On the Hard - Old School

[hummingway]

I went out fishing in the tender today. I went to an area by some islands called Dock Island. When Cptn Cook first came to Vancouver Island he used the narrow drying ground in that bisects this island to put his boat on the hard and have the crew scrape her. A clever bit of seaman ship as the currents are very interesting right there. I suspect he sent the tenders in to make measurements and check the bottom before deciding to do it. Slocum writes of using drying grounds to work on his bottom. I Know it's done with cats but was wondering if anyone has or still does this with a mono?

As a pleasant aside as I was putting past the island daydreaming about Cook and thinking it would make an interesting forum post I hooked and landed a 27" cod.

[ConradG]

Ahh, so it's you that's depleting the oceans of cod!

My grandfather would careen the wooden schooner on the (sand) beach for scraping and painting. One side at a time in different tides. I've read several accounts of metal hulls doing it.

[klem]

Yes, people still careen boats from time to time. A few things to keep in mind:

Environmental regulations. Generally, the purpose is to scrape and sand the bottom and often local regs will not allow it.

Your hull shape. It is easy on a cat or a flat hulled mono since the boat sits upright. On a modern, deep draft monohull, the boat will want to lay way over on its side. Some people try to find a piece of bank with a lot of angle to it and intentionally lean the boat into it as the tide goes out so it does not lay over as far. Another variation that is used a lot in northern Maine and New Brunswick is to lean the boat against a pier as the tide goes out.

Doing this is not ideal as you can only get half of the bottom at once, any waves will stress the boat, etc but it is often a good choice if hauling out isn't possible.

[hummingway]

Originally Posted by ConradG

Ahh, so it's you that's depleting the oceans of cod!

I was a little hard on the crab population today too and now I'm endangering my supply of Tequila by way of celebration. Actually the pacific cod aren't the ones endangered, it's the atlantic, but as it happens what I caught isn't really a cod, it is a ling or ling cod. Looks like a cod but has a set of teeth that could scare a mother-in-law away. They are a tremendous eating fish but the bigger they get the less they struggle when you land them and some of the big ones actually develop green flesh. Very cool but it turns white when you cook them.

[MichaelC]

I had an aluminum full keel boat for ten year, sold her in 85. I hauled her twice - once in Hawaii where ther are virtually no tides, and once when I sold her. Other than that I always careened to scrub her bottom. I painted in those days, too, but you can no longer do that, nor can you sand. Scrubbing, however, is okay. But do not do this with a fin keel or the so called 3/4 keel. the boat I am building now has a full keel and I will careen to scrub her. Find a nice soft beach, and if you are nervous about it, lay her down on a tire at the bilge. It is easy and fun to do. I once had my schooner careened in Port Townsend before they moved the ferry dock. I was sitting on the sprit waiting for the last of the tide so I could scrub and a car load screeched to a stop at the road above me. They wanted to know if I was aboard when it happened. Then if they could help. I told them to come back in half an hour with some scrub brushes. They drove off in a huff.

[hummingway]

I take you used fast drying paint!

[forsailbyowner]

I've done numerous times. I stand up on keel. I've used palm trees on one side anchors on the other, mangroves and anchors, and a small dock to support. One thing I discovered the hard way is use polyester line not nylon. the boat slowly went over as the nylon stretched. To my surprise I was able to stand back up using winches after changing to polyester lines. I painted and sanded. I just put builders plastic down on the area and picked it up when done.

[ConradG]

I've seen piles used for the purpose. Tied alongside, when the tide goes out, you can get both sides at once.

Paint won't come off with water. Just have to get it on before the water rises. It will cure. But if "they" won't let you do it any more I guess those cheap first gen night vission gogles still have a place!...Kinda funny that the nasties are taken out of the paints nowadays so they don't kill things that try and grow and instead they are designed to wear off to keep things from building up. And "they" won't let you sand to rough it up....I understand the paint manufacturers still make the good stuff and it is still used in certain parts of the world. Perhaps it is a good excuse for an ocean crossing every couple of years.

[hummingway]

A friend keeps his boat in Mexico and uses paint not legal north of there. He has suggested that when you do that you break the law when you sail in waters where the paint is prohibited. I don't know if it's true but something to think about.

[ConradG]

No, no. They just aren't allowed to sell the stuff here. They don't require that you take it off.
The good old stuff would be worth a trip to mexico. It used to actually work. And for years!