Drive in boat wash

Jan 25, 2011
2,391
S2 11.0A Anacortes, WA
Driveinboatwash.com
we are in Sydney BC for a few days and saw this. Wonder how it does with the barnies..Going to inquire tomorrow morn and ask cost etc. i don’t need it now but the concept is interesting.
 
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Jun 21, 2004
2,532
Beneteau 343 Slidell, LA
Quite unique. Probably not good for those of us with ablative paint. From a business perspective, would have to have a high concentration of boats in a given locale to have a decent ROI.
 
Apr 28, 2005
267
Oday 302 Lake Perry, KS
"Very interesting." (Arte Johnson RIP)
Besides the ablative paint issue, wonder if the brushes could accommodate keels and rudders?
 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
The system is designed to replace bottom paint.
 
May 20, 2016
3,014
Catalina 36 MK1 94 Everett, WA
I only pay $40 for the diver and he gives me a verbal report and will change zincs for a few bucks more.
 
Sep 24, 2018
2,549
O'Day 25 Chicago
That's awesome! Sounds like a lot less hassle than scheduling a diver

I've taken a few small trailer sailors to a DIY car wash. The family was amazed at how well a boat that had been sitting in mud under a tree cleaned up. Cost is about $20 and 1-1.5 hours of work.
 
Feb 26, 2011
1,428
Achilles SD-130 Alameda, CA
Reasons a drive-in boat wash is inferior to a human hull cleaner:

1.- Will not clean running gear, thru-hulls or transducers.
2.- Will not remove shelled animal growth.
3.- Will not replace anodes.
4.- It's one-size-fits-all. Got an ablative paint requiring a soft touch? Bummer. Paint a little long in the tooth with spots that need some extra elbow grease? Too bad.
5.- Will not provide a condition report. Or pix. Or video.
6.- Requires that someone take the boat to the cleaning location, wait while the work is done and then return it to it's slip or mooring.

In addition to all that, these operations often have a diver on-site to get into the water after the boat has been "cleaned" to finish up all the things the machine is incapable of doing. And anybody who believes the claim that a brush will clean a hull that has no anti fouling paint has obviously never cleaned a hull with no anti fouling paint.

Here are some pix that a member posted in a Facebook group for hull divers. This boat had apparently been run though the the Sidney BC boat wash several weeks prior to the pix being taken:


 
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