What has been your process for cleaning boat bottom?

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bcassedy
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Location: Aurora, In.

What has been your process for cleaning boat bottom?

Post by bcassedy »

All,

There's a thread that piqued my interest in creating this thread ("Bare Bottom").

In one of the last posted threads FastJeff detailed how he had left his (previous) boat sit for some time and he found it necessary to anchor in shallow water and spend some time (hour + ?) scraping the bottom of the boat. I believe his boat was used in salt/brackish water which has its own hull-hugging critters/stuff.

A bit of background:
My boat, like GregM's, is located in the Ohio River. Under most circumstances, it's pulled at the end of the season, bottom pressure washed and she's on blocks until the next season. This year was different. We moved to a different marina (basically a gentleman owning farmland that had a backwater creek of the Ohio that he rents out 50' wide swaths of shoreline. You own the dock. The dock we acquired with the vacant land slot needed major work. As a consequence we anchored the boat at the dock and did not pull her this winter.

And that's where the story goes sideways some...
Prior to putting the boat in the water in the Spring of 2019, I applied 2 coats of Sea Hawk's Mission Bay bottom paint (pressure washing the previous fall had blasted off most of the previous (2 year old?) Interlux bottom paint [which I had used before and found the same type of condition - understood it's an ablative paint but pressure washing always resulted in some of the bottom paint coming off <owner's fault... :oops: >]). So she went into the water with 2 new coats of bottom paint.

While she's been in the water at the new marina, I have noticed a lot of stringy moss growth along the in water parts of the hull. I'm guessing that this growth extends under the boat as well.

I have 3 options:
1. Have the boat pulled, scrub the bottom (pressure washing could be done, but trying to avoid the expense/time of roughing up bottom and repainting), and put her back in the water (possibly the same day?) Cost (I'm told, could be 400.00).

2. Find a way of cleaning/scraping the bottom as Jeff did. The issue here (as anyone cruising the Ohio will attest to) is that MOST parts of the shoreline are knee deep, or more, in silty muck making movement under the boat difficult. There are some sand/gravel bars but they are few and far between.

3. Leave things as they are, cruise and hope the action of the water against the growth will eventually cause the growth (as a result of last year's bottom paint job?) to come loose/wear away.

What have other members of the forum done in such cases? Or, what comments do you have, Pro or Con?

Thanks,
Bill
Bill & Sharon Cassedy
"Sunset Seeker"
'88 32' Sedan Bridge to be sold (updtd 1-1-22)
"Sunset Seeker Too" (SS2)
'88 41' Marquis hardtop. (as of 1/1/22)
Located in Aurora, In.
Always fresh water.
Bryank97
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Re: What has been your process for cleaning boat bottom?

Post by Bryank97 »

There will always be some growth on the bottoms. But i have found that the green stingy stuff only seems to grow where the sun gets to it. Unless the boat has been sitting for a long long time, i doubt the bottom is sooo bad that its worth pulling. On the other hand, pulling it out and pressure washing, atleast you would know just how bad it was, and if you need to do this every year.
1988 Marinette 32 Sedan
Erie, PA
Twin 318 Chryslers 240HP
barkleydave
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Location: Kentucky

Re: What has been your process for cleaning boat bottom?

Post by barkleydave »

Mine is in covered slip year around. I pull every 4th season and have a great marina that knows aluminum
He will NOT just wash and paint. They take here back to bare Aluminum and using all Interlux products builds it up with proper pre and epoxy coatings and finishing with 2 coats of bottom paint. The former marine did the quick job and charged as much as this marina for a sub-standard job.

I have to move the boat 20 miles to this marina but worth every penny... great folks to work with !
Sunset Marina
1987 Marinette 29 FB Sedan
Retired Boat Accident UL and USCG trained investigator
Retired USCG Captain
honestcharlie56
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Re: What has been your process for cleaning boat bottom?

Post by honestcharlie56 »

BarkleyDave, you go back to bare aluminum every four years? I just had mine dustless blasted and redone, we did the majority of the work and the bill came out to 6500. I will not be doing this every 4 years.
1990 Marinette 32 Sedan Flybridge "Hubba" Lake Charles, LA
Twin Chrysler 318's
robalo220
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Re: What has been your process for cleaning boat bottom?

Post by robalo220 »

barkleydave wrote:Mine is in covered slip year around. I pull every 4th season and have a great marina that knows aluminum
He will NOT just wash and paint. They take here back to bare Aluminum and using all Interlux products builds it up with proper pre and epoxy coatings and finishing with 2 coats of bottom paint. The former marine did the quick job and charged as much as this marina for a sub-standard job.

I have to move the boat 20 miles to this marina but worth every penny... great folks to work with !
Sunset Marina

Yikes that seems like overkill. Unless you have so many bare spots that are pitting, why strip it all the way to bare aluminum every 4 years? If it is still covered, just has algae growth and after pressure washing the ablative bottom paint just looks thin, why not just prep and add more ablative bottom paint such as Trilux 33 or whatever your preference is for aluminum? Seems like you are being taken advantage of. Yes every 4 years you may need to replace your sacrificial anodes (zincs, dead soft aluminum or whatever else you wish to call them) but not bottom job to the extent you are doing. Just curious why you go to that extent?
John

1991 41 Marquis Convertible "Running on Water"
454 Crusaders
robalo220
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Re: What has been your process for cleaning boat bottom?

Post by robalo220 »

bcassedy wrote:All,



I have 3 options:
1. Have the boat pulled, scrub the bottom (pressure washing could be done, but trying to avoid the expense/time of roughing up bottom and repainting), and put her back in the water (possibly the same day?) Cost (I'm told, could be 400.00).

2. Find a way of cleaning/scraping the bottom as Jeff did. The issue here (as anyone cruising the Ohio will attest to) is that MOST parts of the shoreline are knee deep, or more, in silty muck making movement under the boat difficult. There are some sand/gravel bars but they are few and far between.

3. Leave things as they are, cruise and hope the action of the water against the growth will eventually cause the growth (as a result of last year's bottom paint job?) to come loose/wear away.

What have other members of the forum done in such cases? Or, what comments do you have, Pro or Con?

Thanks,
Bill


Bill
I have boated in Louisville Kentucky pool of the Ohio River since Ive been a child (over 50 years). In my experience in fresh water the algae grows the most along the sides where the sun light can stimulate growth. You don't need to beach to be able to scrub the bottom. You could be at anchor. There are suction cups made to stick to your hull so you can hold on while swimming and scrub with a stiff bristle brush or 3M abrasive pad to clean the surface algae. Or you could stand on the dock with a brush on a handle (available at most boating online stores) and just scrub the edges. One season in freshwater won't cause your bottom to be damaged or heavily coated with algae (talking about underneath the very bottom). You don't need to scrape it off. It brushes off easily. When you do scrub or brush, you will see some of your paint come off with it.
Jeff's boat in brackish water grows barnacles and they have to be scrapped off almost monthly. A lot of folks hire divers to do that regularly that are in saltwater or more likely brackish water. Its common down south.

To answer your 3rd question, running will actually knock off the long strands of growth.

Don't stress about it. Its not a big deal.
Enjoy your new slip location and keep us posted on what you wind up doing.

John
John

1991 41 Marquis Convertible "Running on Water"
454 Crusaders
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bcassedy
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Location: Aurora, In.

Re: What has been your process for cleaning boat bottom?

Post by bcassedy »

Thanks John.. and all others!!
Makes sense on all you have said. Will try easiest jobs 1st!
Bill & Sharon Cassedy
"Sunset Seeker"
'88 32' Sedan Bridge to be sold (updtd 1-1-22)
"Sunset Seeker Too" (SS2)
'88 41' Marquis hardtop. (as of 1/1/22)
Located in Aurora, In.
Always fresh water.
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