No bottom paint, salt water, how long without marine build-up?

[kenfunhog]

I have a Hunter 260 I have always kept in a freshwater lake. I would like to trailer sail in salt water- Chesapeake or Long Island Sound or Cape Cod.The bottom is not painted. How long can I sail in these areas without marine buildup?I've heard of a wax that inhibits growth.Any Ideas?

 

[sailaway78]

Not sure about what you will get

Not sure what you will get up there, but here in the warmer gulf waters, you would probably have barnacles in a month or less. I left my dinghy in the water for a couple of weeks last summer, and had a pretty good start on a barnacle farm. Of course it also depends on how much you sail it. The more you sail, the less the growth.

 

[Phil]

Define build up

It will probably start a lite slime in about a week. I know my dingy is slimy after dragging it around for a week. After that it just gets worst, so it depends on your definition of build up.

 

[Tim]

Trailer Sail

If by trailer sail you mean you will launch and retrieve your boat for each sail I don't think you have to worry about it at all. Keeping the boat in the water for one day or even a weekend is not nearly enough time for growth. There are tons of power boaters who do the same thing and never apply bottom paint to their boat. The special paint is only needed when keeping you boat in the water at a slip or mooring for weeks or months at a time. If that is the case you will want bottom paint. I had my boat in for a season with the bottom painted but the rudder was not. The amount of growth after a season was impressive, all kinds of cool things stuck on there and wriggling around.

 

[48dodge]

About a week for slime down here

Down in the Charleston area, we can only keep my father-in-laws Sea Pro in the water for about a week before stuff starts growing. During the warmest part of the summer, you can see stuff just starting to grow in about 4 days. A week is about the longest we've dared to keep it in. If you're looking to do a weekend or long weekend, you should be fine.

 

[Rich Stidger]

I kept an un-painted sailboat in Barnegat Bay, NJ.....

for two weeks in late summer. I didn't expect any growth in that time, but was I surprised.I had growth that was 1/4" thick over the entire hull and it took me half a day to scrape it all off while working under the boat on a trailer. It was a terrible job.A hard lesson learned.

 

[Jim]

I would agree

at one week you'll get some slim. 2 to three weeks before hard growth.Paint it on the trailor!

 

[seadaddler]

Dinghy

When I keep the dinghy in the water more than a week it starts getting growth that is hard to remove,soI try to remember to rinse it off at least once aweek before the growth gets so bad it takes a lot of hard scrubbing to get it clean.I think this year I will tie up on the stern out of the waterwhen at the dock,which has been in Long Island not much differentfrom NJ water.If you are talking just sailing around it won't be a problem,when I was a power boat trailering and could leave it in the water at least a week when campingon Long Island,NY it was not a problem at all,just rinse it off with fresh water when on trailer.Nick

 

[KennyH]

You can go longer if you leave it in fresh water after

Any build up you get in a month or so will be eaten off by the fresh water bacteria in short order. Just return it immediately to the fresh water.

 

[Jim Seamans]

We trailered to Pensacola

A few years back and stayed in a marina for a week. Had a growth farm growing in that week. It doesn't take long....

 

[Landsend]

In Florida...about five days

After five days you start to feel lots of tiny bumps.

 

[CAPN PUG]

BOTTOM PAINT / SALT WATER

I would strongly suggest you give it a coat of anti-fouling...what you might term bottom paint...Growth even in salt water can start almost immediately and be very obvious in only a few weeks...follow the manufacturers advice on preparation for treating fibreglass if you have a glass hull...Capn. Pug

 

[48dodge]

I'm planning on it

I am planning on only keeping my boat in the water at most 1 week down here. Longest in the water will typically be a weekend. I'm planning on have bottom paint on the boat. The added expense will be worth it IMO.