Bottom Cleaning Interval

[chtaylor]

How often should the bottom be cleaned? I thought that once per month was sufficient until I got a bill from the diver showing that he had started cleaning every three weeks without notifying me. When I called him on it, he said that it should be every two weeks.

Thanks,
Charles

 

[HGSail]

It depends on how warm the water gets (Warmth promotes growth). In Calif. the further south you go the warmer it gets. In Mexico you have to srape the barnicles off every couple of weeks, In Washington I'm not even sure if you need a bottom cleaner. In Ventura, Mine is cleaned every two weeks in the summer and once a month during the winter.

Pat
E29
'73
#224
Holy Guacamole

 

[jkm]

Every two weeks would be best down here.

Winter once a month, but with this warm water I see growth within days of a cleaning

John

 

[Loren Beach]

Lucky us...

Up here in the colder NW waters, and on our fresh water river, I have a diver scrub the bottom once or twice a year, and we haul for a repaint every third year.
Trinnidad SR is widely used. I use a 3M "soft" pad on their swivel head extendable handle and reach down for the upper foot or two of bottom about every month in the summer also.
Slime is the #1 enemy.


Loren in pdx

 

[bigtyme805]

When I was in Chula Vista I had mine cleaned every 3 weeks in the summer and once a month in the winter. Some boaters don't care and its every 2 months no matter what. If you sail a lot and value your bottom more frequently is better.

 

[gareth harris]

I also think the freshness of the paint is a factor, and how much you use the boat - a good long sail seems to remove loose build up.

With fresh Trinidad SR in Pensacola bay which is high 80s through the summer, I would just give a quick wipe over with a piece of old carpet every six weeks or so to remove loose slime, and the bottom was beautifully clean when she came out after two years. If the water was too cold to swim (below mid 50s), I did not bother cleaning the hull since nothing seemed to grow that season.

The hard part was the metalwork, prop in particular. Since I had no functioning engine for much of the time, the growth on the prop quickly precluded its use; also one of the deck drains was sealed shut by growth inside the through hull. If anyone has a good suggestion for protecting underwater metal I would welcome it.

Gareth
Freyja E35 #241 1972

 

[rwthomas1]

I use a hard ablative from New England Paints. Its cheap and only lasts one season. Just a light slime with no hard growth after 4 months if the paint is fresh. I am pushing it as this is the second season now and it needs to be scrubbed every two weeks to keep up. Other boaters I know like Trinidad for hard paint and Micron 66 for soft. I am switching to Micron next time to get multiple seasons out of it.

Regarding the keeping the shaft and prop clean there are two schools of thought that I have run into. Some say nothing at all should be applied to the running gear. Dive it and scrub it to keep it clear. The other method is to use a product like Trilux outdrive paint, etc. A friend of mine has a recipe that appears to work very well. He cleans the running gear very well and then puts two coats of Interprotect barrier coat, then paint on the bottom paint of your choice. Obviously you don't paint the zinc.... RT

 

[Emerald]

A friend of mine has a recipe that appears to work very well. He cleans the running gear very well and then puts two coats of Interprotect barrier coat, then paint on the bottom paint of your choice. Obviously you don't paint the zinc.... RT

I do something similar that seems to work pretty well here on the Chesapeake - several coats of Interlux Primocon and a good hard bottom paint like the Trinidad SR.

 

[Razz]

Smooth as a baby's bottom

FWIW -
Long ago I took to wetsanding Rascal after blasting the bottom with a pressure washer.

That enabled me to put on a coat of VC TAR with an airless sprayer. I've touched it up a few times but it is very resilient.

Over top, I put on VC-17. I haul out every 2 years and it gets easier with time to renew the bottom. I like VC-17 because it is a fast bottom and very little grows on it here in Virginia.