Powerwashing In the Frozen Midwest?

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Sep 2, 2011
1,041
Hunter 27 Cherubini Alum Creek State Park
Would I be a fool to power wash my hull when overnight temperatures are still dropping into the mid '20s? My concern is that water will get into the fiberglass, freeze, and cause damage.

Am I over thinking this?

Thanks.
 

Squidd

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Sep 26, 2011
890
AMF Alcort Paceship PY26 Washburn Wi. Apostle Islands
Technically...gel coat is porous...

Although I wouldn't worry about it "soaking" into the gelcoat....More likely any cracks and crevases and under deck fittings where it can freeze/expand and make worse....
 
Mar 20, 2012
3,983
Cal 34-III, MacGregor 25 Salem, Oregon
im not a fan of washing anything outdoors during freezing temps.... but when the need arises, I try to time it so at the warmest part of the day I can tow or drive it down the highway at a reasonably high speed to dry it off...
but if the weather isnt kinda nice,or there is lots of road spray it would kinda defeat the purpose...
 
Sep 2, 2011
1,041
Hunter 27 Cherubini Alum Creek State Park
Good news!


The lows are gonna be above freezing after Thursday, so I might get this thing painted by next weekend. Woot!
 
Jan 4, 2006
7,240
Hunter 310 West Vancouver, B.C.
Can't see a problem with doing the hull only as the gel coat is reasonably impervious enough to withstand the short blast BUT ............ I'd avoid hitting any gaskets like the plague, cold or warm weather. Each successive blast will cut further and further under the gasket.

Just blows me away when I see people power washing their fixed and opening ports. They've just GOT to leak ! ! ! !
 
Sep 19, 2010
525
Catalina 22 home
DON"T USE A POWER WASHER!!!!!

Did ya hear that? There is no need for a power washer on a sailboat and you can ruin your teak trim -not to mention that you'll blow dirty water into your cabin through the gaps around the cabin openings. The high pressure water will blow the soft cellular wood from between the hard grain lines of your teak trim and you'll need tens of hours of sanding to restore it.

All you need to clean the dirtiest boat is a box of tri-sodium phosphate from the paint department at your home store, a long handled soft vehicle washing brush, and a bottle of bleach. Put 2 cups of TSP and a cup of bleach in a bucket of water, wet the boat with the garden hose, then swab on a dose of the cleaning solution and let it sit for a few minutes while you move on to a second section. Come back and swab the first section again and hose it off. You'll be down to perfectly clean, white fiberglass. No more black mold, no dirt, you'd be able to repaint if you you wanted to. (By the way, TSP sounds nasty, but all it is is the "phosphate" that used to be found in laundry detergent. They sell it at home stores for cleaning prior to repainting.)

You can clean the teak wood by spraying it with full strength bleach, letting it sit for a few minutes until you see a grayish white scum lifting up from the wood, then rubbing it with the same brush and cleaning solution you used on the boat. It'll remove the gray and when dry, will be ready to oil.

Please, save the pressure washer for your concrete driveway.
 
Jan 13, 2013
214
Catalina 22 Lake Champlain
Couldn't agree more! TSP & bleach is what we've used for bathroom maintenance forever.

I just did a filthy area in the cockpit and voila - gone!

And, it doesn't have to be strong to work. If you use jfrench's recipe above, use a 5-gallon pail filled to the 4-gallon line. I'd also use warm (but not hot) water to dissolve the TSP completely and quickly.

If you were going to just make a gallon, I'd quarter jfrench's recipe.

Thanks for the post.
 
Sep 2, 2011
1,041
Hunter 27 Cherubini Alum Creek State Park
I'm not talking about pressure washing above the waterline, just the bottom. I'd never power wash the topsides, for the reasons already stated. Btw, bottom has been washed and sanded, ready to start painting.
 
Sep 2, 2011
1,041
Hunter 27 Cherubini Alum Creek State Park
Sorry, Ken. Too late. I just put the first coat of blue anti fouling on at 10pm est. Had to get it on so it would dry before rain comes in tomorrow morning.
 
Oct 4, 2010
161
76 Catalina 22 Three Mile Harbor, East Hampton, NY
GorillaToast thanks for posting the pictures, I am trying to understand how to lift my C22 off the bunks to bottom paint it with anti-fouling paint. I believe I understand the lifting of the stern but am not quite sure I understand lifting the bow. Can you explain what I see in the second photo. Thanks to you all the others for the postings. I'm so much more informed. I just removed my heel cable for replacement and was fortunate enough that I didn't have to lift the boat or find a way to lower the keel past the trailer support. Thanks
 
Sep 2, 2011
1,041
Hunter 27 Cherubini Alum Creek State Park
Sure.


After lowering the tongue of the trailer all the way to the ground using a hydraulic car jack, I put the cradle under the transom. It is taller than the rear of the bunks, so as I jack the tongue back up, it lifts the rear of the boat off the trailer. To get the bow off the trailer, I used a bottle jack to lift it. I was lucky enough to get some pre-fab beam cut offs for $2 apiece from a local lumberyard to use as blocking. Unfortunately, I don't have a saw big enough to cut them, thus they are way longer than necessary. I used pieces of 2x6 to wedge under the sides of the bow.
 
Jan 13, 2013
214
Catalina 22 Lake Champlain
GT, so you simply dropped the bow to raise the stern, snuck the cradle under the stern/transom only - then jacked the bow back up, transferring the aft load to the cradle - and using a bottle jack between the trailer and the bow, raised the boat far enough to sneak out the cribbing and was able to remove the bunks, with the weight of the front of the boat on the bottle jack - and the stern on the cradle?

This means the trailer still had some load - except for the stern, which the cradle handled?

Got it!:)
 
Sep 2, 2011
1,041
Hunter 27 Cherubini Alum Creek State Park
Pretty much so. I got most of the idea for doing this from posts on this forum, especially the cradle idea which came from philwsailz.
 
Oct 4, 2010
161
76 Catalina 22 Three Mile Harbor, East Hampton, NY
GT Thanks for the explanation. I've revieing the posts in anticiplation of doing the bottom right. I now know what this weekend project will be.
 
Dec 11, 2008
1,338
catalina C27 stillwater
When I lifted my '87 C22, I dropped the tongue of the trailer totally to the ground as GT shared. Then the cradle height was measured from the ground to the bottom of the stern. After building the stern cradle, I shoved it under the back of the boat and jacked up the trailer with the equpipped trailer tongue jack. That got the boat off the bunks, and it was resting at two points, the trailer's bow-roller, and the stern cradle. Then I used a strap and a chain hoist to lift the bow. At that point the trailer rolled right out from under.

NOTE: Study the pic to see how the strap was routed BEHIND the lifeline stanchions, to prevent it from accidentally slipping forward and out from under the hull.

I built another cradle to go under the front of the boat and then I lowered the boat down onto this second cradle. At no time did I remove the strap, I only let it slack.

Removing the trailer is not totally necessary. You can get to the spots hidden above your bunks with just the stern cradle and the trailer's tongue-jack. You don't really even need the bottle jack GT shows.


I can draw the process if necessary. It really is pretty easy, and safe too.
 

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