Bottom paint pollution and the case for having a naked bottom

[Atcowboy]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

Umm… No it doesn’t. Please read more carefully. What it says is that the cleaning of ABLATIVE paints is prohibited. Certain localities or regions have restrictions on what coatings can be cleaned in the water. Washington state is one of them. No restrictions there regarding hard paints however.

Interesting response and tone.

Well responding in kind, "There are no states in the U.S. where in-water hull cleaning is forbidden." You definitively state the action is not forbidden without any modifiers. Not true.

Do you happen to know a resource that sums it up somewhere? Not what this thread is about but when I was cruising through states I was always wondering if it was legit to clean my bottom or not.

Enjoy your weekend.

- AT

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by Atcowboy

Interesting response and tone.



Well responding in kind, "There are no states in the U.S. where in-water hull cleaning is forbidden." You definitively state the action is not forbidden without any modifiers. Not true.

You unequivocally stated that in-water hull cleaning is illegal in Washington, which is simply untrue. You didn’t say the cleaning of certain paints is illegal. You said it’s ALL illegal. What’s more, you clearly did some research in a misguided attempt to prove me wrong. Now you’re parsing words and quibbling.

[CaptainPete222]

I just finished reading the comments to my original post. For the most part, I appreciate the feedback. It still seems like my present plan of letting the fairly minimal existing ablative paint on my boat ablate away and just scrubbing the now unpainted area more frequently is an option worth pursuing. Leaving the environmental benefit aside, I'm cheap like most people who seem to contribute to CF and I'd like to see how long I can put off having to cough up a few thousand dollars to reapply bottom paint. At some point my cost/benefit analysis may change and I'll honestly report back for anyone who is interested. One thing that's important to keep in mind is that diving under my boat and wiping off some slime, which, after a week, is all the build-up I have to deal with, isn't that big a deal to me. I kinda like it, as weird as that may seem. I'm sure part of my enjoyment is knowing that, every time I'm cleaning the bottom, I'm saving money. But that's me; your cost-benefit analysis may very well be different.

As to whether it would be less expensive in certain, limited situations to just hire someone to clean your boat's bottom rather pay for having the bottom painted, I can't speak to that. But it seems like it would be worth exploring more carefully. My boat is presently in a marina in Brunswick, GA, and it seems like the bottom cleaning cost would go down considerably if one diver just went around doing all the boats, swimming from one boat to the next, and if the interval between cleanings was short enough to make the cleaning work go quickly. Whether this would be less expensive than paying a boatyard every year to haul, pressure wash, block, have their employees put on protective body gear and a respirator, drag out the sander with vacuum dust collector, sand, clean off the sanding residue, tape, paint, remove the inevitable mistakes with acetone, remove the tape, dispose of the paint cans, protective gear, etc, and launch the boat, I don't know. I do know that everything about painting a boat bottom sucks, especially when, after I've done all that work, stuff still grows on there. Not as fast, for sure. But it still grows, especially now that the flora and fauna are becoming more biocide resistant.

And even if you don't hire someone to do the work for you, there's plenty of crap that goes along with that: scheduling the hauling, getting the boat to the boatyard (always on their schedule, not yours), going back to the boatyard to pick it up, bringing it back to your mooring/slip, and, of course, paying the massive bill. (It's obviously easier if you're only able to use your boat seasonally, since the boat is already being hauled and splashed every year.). Given that we all have to put up with this year after year, I was a bit surprised there wasn't more interest in looking at alternatives.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by CaptainPete222

As to whether it would be less expensive in certain, limited situations to just hire someone to clean your boat's bottom rather pay for having the bottom painted, I can't speak to that.

Having the bottom cleaned is not an option. Anti fouling paint does not eliminate fouling growth, it merely retards it. Unbelievable that there are supposedly experienced boaters out there who do not understand this.

[CaptainPete222]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

Having the bottom cleaned is not an option. Anti fouling paint does not eliminate fouling growth, it merely retards it. Unbelievable that there are supposedly experienced boaters out there who do not understand this.

I was referring to having a boat bottom cleaned in lieu of using anti-fouling paint. So that there isn't any more confusion, I will make that change. I don't believe anyone said or even suggested that anti-fouling paint completely prevents fouling.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by CaptainPete222

I was referring to having a boat bottom cleaned in lieu of using anti-fouling paint. So that there isn't any more confusion, I will make that change. I don't believe anyone said or even suggested that anti-fouling paint completely prevents fouling.

Unsurprisingly, you missed my point completely.

[CaptainPete222]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

Unsurprisingly, you missed my point completely.

Yes, I did miss your point. Sorry. You're correct that in determining the cost of using anti-fouling paint, one would need to also add on the cost of bottom cleanings (or time spent cleaning it yourself).

[BBill]

Originally Posted by CaptainPete222

I was referring to having a boat bottom cleaned in lieu of using anti-fouling paint. So that there isn't any more confusion, I will make that change. I don't believe anyone said or even suggested that anti-fouling paint completely prevents fouling.

What's the draft of your Lagoon? You could dry it out on spring tides in the Bahamas and eliminate some of the scrubbing. I careened at Stocking Island and was able to paint all but 6-8" of the keel. It was a monohull so it took 2 days for painting both sides. Bought the paint at Minns in Gtown and it was way cheaper than the states. Just drying it out once a week would probably work for what you are talking about.

[RaymondR]

Careening between the anchor and a line ashore over the bottom spreaders doesn't always turn out well. The rock I tied to ashore pulled out of the ground. Steel boat luckily.