What do you pay for hull cleaning?
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cool beans
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Since we are driving off a cliff of a tangent, how do monitor the air quality going down the hose? I was going to get a used hooka but decided to get certified so I can rent tanks from the local dive shop. I just didn't like the idea of having passing boat exhaust or BBQ smoke getting pumped down to me...or holding tank fumes. Yes, I'm in a peculiar spot in the main channel :lol:
23+ years in the biz and over 30,000 service events performed in crowded marinas and I can count on two or three fingers the number of times I've even smelled exhaust in my air, much less having to ask an owner to shut off his engine. It's really a non-issue, IMHO.
markpierce
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What precautions do hull cleaners take to avoid infection when diving in unpure (present of one-celled creatures) waters? Would think that marinas would have dirtier water than most.
Most take no precautions. Maybe stay away from raw sewage release points after a rain event. I've never had a problem and I suspect that is true of most other hull cleaners as well. I do know a guy that got a bad staph infection in the Suisun Marina, or so he claims. Worst problem I've ever heard about in these parts.
wkearney99
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Guys I've had do the hulls on my boats in the Chesapeake have always come in a full wet suit and worked with gloves. All of them hosed themselves off after coming up from each boat. The only skin they had exposed was the small bit where their mask and regulator weren't covering. Never heard any issues regarding sickness from any of them.
They used lots of different implements, various scrapers, brushes and scrubbing pads. Some wore tanks, some used a hose(hookah?) setup off a tank. Don't recall any using a compressor driven rig. Several times I've heard them talk about how unevenly time seems to pass when under a larger boat. As in, they were down there longer than they thought, usually due to the reduced light thanks to the conditions in the Bay.
Me, I'll take a scrub brush and a suction handle to do a quick swipe around the boot stripe if we're out on anchor for a swim. But I leave the cleaning and zinc checking to the divers.
sdowney717
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I am on Chisman Creek lower Chesapeake and last year got in the water with shorts, sneakers, and long sleeves and scraped off 3 years of growth, I anchored in 5 foot of water and took me 2 hours. I made a couple scrapers from garden hoes straightened out. Did that in mid July. I reached all the way to the keel, but could not clean off the keel. There was less barnacles than I thought would be on the hull and props were not bad. It was hard work and I was thinking the hoe wood handle needs a slip on float to help it push against the hull.
Lots of little fish were attracted to all the bits falling off into the water.
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Question … why would this matter?
"The only skin they had exposed was the small bit where their mask and regulator weren't covering."
With a wet suit?
Your thoughts are that your sense of smell will sort out safe from unsafe breathing air?
wkearney99
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I'd imagine the best aspect would be preventing small abrasions while doing the work. That and some marginal protection from anything floating about. Nothing "reasonable to wear" is going to protect them from 'everything' but that seems to be enough to satisfy their concerns.
And pardon me if I've used the wrong nomenclature describing what they were wearing. I'm not a diver, so calling it a 'wet suit' may or may not be accurate.
I am sure that the wet suit could aid in limiting any abrasions but not from things like dirty water, infections , or any one celled or larger pathogens.
"What precautions do hull cleaners take to avoid infection when diving in unpure (present of one-celled creatures) waters? Would think that marinas would have dirtier water than most."
dhays
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I would think that unless someone was careful, the wetsuit itself could be a source of bacterial infection as well. Could be wrong, but I know what a breeding ground a contact lens case can be, even if the disinfection solution is changed daily. I can imagine a wet suit could be worse.
BTW, this thread had me checking back, and I realized my diver hadn't billed me this quarter. I sent an email and they said that they won't bill me until they replace the skeg annode that needed replacing and the diver didn't have one on him at the time. They scrubbed hull and running gear on the 4th. When a diver is back at my marina, they will replace that annode.
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Mrwesson
Senior Member
You obviously know what you're talking about I spent post after post trying to explain that commonly used compressors doesn't mean they are built for the purpose(that's a narrow market for development).
Ignorance is easier than spending some time reading about something.
BTW since you obviously know more than me about this stuff how do you feel about my setup..? it's kind of odd.
Oilfree 12v masterflow 1050 compressor(2.5cfm@90psi)
5 gallon aluminum tank with aluminum valve block
Water filter/separator
90psi electric shutoff valve
The Masterflow 1050 supplies plenty of air(for me) without the tank for bottom cleaning but I use the tank just in case. There's plenty of air for quite a few breaths left in the lines without though.
I know inflation pumps get a bad rep because most are cheap crap but this was originally bought because it's the only pump that can fill 35" tires from 3psi back to 30 pretty quick(flows a ton of air for what it is).
Breathing grade 50' line(no brainer there).
Hookahmax regulator
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Never having used a 12-volt hookah, I can't speak about them from experience. But if it provides enough air for what you are doing, more power to you. The other components you are using are 100% standard.
Mrwesson
Senior Member
Never having used a 12-volt hookah, I can't speak about them from experience. But if it provides enough air for what you are doing, more power to you. The other components you are using are 100% standard.
I wouldn't use it if I did what you do but it's holding up well to light duty stuff for me.
Still in the testing phase but no complaints. I find I don't really need the Aux aluminum tank. I can take about 5 deep breaths from the line @ around 4'.
I have only dove the marina once(to cut loose a dockline
) and divers are worth whatever they ask for. Floating Oil, jerks throwing wakes, ignorant neighbors with shore power in the water, etc. Anyone can take a quick snorkel under their boat for a glance but I find that spending that extra minute or so really helps see the unseen.
Pmcsurf1
Senior Member
A summer in Florida and your prop would look like a coulifiwr
menzies
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You know you can edit your post withing the first hour or so of posting it?
firehoser75
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Wow, after reading this, we do pay a lot here in BC, but what a great place. This spring, I cancelled my haulout and had a diver clean and do zincs (that I supplied). He charged about $6.50 per foot (or about $4.90 US per foot).
FF
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For a clean hull I have seen folks get a huge sheet of plastic , slide it under the boat , pull the edges above the bay water and dump in a gallon of chlorox.
Back in the day the sheet would need to be dropped on occasion as overboard discharge was OK.
But it works , especially for the boat in storage.
Back in the day the sheet would need to be dropped on occasion as overboard discharge was OK.
But it works , especially for the boat in storage.
Mark P
Senior Member
$80.00 for once per month, for 28 ft, about twice per month July, August, September. In summer, Barnacles attach so fast around here that I had the props covered in prop speed. Got tired of scraping barnacles off the stainless props while these fish with teeth lurked nearby for a loose barnacle to snag. I like my fingers! Hats off to those who dive their own!
In Naples FL it was about $2-2.50/ft. last I checked. Some areas the water requires divers to don a dry suit to avoid infections, so a bit more money there. ( a sewage plant discharging into the river) Also, we have a lot of mid-westerners who try to squeeze 18-2 months or more out of their paint(they don't seem to believe that conditions here require fresh paint annually for proper care). Divers will triple the charge or just refuse and refer them to the yard.
Pmcsurf1
Senior Member
I do now. Thanks.
Pmcsurf1
Senior Member
"a sewage plant discharging into the river?"
I'm at a well respected/high end marina and have been for 2 month. Only seen a few boats using the pump out. I know for sure my next door neighbor pumps overboard. He told.me he does. He says he uses an electro scan system. Okay.
All I'm saying is in the few months we've been living aboard we don't see many folks heading to the pump out very often.
BTW just my wife and I and we have to pump out evey week.
Yes the city sewage treatment plant discharge into the Gordon River up creek of Naples Bay. It looks like old pipes are due to be replaced according to a google search. This isn't a marina facility, it's for the city homes and businesses. Hard to imagine but it's old infrastructure.
