I'm a new boater and my 36 foot sailiboat has been in the Chesapeake Bay for a little over a month. I'm about to go for a two day cruise and was wondering if I should have the bottom cleaned to increase my speed. Can I do it myself? How is it done? Do you just brush off growth with a scrub brush? Do you need to scrape it off? Any info would be appreciated.
In Water Bottom Cleaning
- Thread starter bnort3
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Does it have anti fouling paint on it? If so then it should be any easy job using a stiff bristle brush. It may not even need it especially if you are going cruising.
I have been in for 2 months in Maine and am just starting to see some slime which will not slow you down too much. I use white bottom paint so it is easier to see when it needs cleaning.
I have been in for 2 months in Maine and am just starting to see some slime which will not slow you down too much. I use white bottom paint so it is easier to see when it needs cleaning.
With normal antifouling bottom paint it should be fine after only a month. You can put on a mask to check it out. I would check the prop as stuff can grow there pretty fast. Racers tend to clean more often and cruisers less often. If you find a layer of scum on your bottom a soft sponge will take it off. Too vigorous of scrubing will remove ablative paint.
You can always "floss". Take a piece of rope and starting at the bow, loop it under the boat. Work it back and forth as you move aft and let out line. The condition of the line should tell you if there's any buildup on the bottom. This is an easy way to remove slime.
Great input. Bottom does have ablative anti-fouling paint. I'll try the floss method to check it.
Bay cleaning
Bay is quite different from Maine.
You need to clean monthly.
Mainly at the waterline.
Prop too if you can reach it.
We hire divers to do it.
Bay is quite different from Maine.
You need to clean monthly.
Mainly at the waterline.
Prop too if you can reach it.
We hire divers to do it.
Bottom growth on the Chesapeake only becomes a 'problem' after the water temp. goes over ~80 degrees. If the bottom paint is an ablative, then sailing often and fast will keep most of the growth under control.
Water temp. currently in the upper bay is in the low-mid 70s.
Water temp. currently in the upper bay is in the low-mid 70s.
Another Mainiac here. Our home harbor is a river in a nutrient-rich environment -- just downstream from the wastewater treatment plant. We use ablative bottom paint and sail virtually every weekend. When the slime needs to be cleaned off every few weeks (typically before a race), the skipper does it with a soft sponge. Anything more harsh - like a brush or a scotchbrite pad - would take too much ablative paint off.
IOW, be only as aggressive as you need to be when you have ablative on the bottom.
IOW, be only as aggressive as you need to be when you have ablative on the bottom.
I do my H356 with a snorkel, mask and suction cups. Suction cups are key - you can't scrub very much without them. You just push yourself away from the hull. Use can use one of those 3M grill pads - a little handle helps.
My yard puts on Bottomcoat - which I don't particularly like - and I leave a blue cloud when I scrub. I'm not sure DEC would approve. I'd much prefer a hard bottom finish but ....
Cruise vs. race? Doesn't matter to me. No one wants to sail sluggishly. So damn the jellyfish and remember Sailors do it with a clean bottom!
My yard puts on Bottomcoat - which I don't particularly like - and I leave a blue cloud when I scrub. I'm not sure DEC would approve. I'd much prefer a hard bottom finish but ....
Cruise vs. race? Doesn't matter to me. No one wants to sail sluggishly. So damn the jellyfish and remember Sailors do it with a clean bottom!
I brought a stainless scraper with me to clean my bottom, it turns out that Eveywhere the ablative paint is it has the green slime. I thought the scraper was a hammer for a fly and would take off some bottom paint. I bought a 12" green scratch pad scrubber with a big handle on it. Those things are pretty abrasive also. Some one mentioned a stiff brisled brush, what's SOP for removing the slime? Also do you guys use a wire brush on the prop and shaft to finish cleaning the barnacles after you scrape them off?
Do I need a bronze wire brush so as not to leave stainless flecks in the prop and shaft?
Do I need a bronze wire brush so as not to leave stainless flecks in the prop and shaft?
I am in an area on the Potomac River that is just nasty. If your boat sits for a month it will be slimed, the barnacles will be attaching, and your prop is horrible. I dive every few weeks on the boat.
You don't need tanks or any of that stuff. A mask and fins are great. It also is nice to do when it is warm outside because the water feels great.
I can even change my zinc without tanks and that is something that I have to do once in a while.
You don't need tanks or any of that stuff. A mask and fins are great. It also is nice to do when it is warm outside because the water feels great.
I can even change my zinc without tanks and that is something that I have to do once in a while.
Use the minimum amount of scrubing that works. I have good results with a soft sponge. Abalative paint is very soft and is easily removed!!!!! The prop shaft and prop can get some hard growth and that is more difficult to remove....but of course the prop and it's shaft don't have soft ablative paint. Remember that the bottom paint is very thin and easily removed. For people up north that haul out every year it might not be an issue but my boat has not been hauled out in almost 4 years and the bottom paint still looks OK. I will paint later on this year.
when I've dived on my boat I sling a line under the bottom, side to side, to help pull myself down.... since I don't have a weight belt. A suction cup handle works really well, also. Hard shell paint is more common around here so it's more difficult to remove... but it still comes off if you scrub hard and all that copper base stuff floats around in the water.... yuck. My advice is to start with a sponge and graduate to a SOFT bristle brush if it's more that slime, a greenie for the worms and a 1 inch scraper for anything heavier.... The goal is to to NOT remove the paint, just the slime and other growth... so don't attack it till you know the degree of difficulty. I've never had ablative paint, just the hardshell type, so I would be reluctant to use anything stronger than a sponge. I would be more apt to see what a few hours of brisk sailing will accomplish.
Yep, growth in the Ches Bay can happen pretty quick... we have been using our boat a lot this season and it's still growing. I hate diving on the boat in the slip because of the muck bottom, so if I get time I think I will take it out to a nice sandy bottom for an afternoon and just do it.
Sometimes I think I am really stupid... I saw these suction cup handles in the boat after we bought it and I wasn't sure what they were for... now I get it.
I had never heard of the "floss" method and though appealing, isn't that rather harsh on the ablative paint?
I was thinking about actually getting in close as the tide was falling and let it rest on the keel, is that a bad idea? Our tides are huge here, but they are a few feet in each direction.
Jon
Sometimes I think I am really stupid... I saw these suction cup handles in the boat after we bought it and I wasn't sure what they were for... now I get it.
I had never heard of the "floss" method and though appealing, isn't that rather harsh on the ablative paint?
I was thinking about actually getting in close as the tide was falling and let it rest on the keel, is that a bad idea? Our tides are huge here, but they are a few feet in each direction.
Jon
Resting on keel
Cap'n Jon,
Boats get stuck all the time and rest on their keels, also when hauled out of the water they rest on their keels. the only thing is they rest vertically when hauld, while in the water the boat tips over and you put a bending load on the keel joint. Cleaning the bottom of one side while tipped over will be easier than the other. Do you guys in the Chesepeake get tides all the way up the bay or only a certain distance? In the Pamlico up the Neuse River, around Oriental there aren't any tides, so i was wondering if the bay had a similar characteristic. I've only sailed up to Hampton, just passing through to the ICW.
Cap'n Jon,
Boats get stuck all the time and rest on their keels, also when hauled out of the water they rest on their keels. the only thing is they rest vertically when hauld, while in the water the boat tips over and you put a bending load on the keel joint. Cleaning the bottom of one side while tipped over will be easier than the other. Do you guys in the Chesepeake get tides all the way up the bay or only a certain distance? In the Pamlico up the Neuse River, around Oriental there aren't any tides, so i was wondering if the bay had a similar characteristic. I've only sailed up to Hampton, just passing through to the ICW.
My $65 ebay regulator set worked flawlessly. I wire brushed the prop and shaft and I used a sponge on the waterline slime. It came off pretty easily. BUT I can't see 1'' in front of my face, and of the side in the shadow I can't see that far. I know the rest of the hull is covered but I can't see to get that crap off. Maybe if I had a big light strapped to my head.
When I woke up on the boat this morning, the bay was as flat as I have ever seen, but I couldn't even take a ride because I have a temporary fore stay and the furler is half off. The hellacious winds seem to have died down here.
There were jelly fish in the marina this morning. But they didn't want to clean my boat so I had to. I tried to keep an eye out but I couldn't see a thing in that murk.
The next time I bottom paint my boat I am raising the waterline bottom paint 2". Is it normal for a unladen boat to have the bottom paint barely out of the water?
When I woke up on the boat this morning, the bay was as flat as I have ever seen, but I couldn't even take a ride because I have a temporary fore stay and the furler is half off. The hellacious winds seem to have died down here.
There were jelly fish in the marina this morning. But they didn't want to clean my boat so I had to. I tried to keep an eye out but I couldn't see a thing in that murk.
The next time I bottom paint my boat I am raising the waterline bottom paint 2". Is it normal for a unladen boat to have the bottom paint barely out of the water?
I clean mine off with a hose and a towel when i tuck it in in the yard at night:dance:
(very large trailer sailor)
(very large trailer sailor)
p.s. try surfboard wax. it cleans and protects pretty good doesnt look pretty but you dont see it from above
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