Cruisers who do not bottom paint

[ozskipper]

Originally Posted by foolishsailor

As the owner of an aluminium boat I would love to hear of an alternative to bottom paint. Even if it meant diving on the boat once a week.

But there is none I know of. Having a metal hull I won't get damage from aggressive growth but getting the bastards off especially those fecking goose necked bastards you get on passage in the South Pacific....aghhh. Like a previous poster mentioned they get attached above the boot stripe so you can get a feel for what it is like to remove a barnacle form your hull material...

...by the way to keep them off we used the old trick of toeing a line from the bow to the stern on port and starboard so that it lays on the surface of the water. The wave action moves it up and down the hull and it keeps the buggers off, even if used only a couple of hours a day while on passage in warm waters...

Lanolin for you. I am led to believe quite a few alloy boats use it in the commercial world. Ask MR Google for more info.

[senormechanico]

A friend keeps his Cal 34 at my dock and swears by Pettit Trinidad SR.
His bottom is grass free even though he only uses the boat a few times in the summer.
The bottom only has a fine coat of slime, and he gets at least 3 years out of it in the PNW.

I'm going to follow his lead this spring.

[bobconnie]

Ahhh for the days of Red Lead !!LOL It would work on any material hull LOL bad for the Invirement ! O well I can remember months without anything on my paint !! Maybe someday they will find something that will really work !! and wont kill everything !!

[Astrid]

A friend keeps his Cal 34 at my dock and swears by Pettit Trinidad SR.

That's pretty good stuff, alright.

[Randyonr3]

Originally Posted by bobconnie

Ahhh for the days of Red Lead !!LOL It would work on any material hull LOL bad for the Invirement ! O well I can remember months without anything on my paint !! Maybe someday they will find something that will really work !! and wont kill everything !!

friend of mine bought a 35 gallon drum of bottom paint at a military surplus store years ago.. that must have been what it was (red lead) as he always had the cleanest hull in the marina.. It would come out of the drum like a paste and have to be thinned.. seemed like a cup or two would make a gallon after it was thinned..

[ozskipper]

Originally Posted by Randyonr3

friend of mine bought a 35 gallon drum of bottom paint at a military surplus store years ago.. that must have been what it was (red lead) as he always had the cleanest hull in the marina.. It would come out of the drum like a paste and have to be thinned.. seemed like a cup or two would make a gallon after it was thinned..

Probably Tributyltin. It was the best stuff on the planet. But most govts have banned it except for on some military vessels. It was kinda like the chuck norris of antifouls for anyone who remembers it. But it killed everything nearby too.