousands of dollars in haulout/bottom painting costs.

Here's the math for 10 years of ownership of a 40' sailboat:

3-month hull cleaning schedule (painted every 2 years)

$2700 bottom job X 5 = $13,500
$90.00 hull cleaning (4 times/year X 10) = $3600
Total expenditure (10 years) = $17,100

2-month hull cleaning schedule (painted every 3 years)

$2700 bottom job X 3 = $8100
$90.00 hull cleaning (6 times/year X 10) = $5400
Total expenditure (10 years) = $13,500

Total savings = $3600

That's quite a savings. Not to mention your fuel cost savings from operating the boat with a clean bottom more of the time. And consider also that the cost of the bottom job is only going to increase in the future.

The fact is that relatively frequent, gentle cleanings are better for the boat, better for the environment and better for your wallet than less frequent, more abrasive cleanings. Ask your hull cleaner if he is a member of the California Professional Divers Association. CPDA divers are trained and certified in the use of industry standard In-water Hull Cleaning Best Management Practices, making them the best trained, best educated hull cleaners in California.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Yikes! (on both prices).

Mine is cleaned once a year, whether needed or not (free - tide goes out twice a day).

Painted every 2nd year - if needed

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

"How often should my boat's hull be cleaned?"

A public service announcement from the "unbiased" guy who gets paid to clean your boat but is motivated by saving the environment.

Popcorn? - - Check
Fizzy Drink? - - Check

Let the show begin...

:cheers :

[Don Lucas]

for me in the Northeast as a DIY where the boat gets hauled every year anyway

bottom paint - $250
bottom cleaning - $0

normally have some slime by the end of the end

I now expect a trashing by the SF diver telling me how my hull is really fouled.

[noelex 77]

I clean the hull myself. In summer I snorkel most days, but I only clean a bit so the entire hull does not get many cleans each year. I do get to see first hand the effects of cleaning and I am very skeptical that cleaning the hull an extra 2 times a year will extend the paint life by an extra year.
My gut feeling is that 6 cleans a year is excessive and the paint life will be shorter, but perhaps the fouling in the San Francisco bay area is very heavy and not many boats sail all year around as I do.

Why don’t you do an experiment, cleaning one side 6 times and the other 4. Some objective evidence, even from a biased source, would carry much more weight in convincing the sceptics.

[s/v Jedi]

Jedi, 64' waterline, fin keel. Expense of anti-fouling plus cleaning over the past 10 years is $ 5,500.-

The only time a diver was needed, was just after we bought the boat, and in Cartagena, Colombia.

cheers,
Nick.

[barnakiel]

soft paint, no cleaning

unless you are in warm, clean waters, which is not all that often

b.

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

A public service announcement from the "unbiased" guy who gets paid to clean your boat but is motivated by saving the environment. . . .

In all fairness, where your boat is located makes a world of difference. The Pacific waters are renowned to be very prolific and sea growth extreme so more frequent cleaning to keep the boat in top performance shape is reasonable. In the marinas in the Los Angeles areas I see a lot of boats in slips with huge tarps pulled up around the bottom kind of like giant diapers. The sea water is flushed out and replaced with fresh water to stop the sea growth.

- - Although I find the cleaning cost of $90 rather economical compared to the costs I have been charged in the Caribbean and the US east coast.

- - But in places like Chagauramas, Trinidad the harbor is totally toxic and not much of anything grows so you can go a really long time before the boat needs bottom cleaning.

- - The US east coast seems to be about in the middle with coastal rivers being very prolific due to fertilizer run off from lawns, etc. and ocean water flushed harbors being less of a bottom growth problem.

- - Then again the type of bottom paint and who and how it was applied can also make a world of difference.

[Dockhead]

I haul out and jet wash my bottom three to four times a year.

I use the splendid floating dry dock system called "Sealift" in the Solent. It costs a lot more than $90 , however, it does give me a chance to do my anodes, grease the prop, wiggle the cutless bearing and rudder, and generally check things out. I would not want to go more than four months without seeing my anodes -- generally one or more needs changing by then; the ones I don't change, I wire brush.

I agree with others that, at least where I sail, every two months would be excessive, although if it only cost $90, I might do it anyway just for the performance gain. At least in summer, when the growth is much more aggressive here. Hardly anything grows in the winter here. But I am highly skeptical about the claim the more frequent cleaning will dramatically extend the life of anti-foul.

It also depends on how much you sail. With soft antifoul, nothing much seems to grow when I sail every day. But in the summer, if I leave the boat for a month, the bottom gets gross.

[svHyLyte]

Here on the southwest coast of Florida we are using Petit Ultima SR bottom paint with Speed-Prop on the running gear. We have a diver that cleans the bottom once a month using a piece of old carpet with a Scotch scrubbie around the water-line when necessary. Our haul-outs have been at 3-year intervals and, were it not for other maintenance needs, the bottom did not need repainting at all.

FWIW...

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

A public service announcement from the "unbiased" guy who gets paid to clean your boat but is motivated by saving the environment.:

A pubic service announcement from the diver who has given you a whole bunch of good, free advice over the years on this forum. And will continue to do so, despite your attitude.

[fstbttms]

FYI to all- here is a pic showing 3 months growth on Trinidad bottom in good condition:



Carpet or a white pad will not remove this.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

A public service announcement from the "unbiased" guy who gets paid to clean your boat but is motivated by saving the environment.

Popcorn? - - Check
Fizzy Drink? - - Check

Let the show begin...

:cheers :

And for our next event, ladies and gents, the fox will be telling the chickens why they don't need to lock the henhouse.

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

A pubic service announcement from the diver who has given you a whole bunch of good, free advice over the years on this forum. And will continue to do so, despite your attitude.

OK - I deserved that. And probably worse... I just saw the show coming along and took a cheap shot.

[zeehag]

rofl...i get mine cleaned when it mneeds it--- not every month and so far my paint is still intact after 7 yrs..... plan hauling out as soon as i can afford it and cleanings only whnen prop is dirty so i can remain mobile.