Bottom Cleaning in the Water

[GILow]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

. As far as sharks go, there are no dangerous species that frequent small boat harbors in California...

Sounds like those Californian boat brokers are a friendlier breed than our Ozzie type.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by GILow

Sounds like those Californian boat brokers are a friendlier breed than our Ozzie type.

The man in the grey suit.

[gamayun]

Sharks, ha! They're a treat compared to getting covered in Caprellids (AKA skeleton shrimp or "aliens of the sea"). They pinch as they reattach to your skin after you've scraped them off the boat. After a couple of days, your gear smells like something rotten and you have to pull every dried, dead body off one by one by one by.....

It's the little stuff that'll kill ya: Wonderful Things: The Pugnacious, Alien-esque Skeleton Shrimp | The Artful Amoeba, Scientific American Blog Network

[a64pilot]

I'll not speak as to cleaning bottoms as a pro already has, and I'm certainly no pro.
But on the shark thing, I've seen several Bull sharks hanging around in some Marinas I've been in, Florida and Bahamas (never been to California) and almost always it's those places where the fishermen come back and clean fish on tables set up on the dock, so if you see those tables, usually set up right at the charter fishing boat and the water isn't gin clear, don't clean your boat there, wait until you move.
Personally I don't like cleaning mine in a marina anyway, sometimes not the cleanest water around, I like to do it at anchor, plus you don't have to worry about the idiot beside you dropping an extension cord into the water.

If you going to use a tank, a steel HP 80 is much smaller, lighter and negatively buoyant so you don't have to have nearly as much weight as compared to an aluminum 80, although an aluminum 80 due to costs is the standard.

[Dhillen]

One other thing that comes to mind from personal experience: make sure people on board know you're down there and they don't use the head. You have enough of a "cloud" to avoid cleaning the bottom without swimming face first into another one...

Dhillen

[zeehag]

i place deadman lines from bow to stern and use those for cleaning hull when in port.
underway cleans self essentially.
hullcleaning in port and only when needed, or before departure. keep prop clean at all times.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by gamayun

Sharks, ha! They're a treat compared to getting covered in Caprellids (AKA skeleton shrimp or "aliens of the sea"). They pinch as they reattach to your skin after you've scraped them off the boat. After a couple of days, your gear smells like something rotten and you have to pull every dried, dead body off one by one by one by.....

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by Dhillen

One other thing that comes to mind from personal experience: make sure people on board know you're down there and they don't use the head. You have enough of a "cloud" to avoid cleaning the bottom without swimming face first into another one...

Dhillen

I would think the contents of the head would go into a holding tank for most of us. For the rest, you shouldn't be using the head at the dock anyway.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

If you going to use a tank, a steel HP 80 is much smaller, lighter and negatively buoyant so you don't have to have nearly as much weight as compared to an aluminum 80...

If you are going to use a tank, a hundred or so bucks will buy you 50' of air hose and let you leave the heavy, bulky dive gear on deck or in the dinghy.

[rwidman]

Originally Posted by Sherbo

............. I was wondering if you could tell me how you go about cleaning your boats bottom while at sea. I know you can dive or snorkel and scrape, but have any of you come up with any more innovative or better way?

A better way? Sure. I write a check.

I pay $60 for someone to drive to the boat, haul all his stuff down the dock, put on his own wetsuit, hook up his own dive gear (that he pays for) and jump in the cold murky water and clean my boat and inspect my running gear and replace any anodes that need replacing.

I wouldn't do what he does for what I pay him.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by rwidman

I wouldn't do what he does for what I pay him.

Neither would I.

[vivabob]

As a full time cruiser, I invested in 12v compressor designed just for hull cleaning. It cost about $850 around 15 years ago, and it's been one of the best marine investments I've made. Figure hull cleaning every month, it's paid for itself compared to hiring divers. It comes with 60' of hose, is good for 30' depth, and will run for 6+ hours on a standard starting battery. The brand I bought is no longer around, but there are similar ones on the internet. You can stay under, communing with the fish and working comfortable until the job is done - I find myself enjoying it especially in warm clear water..

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by vivabob

As a full time cruiser, I invested in 12v compressor designed just for hull cleaning. It cost about $850 around 15 years ago, and it's been one of the best marine investments I've made. Figure hull cleaning every month, it's paid for itself compared to hiring divers. It comes with 60' of hose, is good for 30' depth, and will run for 6+ hours on a standard starting battery. The brand I bought is no longer around, but there are similar ones on the internet. You can stay under, communing with the fish and working comfortable until the job is done - I find myself enjoying it especially in warm clear water..

Check out the thread, "Shallow Dive System for Bottom Care". I received some great advice from fstbttms for putting together a oiless compressor system with a proper breathing hose at less than half this cost.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by Hudson Force

Check out the thread, "Shallow Dive System for Bottom Care". I received some great advice from fstbttms for putting together a oiless compressor system with a proper breathing hose at less than half this cost.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...re-132567.html

[YARGESOL]

With Mac Gregor 26 the easiest way will be to pull it out of the water on the trailer