Bottom Cleaning in the Water

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by Sherbo

Thanks for all the great feedback on this question. All very helpful. "Keel hauling the wife" got me thinking... What about getting a large fat abrasive rope and sending it under the boat from one side to the other, then one person could hold each end on each side and move it back and forth. This would not remove major buildup but if done regularly may prevent buildup in the first place.
Would that work?
Can you suggest any improvements to that method?

The best improvement to that method would be to not do it.

1.- By abrasively cleaning your anti fouling paint (regardless of method), you will unecessarily remove paint and hasten the time you have to haul to repaint.

2.- Dragging a line across the bottom to "clean" it will miss significant portions of the hull. You will not clean the keel or anything close to the hull/keel joint, you will not clean thru-hulls, transducers or any of the running gear. You will not clean the rudder.

3.- Since you won't have eyes on the hull, you won't know if you missed any growth that could have been cleaned by your line. Or any areas of the hull that require more cleaning, will not receive it.

The bottom line is (no pun intended) that the method you suggest is a truly half-assed way to clean your hull and a really poor boat maintenance pratice at best.

[zeehag]

even at 2 bux a foot, 150 is over the top. i am accustomed to divers being realistic. even in sn diego. rodlmffao.
here is better than realistic as i is 40 usd for a GOOD hull cleaning.
no greedy english speakers doing the work here. no overhead of a fancy office, as have many dive services i have known personally,,and much cleaner end result than what the local divers left in kalifornikasha
.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by zeehag

even at 2 bux a foot, 150 is over the top.

$3/foot is not unreasonable for a foul bottom with paint in poor condition. I often charge twice that for the really bad jobs. And lets remember that the cost of living for Mexican hull cleaners is a fraction of that for California hull cleaners. Your frequent comparisons of the two are not particularly valid.

[Kenomac]

Is there a boat under all that? You guys certainly earn your money. I always had good luck with the hull cleaners in Southern California, and found the prices to be very reasonable.

[zeehag]

good thing i didnt live in FRISCO BAY, as the attitude.......
and i was comparing the prices in san diego , where the range is considerably lower. we had REAL divers who did the job for under 1.50 per foot . even with a fancy dancy offices and employees. and more than one fomwhich to choose

i have only recentlly severed relations with san diego , which,last time i looked, still is in californikatia, same as FRISCO, your stomping gound.. what is the norm in frisco is not so other places in this planet.
not all of us are so provincial as to ASSume all has been from mexico point of view, especially when i specifically mentioned san diego.
of course,it could just be the memory loss suffered from too many dives that is what is creating your loss of memory
i prefer to hire workers with some semblance of respect for the client base in which they seek employment. i PRESUME you aint the only game in town.
it has been interesting to watch the overpriced divers go out of business in sd due to their attitude problems and excessive pricing. funny how market there only supports UP TO 1.50 per foot on a regular basis there with a discount for regularity.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Is there a boat under all that? You guys certainly earn your money. I always had good luck with the hull cleaners in Southern California, and found the prices to be very reasonable.

Hull cleaning is not an easy job, as anybody who has done it will attest. I find that the boat owners who bitch about being charged too much are the ones with the bottoms in the worst condition.

[jeepbluetj]

In Dana Point, you can get a diver for $1 per foot (mine is).

Also, as posted earlier-- for a mac 26, you could just pop it on the trailer once a month. There's a large washdown area at the ramp in Dana Point.

Of course, it costs $15 to get into the launch ramp, I'd just pay $26 for a diver.

[a64pilot]

Honest to God,
If you think they are charging too much, do it yourself.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Honest to God,
If you think they are charging too much, do it yourself.

Or move to Mexico.

[Dennis.G]

I was paying $2/ft for regular bottom cleaning in San Diego. Usually around $1/ft in Mexico. That was for regular maintenance cleaning, and would expect to pay more if really fouled. I see some boats that would deserve $10 a foot due to their condition.

I also dive on my boat using SCUBA. I can burn through almost an entire tank cleaning the bottom - it is hard work. I have never felt overcharged for hull cleaning services (but never paid over $2/ft in any case). If you do it yourself a few times you have an appreciation for the level of effort required to do a good job.

[rwidman]

When comparing rates for bottom cleaning, remember that there's bottom cleaning and there's bottom cleaning. That is to say, some people are doing a more through job than others and in most cases, you are not able to actually inspect their work. Reputation is key here.

And of course if you take your boat to a country with a depressed economy you can get it done for less money. That's not a fair comparison.

[Tayana42]

I just had mine cleaned in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California this morning. $1 per foot plus $10 for the zinc for the MaxProp. But I do have it done every month.


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[a64pilot]

So far I've been having my kid do it, but understand that as a monthly contract, it's a $1 a ft here is the Panhandle of Fl.

[Sherbo]

Just to set the record straight, yes I currently have a Mac 26 and its on a trailer so I don't have to deal with hull cleaning, but I'm looking to move onto a Hunter 49 soon and am trying to get an idea of what the costs are. So it sounds like the hull should be cleaned every 2 weeks and it would cost around $1 or $1.50 per ft. That's $50/$75 or $100/$150 per month. Correct?

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by Sherbo

Just to set the record straight, yes I currently have a Mac 26 and its on a trailer so I don't have to deal with hull cleaning, but I'm looking to move onto a Hunter 49 soon and am trying to get an idea of what the costs are. So it sounds like the hull should be cleaned every 2 weeks and it would cost around $1 or $1.50 per ft. That's $50/$75 or $100/$150 per month. Correct?

Not quite. In the San Diego area, hull cleaning frequencies are typically every 3 weeks in the summer and every 4 weeks in the winter. Know also that in marinas that fall under the jurisdiction of the Unified Port of San Diego, cleaning of paints that "plume" (essentially all ablative paints) is verboten. Unless you are cleaning a boat you own. Then you can pretty much do what you want. FYI.