Cleaning the Hull

Hi, my boat is in Florida for the winter and i'd like to how often do i have to clean the hull by a diver ? my boat is in the slip 1 month out of 2

thanks
marty

Scrubbing and scraping the bottom every other month will generally keep it pretty clean. Not sailboat racer clean though, they are anal about it ;-).

colossus250 said:

Hi, my boat is in Florida for the winter and i'd like to how often do i have to clean the haul by a diver ? my boat is in the slip 1 month out of 2

thanks
marty

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Where's the boat? We're on the Ortega River (JAX) which is brackish and we don't need to clean as often as friends in Key Biscayne. For an extended layup, I bag the prop.

colossus250 said:

Hi, my boat is in Florida for the winter and i'd like to how often do i have to clean the haul by a diver ? my boat is in the slip 1 month out of 2

thanks
marty

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Florida is a very big state so it would definitely help us to know where in Florida? When you say it's in the slip 1 month out of 2, do you mean you're using it the other month?

In Fort Lauderdale, we clean the bottom monthly in the winter and a little more frequently in the summer, typically every three weeks. Much depends on use as well. When we're cruising long distances and elsewhere then very little needed.

A lot, but not all of it has to do with how much current the boat is exposed to and water temp. When we had the boat docked in a protected marina Hollywood FL for most of one winter/spring, every three months was good. When we had it docked almost full time n a marina in North Carolina with lots of current, once a month in the non-winter months was barely adequate. It's the running gear and exposed metal that gets the worst of it, assuming decent bottom paint.

caltexflanc said:

A lot, but not all of it has to do with how much current the boat is exposed to and water temp. When we had the boat docked in a protected marina Hollywood FL for most of one winter/spring, every three months was good. When we had it docked almost full time n a marina in North Carolina with lots of current, once a month in the non-winter months was barely adequate. It's the running gear and exposed metal that gets the worst of it, assuming decent bottom paint.

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I think some of it you can't be sure until the specific dock and experience. Then the rest is partly how clean do you want to keep it. Our goal is to never have to scrape to remove. We probably overdo a little compared to what most would feel the need to do. However, we do see those right beside us who stretch it and then have a major job getting it clean.

I'd wait until it looks like it needs cleaning and then call the diver.

I would clean monthly, it is cheap to keep clean, especially your through hulls where you can get growth. We had our boat in Tampa and we had a 50ft boat. Ran about $50-60 per month.


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Capt. Don

And if you're not a diver yourself, then get a Go Pro so you can inspect your hull, fittings and zincs. I've heard of too many people who didn't find out until later that the prop and shaft weren't being taken care of or that the zincs weren't being checked and replaced when needed.

One easy way is to ask your slip neighbors or marina manager how often a boat needs its hull cleaned in your area. You could also call a few of the commercial divers in your area.


I find that my boat needs the bottom cleaned more often in the summer and less often in the winter but that may not be true for your area. I just let the diver decide and bill me. I wouldn't begin to do what he does for what I pay him.

I'm midpoint on the Gulf side in relatively stagnant water, the salt somewhat diluted with fresh water from storm drains. It takes about three to four weeks for my rudders & props to become unrecognizable. I hate salt water.

"For an extended layup, I bag the prop".
LarryM, my humblest and sincerest thanks for that little jewel, beautifully simple and effective! Our boat sits for 2 -3 months at a time, I'm going to start doing this from now on. Do you just use normal garbage bags?

Capt Kangeroo said:

..."For an extended layup, I bag the prop".
....Our boat sits for 2 -3 months at a time, I'm going to start doing this from now on. Do you just use normal garbage bags?

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Thanks.

Any plastic bag that will fit over the prop(s). Color doesn't matter. I use the neck of the bag to tie to the shaft. Last winter when we took off the barnacles were on the outside of the bag and the prop was clean.

Larry, Do you know if having them sealed in a bag for "long periods" and therefore lacking oxygen would be an issue? I vaguely recall reading that SS needs oxygen to prevent pitting, something to do with passivization? Props are bronze but shafts are SS. I'm thinking I might do my rudders as well.

I estimate your trick will save me about 4 hrs scraping underwater each trip to the boat.

If I do not plan on moving the boat for a month or more I take two inflatable balls and put one in each side of the bow thruster to keep it clean.

Capt Kangeroo said:

Larry, Do you know if having them sealed in a bag for "long periods" and therefore lacking oxygen would be an issue? I vaguely recall reading that SS needs oxygen to prevent pitting, something to do with passivization? Props are bronze but shafts are SS. I'm thinking I might do my rudders as well.

I estimate your trick will save me about 4 hrs scraping underwater each trip to the boat.

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We've left Hobo for up to 4 months with a bagged prop and have not seen any evidence of crevice corrosion on the SS. I know cruisers who do this regularly for in-the-water layups as part of their SOP with no issues. I'll ask the local diver when I see him. Who knows?

Sometimes you can clean the bottom for free.

If usually in salt water spend a day or two cruising in fresh and carry a higher cruise speed returning to salt.

Sometimes you get lucky , mostly depends on the age of the bottom coat, how easily it releases.

HopCar said:

I'd wait until it looks like it needs cleaning and then call the diver.

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I have mine cleaned regularly by a diver but one thing I do is call him before I set off on an extended cruise and have him clean the bottom as close to my departure date as practical. A clean bottom saves fuel, possibly more than what the cleaning costs.

I think good bottom paint should keep the hull clean all the time.

When you require a diver , its time to sked a haul out .

That paint color you see in the water is your cash being scrubbed away!

FF said:

I think good bottom paint should keep the hull clean all the time.

When you require a diver , its time to sked a haul out .

That paint color you see in the water is your cash being scrubbed away!

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I do not know where you're located, but in South Florida you'd be bottom painting 6 times a year. Of course, you wouldn't need to clean as it would never be in the water, always out getting painted.

As to paint color in the water, better not see that when they clean. That would be a sign of waiting too long, scrubbing too hard or with materials that shouldn't be used. Now that might occur in a very small way with ablative paints but we use hard paints only.

The OP was talking Florida, although didn't say what part.

Biggest issue for us is always the running gear. You can bag the props but bagging the shafts would be hard. This last haul out we are trying Prop Speed. Since we move the boat at least every 3 weeks we are hoping for better running gear results than is the past. Time will tell.

We have the diver come out every other month. Even in the winter here there is still growth taking place. You would think that as many boats behind the sea wall here just the presence of all that bottom paint would help scare the growth away!

I live in South Florida and with fresh bottom paint I expect to go at least a year without needing to scrub. Now that I've started using Prop Speed, the prop stays clean as well. The boat next to me is scrubbed every month.

It's important to use a paint with an anti slime component like Trinidad SR or Micron 66.

If you're going to get the boat scrubbed every month, why bother with bottom paint?

Capt. Jon said:

Biggest issue for us is always the running gear. You can bag the props but bagging the shafts would be hard. This last haul out we are trying Prop Speed. Since we move the boat at least every 3 weeks we are hoping for better running gear results than is the past. Time will tell.

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We use Propspeed (Yes, the name is actually a single word). A key to it's success is the application. There is a video on their home page. It's not a simple on and back in the water process. Like bottom paint, temperature is important as is leaving adequate time before relaunching. Also, making sure the metal isn't "scrubbed" as part of bottom cleaning. It should only be wiped down with a non-abrasive cloth and this should be done with regular bottom cleaning. I simply think of it as bottom paint for metal as it actually is very much that.

Not only does Propspeed keep your prop clean, my experience is that it makes your boat go faster. I had never seen more than about 15.3 knots on my GPS. On the way home from the yard after applying Propspeed it hit 16.2 and the engine was turning about a hundred RPM more than I expected.

HopCar said:

Not only does Propspeed keep your prop clean, my experience is that it makes your boat go faster. I had never seen more than about 15.3 knots on my GPS. On the way home from the yard after applying Propspeed it hit 16.2 and the engine was turning about a hundred RPM more than I expected.

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Yes, it does. Perhaps not always as significantly as it affected yours. Also often done at the same time as bottom painting or cleaning so how much of gain is which is hard to determine.

Here in the Deep South slime is a real problem. Since the removal of Irgarol as an anti slime agent from bottom paint there is no stopping it without rubbing the hull. We seem to have an abundance of nutrients in the water year round that premonit it.

I really hope our experience this go round with running gear growth is better with Propspeed. Time will tell.

Capt. Jon said:

Here in the Deep South slime is a real problem. Since the removal of Irgarol as an anti slime agent from bottom paint there is no stopping it without rubbing the hull. We seem to have an abundance of nutrients in the water year round that premonit it.

I really hope our experience this go round with running gear growth is better with Propspeed. Time will tell.

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If applied correctly, it will definitely help. Those who I've known to complain and say it did not help had applied it themselves and never read the instructions or even been to their web site it appeared.

HopCar said:

I live in South Florida and with fresh bottom paint I expect to go at least a year without needing to scrub. Now that I've started using Prop Speed, the prop stays clean as well. The boat next to me is scrubbed every month.

It's important to use a paint with an anti slime component like Trinidad SR or Micron 66.

If you're going to get the boat scrubbed every month, why bother with bottom paint?

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I'd have to agree. If you are moving your boat often and if your paint is fresh, in most places you shouldn't have to be scrubbing the bottom monthly that I've seen.

If it sits, before a trip is a good schedule.

Most bottom cleaners get pretty agressive with their scrubbing and start taking off to much paint. Which just shortens the life of the paint. But does increase your need for their services.

Capt.Bill11 said:

Most bottom cleaners get pretty agressive with their scrubbing and start taking off to much paint. Which just shortens the life of the paint. But does increase your need for their services.

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We control that very rigidly as when we're talking monthly cleaning, we're really only talking diving and gently wiping the bottom clean. About the intensity of a wash down top side after a cruise. It may be unnecessary to do as frequently as we do, but by doing so and controlling how it's cleaned we are getting a very long wear on the bottom. It's a bigger issue when we have a boat that sits unused for six weeks at a time while we're elsewhere.

There are cleaners here who use some advanced process with air jets to remove muck without physical scrubbing. Once you scrub the a/f paint I think the stuff is doomed. Our TF resident bottom cleaner commented on the air jet process last time this came up, maybe it`s more prevalent now as a method of cleaning without losing the paint.

BruceK said:

There are cleaners here who use some advanced process with air jets to remove muck without physical scrubbing. Once you scrub the a/f paint I think the stuff is doomed. Our TF resident bottom cleaner commented on the air jet process last time this came up, maybe it`s more prevalent now as a method of cleaning without losing the paint.

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You can clean without "scrubbing". As to the air jets, I would be interested in an update as I haven't seen one in use.

One thing we're doing too is lumping the care of all bottoms together and there is a tremendous difference in care depending on your bottom paint. We've avoided ablative because we are in an area that requires more frequent cleaning than others.