Extensive barnacles on bottom paint that's 10 months old

[barryglewis]

Smacksman, where are you based?
What sort of smack did you rebuild?

[smacksman]

Somewhat off topic here but briefly she is the Class 2 Essex oyster smack Alberta CK318 built by Aldus of Brightlingsea in 1885, 44ft on deck plus 22ft bowsprit. I just got her sailing from a hulk - no engine;no electrics; no winches; and after my fun sold her in the late 90's for a much needed six figure rebuild, way beyond my means, and now she is fantastic. I still have Emma, a New York Sloop built around 1850/70 but as a 24ft half deck gaff centreboard flyer, I'm looking for a young enthusiast to take her on. She draws 18" and I scrubbed her hull on the hard. We have fairly heavy fouling in Essex and post TBT paints find it hard to cope. We also have gribble which likes wood. In 2012 I bought a Bristol 30 in New London CT (on the Thames - can you believe it!) on an Ebay auction and flew from near London, on the Thames UK five days later to live on board. After ten days making her seaworthy I sailed her solo down the ICW to Key West then sold her in Fort Lauderdale and flew home. I had such a good time that in 2015 I bought an Albin 27 on Ebay and cruised solo from Charleston SC to New Orleans, sold her and flew home. I've had a lot of fun racing and cruising in my life but the body is letting me down now.

[barryglewis]

Ever knock about on the Orwell?

[iansan5653]

Followup to the original post (although this is definitely not my thread anymore!). Today was the day to solve this problem. I recruited my brother to help out and we anchored the boat in some calm water in the bay (instead of trying to do it in the marina).

We just used mask and fins - anything more complicated than that felt like overkill on a 21' shoal draft boat. For the upper third we didn't even need the mask/fins; we just hung on to the gunwale and felt it. We went at the hard growth with some stainless steel scrapers (and leather globes). For softer growth and waterline scum we just used rags and standard scrub brushes. It took us about 3-4 hours of hard work, but we easily gained two knots of hull speed. It feels great and I'm exhausted.

Of course the steel scrapers were not gentle and noticeably scraped the paint a bit in spots, but this was pretty much a solid layer of barnacles below the waterline and we didn't have time or energy to be extra gentle. I think now that the barnacles are gone I should be able to do a much quicker soft scrub every 4-5 weeks and keep it under control. I really want to put off spending the time and cash to do a full haulout and repaint for as long as possible - especially with the long wait time for boatyards around here right now.

Some observations: a mild current is nice for carrying away the barnacles and keeping the water clear, but anything over half a knot or so becomes pretty tiring to fight. We hung a long line on each side of the boat to hang on to while we worked, and that was very helpful. Definitely securely tether your tools to yourself - I lost a nice new scraper when my tether knot came undone. It was pretty cool to see the bottom of my boat for the first time.

[LittleWing77]

Originally Posted by smacksman

My experience of several drill sergeants was of foul mouthed bullys! Thanks for the comparison! Haha!

Not fair! FstBttms is a no-bulls*it sort of guy who tells it to you straight.

Absolutely NOT a "foul-mouthed bully"!

(I'm still curious about the chili powder, though...)

Warmly,
LittleWing77

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by iansan5653

I think now that the barnacles are gone I should be able to do a much quicker soft scrub every 4-5 weeks and keep it under control.

I suspect that you're in for a rude awakening.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by LittleWing77

Not fair! FstBttms is a no-bulls*it sort of guy who tells it to you straight.

Absolutely NOT a "foul-mouthed bully"!

I appreciate the kind words. Thank you. But again- not everybody is ready to hear truth from a very experienced hull cleaner. But that's OK. I have a thick skin and the hairy-backed Marys don't get under it (much).

[fgd3]

Originally Posted by iansan5653

I think now that the barnacles are gone I should be able to do a much quicker soft scrub every 4-5 weeks and keep it under control.

I find it requires a weekly cleaning to keep the bottom in good shape. After seven days in Big Bayou the barnacles will range in size from 1/16" (where the paint is still good) to 1/4" diameter (where paint is worn away).

[iansan5653]

Originally Posted by fgd3

I find it requires a weekly cleaning to keep the bottom in good shape. After seven days in Big Bayou the barnacles will range in size from 1/16" (where the paint is still good) to 1/4" diameter (where paint is worn away).

Damn... if I have to clean every week, when would I sail? I sure hope I can get by with less than that.

[fgd3]

That is a problem. You should be able to clean it in an hour if you don't let the bottom growth get out of hand. After that you can sail.

[iansan5653]

Haha fair point. I guess I'm still thinking of it as a full day's work like today was.

[Sailing Cyclops]

Originally Posted by iansan5653

Haha fair point. I guess I'm still thinking of it as a full day's work like today was.

There's definitely a tipping point in the amount of time/effort required to clean after certain amount of time has elapsed since the previous hull cleaning. It's going to be totally dependent on your local situation.

In St. Petersburg, FL, I scrape every 3 weeks when the water is warm, and 4 weeks during the few cooler months. I try not to delay more than 1/2 week beyond those times, due to the extra amount of fouling. If I were to double those times between cleanings, I'd spend double the time to clean. Instead of long smooth fast scrapes, I'd have to use shorter strong chipping actions, taking more time. Also, there'd be a LOT more foot plate discs left behind.

[Sailing Cyclops]

Originally Posted by iansan5653

Some observations: a mild current is nice for carrying away the barnacles and keeping the water clear, but anything over half a knot or so becomes pretty tiring to fight. We hung a long line on each side of the boat to hang on to while we worked, and that was very helpful. Definitely securely tether your tools to yourself - I lost a nice new scraper when my tether knot came undone. It was pretty cool to see the bottom of my boat for the first time.

Hanging on, or tethering, to a long line attached to the bow is really helpful in current. Also helpful is using a suction cup to keep you close to the hull. It will reduce the amount of kicking effort. For me, in near-zero visibility, it also helps me keep track of where I've already cleaned.

Here's a picture of my gear. I made the velcro webbing straps with D-rings to go around my wrists, and sized the parachute cord to suit the way I hold the tools. Again, with poor visibility, everything stays where I can find it by feel. The screwdriver is used to clean inside of thru-hulls.

Kudos to fstbttms for the design of the mini-plunger suction cup tool. It's better than the glass-lifting suction cup tool that came along with my boat, because the cup is deeper, and less likely to come off the hull, yet still easy to release when needed.

[smacksman]

Originally Posted by iansan5653

Followup to the original post ... we anchored the boat in some calm water in the bay ...

Could you not anchor near the shore? Standing on the bottom makes the job much easier with only 2 ft. draught.

[michaeld]

Rather than a bristle scrub brush, we use a scouring pad on a handle. Those can be found at the hardware store for cleaning BBQ grates. We find that the pad is less aggressive than a hard bristle brush.

Ditto with Trinidad Pro and 3-4 weeks between hull cleanings.