Skipping bottom paint this year?

[waterman46]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

Well, two of the three points you made are completely false. But thanks for playing.

If you have information, experience or observations, and I know you do, please share them. I am interested in what you thought was incorrect.


BTW you and I are in the SF Bay Area and our experiences here are no doubt different than those in New York. My observations were mainly what I see in areas that don't need to haul out for ice.

[Spindrift NH]

Originally Posted by n5ama

What is the diver using to clean the hull? I’ve got scuba gear and can get under my boat for extended time if getting the cleaning gear isn’t prohibitive.

The boat works near my boat is quoting $550 to short haul and pressure wash. I find that expensive. I’m taking my boat to another area (5 day sail) and would like a clean bottom before I leave in late May?

Any DIY cleaners out there?

I maintain the bottom on my boat. I purchased a hooka system a few years ago and it certainly has paid for itself. That being said, maintaining a 42’ sailboats bottom is a lot of work!

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by waterman46

Racing folks will usually haul and paint every year but for others, normally a bottom job lasts 3 years with scheduled cleaning in the marina slip depending on local conditions and your use of the boat.

One huge difference this year is that we may not want to have folks in the water, in marina's, cleaning boat bottoms. All water contact may be totally prohibited in many places.

Originally Posted by fstbttms

Well, two of the three points you made are completely false. But thanks for playing.

Originally Posted by waterman46

If you have information, experience or observations, and I know you do, please share them. I am interested in what you thought was incorrect.

1.- Racers do not usually haul out for new paint every year. I currently have over 750 customers and many of them race actively. I can count on one hand (on one or two fingers actually) the number of my clients that haul annually, racers or not. That is simply not how boat ownership is done in California.

2.- "All water contact may be totally prohibited in many places"? Did you just make that up or what? Because as someone whose livelihood has been earned in the water for the past quarter century, I can assure you that I have my finger on the pulse of water quality issues and the regulation thereof. Nobody is talking about banning contact with our waterways. Nobody.

You did get the 3-year anti fouling paint lifespan bit right, I'll give you that.

[n5ama]

Thanks Spindrift!

I can just about stand up in my slip, so for a lot of the hull I'm not totally underwater. My boat has a wing keel so not much draft. The water isn't all that clear but I can probably see well enough to know what I've cleaned and what I've missed.

I guess what I need mostly is what kinds of pads or scrapers or ??? whatever is used to physically remove the scum.

Tom

[jmschmidt]

If you haul every year and spend several months on the hard, even with today's mostly ineffective paint I would think painting every two or three years would be sufficient. The real problem is, thanks to the EPA and the environmental wackos, todays paint doesn't work very well. I have to laugh at Pettit's advertising that says their Trinidad has 53% copper. I started using Trinidad (previously 77% copper) over forty years ago but gave up a few years back and used Hemple for a third the price of the 53% stuff. Then I gave up on bottom paint altogether and just have the bottom cleaned every month, at a fraction of the cost of haul-out and so-called "professional" application. If I should have to haul for some other reason I would consider doing it myself if I can find a yard that will allow DIY.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by jmschmidt

Then I gave up on bottom paint altogether and just have the bottom cleaned every month...

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by n5ama

I guess what I need mostly is what kinds of pads or scrapers or ??? whatever is used to physically remove the scum.

3M Doodlebug pads:



Or, if you want to get serious about it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pVERSH58Io

[n5ama]

Whoa!!! That's serious as a heart attack. I think I'll stick to your first suggestion. It will take me a lot longer but I'm retired, so that really isn't a large issue.

Also, there is some very serious stuff on the bottom of that boat. My water clarity isn't all that great to begin with. Ten seconds worth of the stuff your tool is putting in the water and I would be at zero visibility.

Thanks for the info and the video of what a bad bottom looks like up close and personal.

[Chotu]

My little contribution here is to wear a wetsuit for sure. The little barnacles come off and they will tear into you otherwise. I’ve had them get in my wet suit before. Very unpleasant experience.

[sailah]

Interested in this topic. First summer I bought boat it had been sitting on hard for 2 years and I didn't do bottom. Growth was bad when I brought to Massachusetts and hauled out that fall.

Next summer I did 2 coats of West Marine. Terrible stuff.

Next summer i did 2 coats of Blue Water Copper 45 and it looked great, little scum but came right off.

The next 2 summers I did a single coat of Blue Water Copper 45 and it looked the same as 2 coats.

Now I have a really clean power washed bottom and no bare spots. OK maybe a couple flakes here and there. I have enough paint left over from last year to touch that up and leading edge of keel, rudder.

I do have a scuba rig. Dove mid way last summer and scrubbed it with a rag and soft brillo pad. When I hauled it in the fall I barely had to look at it with my power washer and it came clean.

So now I was going to do what I always do and paint this year but thinking of skipping. We are planning much more cruising this summer due to corona so it should be moving a lot. I'd prefer to save the money and the buildup if this is really viable to get 2-3 seasons from paint. I just thought that the paint lost its effectiveness after the season even though it has not worn away.

This was after a season with no scrubbing. Last year it looked even better with my mid season scrub.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by sailah

This was after a season with no scrubbing. Last year it looked even better with my mid season scrub.

That looks like about 4 weeks worth of growth on a new bottom around here.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by n5ama

What is the diver using to clean the hull? I’ve got scuba gear and can get under my boat for extended time if getting the cleaning gear isn’t prohibitive.

The boat works near my boat is quoting $550 to short haul and pressure wash. I find that expensive. I’m taking my boat to another area (5 day sail) and would like a clean bottom before I leave in late May?

Any DIY cleaners out there?

Basically you use the least aggressive thing that will work, I use a white scotchbrite pad usually, then if needed a plastic dry wall knife, by the time you need a metal dry wall knife, in my experience the paint is shot, time for a bottom job, I usually get almost three years, last year I went with additional coats of paint. I know there is of course a point of diminishing returns, but time will tell.
I don’t go N of Fl and usually knock around the Bahama’s and Fl.

Oh, on edit increased frequency of cleaning trumps more aggressive methods. Aggressive removes paint, you don’t want to see a cloud of paint when your cleaning if it can be helped.

[Waveguide]

I'm in a Pacific coast harbor near San Francisco. I let my bottom paint go 3 years, and when I hauled out and saw the bottom, I thought: "Oh shucks! I could've gone another year."

I use Trinidad SR.

[hafa]

About every 6 months or so, we sail out to a mooring or anchorage and scuba dive to clean the hull. Cleaning tools include 4-6" plastic paint scrapers. a chunk of carpet, 3M green abrasive pads (used sparingly for really tough areas on the hull) and a metal scraper for the prop and prop shaft and/or any tough hard growth. A complete cleaning usually takes about 2-3 hours with 2 people working on it.

The hull typically just has a bit of algae for the first 4+ years, but around the 5-6 year mark, hard growth starts. We like to stretch the time between haulouts as much as possible, as a haul out and bottom painting here runs ~$5-6K.

[piranha]

I have a caviblaster, the smaller that they make. Last time i used, i removed 6 months of very hard growth in a day on my 37 foot catamaran. I think i could go on indefinitely blasting every 6 months but hauling out every 3 seasons or so is probably the best thing to do.

In any case that thing is amazing.