How Often do you Clean the Bottom?

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by SaucySailoress

What does remain the same anywhere in the world is the simple fact that the more you scrub, the more anti-fouling you scrub away.

Of course there is a point of diminishing returns, when it comes to bottom cleaning. And yes, it is possible to reduce a paint's lifespan by cleaning too often. But arbitrarily decreeing that more cleaning means shorter paint life is simply ridiculous.

If you clean your hull before it becomes moderately foul, you can clean it with a soft pad or carpet or whatever. This removes little anti fouling paint.

If you wait and clean your hull after it becomes moderately foul, you cannot remove the growth with something soft and gentle. Now you need to use something abrasive. This will remove more paint than if you had cleaned it with something non-abrasive.

You may not believe it, but I can assure you that boat owners (in a given region) that have their bottoms cleaned relatively frequently (and therefore gently) need to haul for paint far less often than those who clean less often.

Originally Posted by SaucySailoress

We last antifouled about 6 years ago, and just now the red is starting to show through. So clearly you don't have to go at it that much!

Yes, perhaps you do not have to go at it that much. But for the umpteenth time, the fouling rates you experience in your part of the world (and therefore the necessary hull cleaning frequencies) are different than in somebody else's part of the world. Nobody here has said that monthly cleanings are neccessary for everybody. But they absolutely are for some. Why is that so difficult for you to understand?

[fstbttms]

But what the hell do I know? I've only been at this for 18 years and 20,000+ hull cleanings.

[oldjags]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

But what the hell do I know? I've only been at this for 18 years and 20,000+ hull cleanings.

Well, maybe after another 20,000 or so you'll know what you're talking about. :-)

I don't know what paint the yard used in Mobile. I did once, but can't remember now. I do know that it is a lot harder than the ablative paint that was on there before. ie, it doesn't come off on your hands nearly as readily as the original paint did.

I have the impression that environmental issues and regulations have forced the paint manufactureres to reduce the effectiveness of their formulations over the years. Is this something you can comment on?

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

Again, assuming that the hull cleaning frequency that works where you keep your boat is also appropriate for boaters anywhere else in the world is ludicrous. You cannot generalize about this. To do so only illustrates that you do not know what your are talking about.

Yes exactly! Which is why every response in this thread that doesn't tell the OP to ask others at his marina is just giving a blowing smoke answer!

I only clean my boat's bottom once/yr when it comes out of the water for the winter. So what does this matter for others .............. NOTHING!

But I really only read the thread for the entertainment value I expected by FB who even though he wrote the above has proven he will argue that everyone's bottoms need driver cleaning regularly!

[Kenomac]

[QUOTE=SaucySailoress;1098710]Neither do you. Every situation is different, and your way is not the only way. Other people have opinions too!



Saucy.... you go girl! Seems that fstbttms only thinks that his opinion matters. I think that murky water he spends so much time swimming in... clouds his self-interest based reasoning skills.

I only need to clean our bottom once a year due to the fact we apply a high quality bottom paint containing heavy metals and biocides.

Me thinks... Environmentally friendly anti-fouling paint = oxymoron. I want ours to be as environmentally unfriendly as possible.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by oldjags

I have the impression that environmental issues and regulations have forced the paint manufactureres to reduce the effectiveness of their formulations over the years. Is this something you can comment on?

Well beyond the banning of trybutyl tin paints (which was before my time), I don't find today's crop of anti fouling products to be less effective than those I cleaned 18 years ago. That being said, what is allowable in anti fouling paints now is regulated at the state level in this country. So I cannot comment on anything that is unavailable in California. I do know that some paints in this state have been reformulated in the last year or so to have a lower copper content (Pettit Trinidad being first and foremost) and the manufacturer will tell you that they've developed a new way to make less copper work better. In my experience, I can tell no difference between the old and the new. I can also say that each and every non-copper anti fouling paint I have come across has been a poor performer.

[Hudson Force]

I anchor in about 10' at a fairly warm water location and clean my hull with snorkel equipment about twice a year while having a full pressure wash and bottom paint job once every three or four years. Sure this varies with location and cruising. Boats that are constantly moving throughout different marine communities develop far less growth. When I was remaining in one environment I was more likely to require a bottom job once every two years. I've never been in an environment that would cause me to require hull cleaning once a month, but I would not dispute those that choose to do so.

[mbianka]

I can usually get by with a mid season cleaning and an early fall cleaning if I need to on Long Island Sound waters at least for the hull. But, what really fouls fast is the prop and shaft which would require a monthly cleaning if the boat has not moved in awhile. Though a plastic supermarket bag tied around the prop does cut down on the growth quite a bit:
THE BIANKA LOG BLOG: WHAT WORKS: Plastic bag on the prop.
Though usually if I'm going in to clean the prop I will also clean the hull also even if it not too fouled.

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by mbianka

................... Though a plastic supermarket bag tied around the prop does cut down on the growth quite a bit........................

Yeah, but it has a drastic effect on my performance under power!

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by Don Lucas

he wrote the above has proven he will argue that everyone's bottoms need driver cleaning regularly!

That's not what I said. At least it's not what I meant. The salient point is, clean your bottom before it gets moderately foul. For some people, like those who have short sailing seasons, maybe this means when you haul for the winter. But that doesn't change the point. You clean while the cleaning is easy, not when the cleaning has become difficult (regardless of how frequent that may be where you do your boating.) This is the way to prolong your paint's lifespan and improve your boat's performance both under power and/or sail.

[markpierce]

Had the Coot's bottom painted early this year after about a year (some of that in China) in the water. Thin, stringy, green growth was showing up along the waterline, and there were crustaceans on the propeller. Zincs were about half gone. Didn't have any hull scrubbings. Salt content of the water in the boat's end-of-Napa-River marina varies. Bet you it's now fresh/sweet with the several days of rain we've had recently. Showing bottom painting in-progress:

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

.........................the point is, clean your bottom before it gets moderately foul........................... You clean while the cleaning is easy, not when the cleaning has become difficult...........l.

This sounds wise. I like to clean when the process requires no more than a swipe with a tough glove. This time can differ for your location, but I agree that it's not the best choice to leave the bottom until you need to attach the growth with a harsh scrape. As I move about a lot as a fulltime cruiser, I can stretch this easy swipe to a longer interval than when I was staying in one location. Marine growth has specific environmental requirements that will not be supported by a moving target!

[fstbttms]

Here is a good example:

This is three months growth on a year old Trinidad bottom in San Francisco Bay. Do you think that this level of fouling is not affecting the boat's performance? Do you think this can be cleaned with a sponge or carpet? This boat absolutely should have been cleaned before it was allowed to get to this point.

[markpierce]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

Here is a good example: ...

How much earlier had the hull been treated with anti-fouling paint?

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

Here is a good example:

This is three months growth on a year old Trinidad bottom in San Francisco Bay. Do you think that this level of fouling is not affecting the boat's performance? Do you think this can be cleaned with a sponge or carpet? This boat absolutely should have been cleaned before it was allowed to get to this point.

I don't think anyone disagrees that this should have been cleaned a while a ago. But even for it's location a given frequency may mean nothing as who knows what is under that growth and how long it has been there, and how long the boat has been sitting in one spot.

I dinghied around my mooring field at the end of the year. It was pretty apparent the boats that rarely went anywhere just by the waterline growth.