Yard Wear and Tear

[DragonflyBob]

We have our boat in a yard right now for bottom and topsides work. She was pretty clean when we arrived. I try to rinse the boat every day I am there (at least 5 days a week) and soap wash her at least once a week. That had been working pretty good to keep her clean but couple of days ago, someone was grinding/sanding black anti-fouling paint off a boat nearby and when I came to the boat, there was a black dust with a yellow tinge all over the deck surfaces. It has actually stained the gel coat. I rinsed the boat before I left that day and then yesterday I soaped it up pretty well before hitting it with a 3,000 psi pressure washer. The pressure washer did not really make a dent at all in the staining. If it does not compound out, it may have to be wet sanded.

Should I raise this up with the yard management? I spoke to one boat captain (he had a 70’ Broward sport fisherman in the yard) yesterday and he said it’s part of having the boat in this type of environment.

A bummer to see this happen to the boat despite your best efforts to keep the boat clean.

[rslifkin]

I'd talk to management about it. In the yard where we winter, the person making the mess would be held responsible for getting your boat cleaned up. The number 1 rule is pretty much "work on whatever you want, but don't make a mess of the ground or any neighboring boats".

[tkeithlu]

Ditto. That's not just yard etiquette, it's the legal responsibility of the person who spred black powder all over the yard. He gets to figure out HOW to clean it up, and then cleans up your boat.

[JPA Cate]

First, I want to add my voice to taking it up with the management.

And, in the meantime, try a little turpentine on one of the stains. If it lifts it off, you're going to be able to handle it. If it doesn't work, try acetone or lacquer thinner. If it doesn't, there's a more serious problem, and that is that gelcoat is porous (microscopically), and the stain is down in those tiny pores. That is the kind of a problem that is solved by the removal of the old gelcoat and having it sprayed by a professional with new. And that is a huge job.

I appreciate you're probably pretty angry at the guy who did it--I would be-- but if you can bring yourself to be friendly about it all, it will probably help in this situation, with both of you there on the hard together. He was mistaken. It is definitely NOT just boat yard atmosphere and something to just accept.

The guy probably has at least third party insurance, and he should make it good. Let's hope it isn't the worst case.

Ann

[thinwater]

Take it up with yard management first. They should REQUIRE vacuum sanding, and tenting as needed, period.



But yeah, you mess it up, you fix it.

[SV Siren]

The few yards I have been to(read Great Lakes) require vacuum sanding and/or tenting, or risk the inevitable wrath of yard management and possible banning of said culprit. The only time I have seen someone not do anything to mitigate their grinding/sanding which resulted in them creating a pink cloud of dust everywhere which they left without cleaning up, the yard needless to say dealt with the owner in a not so nice way.

[gonesail]

the idiots that stained your boat would have seen that their dust cloud was being blown on your boat and others as well. a pressure washer did not touch it? wow.

[ItDepends]

That sounds like a crap yard. I have never been anyplace that would allow that. Hope you got a good price.

[pcmm]

Sometimes its just an honest mistake that people make, not realizing that their dust is blowing in the wind. But yes, vacuum sanding is better, using a scraper is better still ( and faster and less messy)

As far as the stains go, when this happened in my yard, Toilet bowl cleaner was the best product to remove these types of stains.

[DragonflyBob]

Some followup to the feedback above.

We found the On-Off gel coat cleaner removed the stains fast and effectively but we are still in the yard and we will periodically have to de-stain the boat. Hope to be launching in 4-5 weeks.

I am in an economically depressed area (New Orleans metro) and the yard not only has a hard time finding long term employees but most are not well trained and are clueless and/or lazy when it comes to dust and debris they create. It’s a common issue with all the yards locally and while the owner of the yard was sympathetic, he said he could not really do anything about it. He also told me he has a hard time controlling the DIY work in the yard in regards to the impact on nearby boats. He was the one who recommended I try the On-Off cleaner above.

[sandy stone]

Was this the yard in Mandeville? That charges astronomical prices?

Glad you found something that worked, anyway.

[Shrew]

It is my understanding that dust control is required when sanding anti-fouling paint. This is not a 'stuff happens' thing. The owner is responsible for containing the dust. This typically requires tarps, dust collection, etc.

[DragonflyBob]

Originally Posted by sandy stone

Was this the yard in Mandeville? That charges astronomical prices?

Glad you found something that worked, anyway.

It’s at Seabrook Harbor Marina/Boatyard on the south shore. Between the daily dust and dirt and dodging major catastrophe from the fire that happened last month (we had $14k damage from that fire that was covered via insurance less $5k deductible), it’s been a challenge to keep the boat relatively unscathed and somewhat clean. I thoroughly rinse it each day I am there (at least 4-5 times a week) and give it a good soap wash on the weekends.

All the yards are fairly expensive in the area but it is what it is. We choose Seabrook primarily because they allow DIY work. They are doing a full bottom job and we have Brennan Sailing Systems doing some topside paint work but everything else I am doing which is basically going through the boat with a fine tooth comb and fixing or replacing anything that looks suspect.

[Scubaseas]

I would definitely bring it up with the yard. There was a "Dragonfly" Ketch out for bottom and topsides for work in August next to some 50+ footer black hulled power boats but that was Seabrook Marina in Texas. What are the odds? Glad you got the stain out but he who caused it is usually responsible for it. The Yard is who would mitigate it.

[Eidolon65]

Beware, it’s not always bottom paint or paint related particles that will fall on your boat .
I was in a Boatyard on the St. John’s River in Florida. My boat had had a relatively new Awlgrip paint Job decks topsides…everything.
I came over to work on my boat and realized there were tiny spots of red material on my decks. I thought it was red bottom paint. I looked around and there were no boats with red paint, no red paint in the near vicinity of my boat.

It turned out that the next boat over had used a cut off wheel and cut a shackle, a galvanized shackle, in half to remove an anchor. The spray of sparks and metal flew right over on my Foredeck and some of it was on the side decks also.

I tried like hello, I used everything in the books to get the rust spots off without damaging the Awlgrip , but some of them seem to have been steel fragments that had rusted and attached or were embedded to the paint. it was a losing battle and it was very disheartening to see my beautiful boat suddenly have a rust spotted deck.

I keep a tarp on board when I’m in a boat yard large enough to cover most of my boat, but if I see someone that has a cut off wheel in a grinder I pay attention and intervene if necessary.

There is no compensation at this yard and generally in my region.
it’s considered to be part of being stacked close together in work areas and very difficult to get someone to take responsibility for it or pay for restitution.

It’s the same thing when your boat is being moved by the travel lift, when you are not present. if you don’t have towels that you bring your self or some kind of paper to put between the straps and your hull, it’s your fault that the straps have not been pressure washed and are full of fine grit or even bits of gravel in my case.

I’ve had my hull scratched twice when my boat was moved without the backyard even calling me to let me know they were going to move it.

It is a pisser!!