Pressure wash after haulout

[Phil Mac]

Hello All,
For those of us up here in more northern climates, the time to haul out the boat is fast approaching. I sail in freshwater and the bottom tends to accumulate slime more than anything, although the zebra mussels seem to accumulate all over the dock chains and that's the reason we have such great visibility for diving now now in the St. Lawrence. My Beneteau 323 has CSC micron ablative paint on the bottom and I have always let the yard pressure wash the bottom when they haul it out. I have seen some contradictory advice and this year, I am contemplating asking them not to pressure wash the bottom and try and do something a bit more gentle myself. It's usually not too tough to get the slime off and the pressure wash always removes some of the ablative paint. Does anyone have thoughts/advice/experience to share? Thanks.

 

[Head Sail]

Tell the yard you want a light wash and to go easy.

 

[FastOlson]

We have owned this boat since 1994, and when the bottom is painted, about every third year here in our fresh water venue, the yard uses a high-pressure gas-powered washer on the bottom. If any "loose" bits of paint are washed off that is taken as a sign to have the surplus layers of paint removed and new bottom paint applied.
Never any problem with the actual laminate at all, and there should not be.

 

[dlochner]

When I used VC-17 on my boat, I would have it pressure washed every year. Removed the slime and a few zebra mussels. Now that I use an ablative paint, I am hesitant to pressure wash unless I want to remove a lot of paint. That helps to reduce the build up.

Most of the freshwater slime and mild growth can be removed with a hose and soft brush. Which is what I intend to do this year.

 

[Justin_NSA]

It's the circle of life. When the ablative looks to be getting too thin, its properties are probably already spent anyway.

 

[Head Sail]

It's the circle of life. When the ablative looks to be getting too thin, its properties are probably already spent anyway.

I hear just the opposite. If you can see it, it's still working.

 

[Ron20324]

Some areas require the washed -off bottoms to be specially drained so as to capture the paint runoff. unless you're in one of the haulout piers, they can't power wash. And you can't once your up in the yard on stands. Hose only ... and vacuum up the paint dust, please.

 

[Capt jgw]

I hear just the opposite. If you can see it, it's still working.

That's why they recommend multiple coats in different colors, say blue over red. When the red starts to peek through, it's time for another coat of blue. The red undercoat will still be working in the mean time.

 

[Hunter216]

The product has a certain lifespan and as the literature says it “wears away at a controlled rate“ however they conveniently leave out how fast that is

My personal experience is that the “buildup” of growth has a lot to do with where the boat is in the water, slip vs mooring and how often the boat gets used. I normally moor in free flowing water - very little buildup compared to a year I used a slip and didn’t use the boat very much, major buildup, lots of mussels.

Most marinas have high powered washers to optimize the amount of time they have to spend on a boat and still make $. This messy job usually falls on the inexperienced yard staff and a multi 1000psi machine can peel paint!

 

[Davidasailor26]

We get a pressure wash with ablative paint every year. I haven’t found it to be too tough on the ablative. I have used a tracer color under the primary color in the past, and I didn’t notice too much more tracer showing after the pressure wash than before.