Tried & True Barnacle Removal?

[JulesinVT]

I've read many posts here of what folks have suggested, but I'm less sure of what the original inquisitors were finally successful with...I'd love to hear what worked for folks with the same problem.

I acquired our sailboat last October from coastal Virginia and had it trucked to Vermont (fresh water). Before pulling the boat out of the water, divers scraped the growth off the bottom. By the time I received the boat the limey crusty barnacle bases were fully adhered to the hull. The bottom paint is in pretty good shape, but there are several large areas where there was clearly once a colony of barnacles.

I'm looking for the least complicated way to get these white crusty circles off the bottom. As in, fewer steps. I don't want to undertake a new bottom job. If we sand, I think I'll have to tent around us, as we're packed in pretty tight here in the yard. If there's a chemical that will take these things off with a little elbow grease, I'm good with that. I don't want to damage the hull, obviously, so I've been a bit tentative about getting after it with a paint scraper (although I did put my kids on the job unsuccessfully).

CLR?
Mary Kate On and Off?
Something else?

Could I just paint over them? Crazy thought.

What worked best for you?

 

[Rich Stidger]

What has worked for me is a paint scraper. You can use a plastic windshield ice scraper if you are worried about gouging the hull with a metal scraper. But a metal scraper will do a better job, and you can always finish up with one. I like the Red Devil designed scraper with a long handle and a 2.5" wide metal blade that you can reverse after it dulls for a new edge. You pull it toward you and it is easy to control the downward pressure on the hull.

After scraping all of the major barnacle shell away, On and Off will remove the traces of the barnacle rings.

I wouldn't paint over them. Yup, crazy.

 

[Gary_H]

I just use a five in one scraper and heavy duty scotch brite pads As long as it's smooth to the touch it's usually good enough for me.

 

[zeehag]

scrape it, sand and prep for new paint. if barnies grow--is time for new. have fun.

 

[Gary_H]

Zeehag is right if you are getting hard encrustations then your bottom paint is not working. With good paint you should be able to clean with just a scotchbrite pad. The only hard parts are the running gear and maybe along the first few inches of keel where you may have contacted the bottom enough to take off the paint.

 

[Gary_H]

Off course without barnacles keelhauling an unruly crew member has less effect.

 

[Bad Obsession]

Scrape, sand, and paint. If you are going to be in fresh water now then remember to use paint for that application.

 

[fstbttms]

barnies grow--is time for new.

This.

For once, I agree with zeehag.

 

[JulesinVT]

Thanks, gents...

This is the first boat I've ever owned....I will just have to be less timid.

Off to get myself a better scraper and scrape like hell!

Cheers.

Julie

 

[Merlin Clark]

I tried CLR last time I was out and it didn't do anything that I could see. I've got some barnacle bases on my plastic dink, I'll try on and off on them.

 

[CalebD]

JulesinVT,
Congrats on your Endeavor 32'. My friend has one down on the Chesapeake - nice boat.

They really should have done a better job getting the barnacles off the boat when it was hauled out in VA. They are much easier to remove before they dry up.

Do you know what kind of bottom paint was used on the boat? There are hard paints but more commonly used are ablative (soft) paints. Ablative paints are meant to slough off over time. If your boat has ablative paint on it you should be able to get some pigment off it by just wiping with a cloth.
Hard paints are just that; hard.

I ask because scraping a hard paint bottom should do very little to the surface. Scraping a soft paint will likely take off some of the paint more easily.

Many of us in salt water use ablative or soft paint on the boat's bottom as I do. I use a one sided razor blade to attack the barnacle bases as it is very site specific. Even a dull blade can work very well or a small scraper (1" - 2") is all you would need for barnacle bases.
There is no magic fluid for getting barnacles off the surface; manual eradication is the only sure fire way I know of. Many cleaning products will speed up the erosion of an ablative coated bottom.

If you are going to keep your E 32' on Lake Champlain this season there is probably no reason to re-paint your bottom. There are no barnacles in LC; I'm not sure about Zebra Mussels. The worst growth you should experience is slime and maybe some seaweed.
If you are planning on being in salt water for a few months this summer then you should seriously consider re-painting the bottom (if it needs it).

What engine do you have in your E32?

 

[JulesinVT]

Caleb, the timing of your post is useful. I actually just returned from a trip to the boat to apply a little of what I've read today. I picked up a super sharp paint scraper (1.5"?) and some bartenders keeper and brought them down. Wish I had remembered the sponge. The scraper was effective on the barnacle bases (is there a word for these?) with a higher profile than the others. By far, most of the barnacle bases I have project a smidge over the paint. Right away, I noticed I was scraping off paint...actually, the paint seemed to be dropping away as dust. I think this means I have ablative paint.

I think it might be possible that I have ablative over a couple of coats of hard paint. I see many colors - red, grey, dark blue, light blue.

I tried the oxalic cleanser on a wet piece of sandpaper (b/c I forgot a sponge), and that seemed to make some progress on the lower-profile barnacle circles. But when the paint started dissolving, I became concerned and I stopped.

If the paint is washing away, then I'm gathering it's ablative. And yes, I was planning on repainting -- to mitigate the work in future years -- and b/c we do have zebra mussels in the lake.

I guess I'll try a scrubbie and the cleanser in combination with the scraper before I throw any more $ at this problem. I was hoping for a clear path, if only to better target my resources.

And Celeb, I have the Yanmar 2QM20...and, I've been following Roger Long's posts with interest.

Thanks.

 

[RAD]

Off course without barnacles keelhauling an unruly crew member has less effect.

 

[Ron20324]

I'd love to hear what worked for folks with the same problem.... I'm looking for the least complicated way to get these white crusty circles off the bottom. Mary Kate On and Off? ?

On a whim I poured On and Off on them critters on my keel bulb. Ate them off real well. You could see them disolving!

 

[rgranger]

Vinegar will help dissolve the shells that remain after a scrapping.