What's your haulout schedule

I try and go as long as I can, longest has been 4 years.
With the bottom paint being weakened by government fiat, how long before you get big barnacles on the hull?
I am at the 2 year mark, and got plenty.
With ye old good TBT paint, at the 4 year mark I was very clean.
We are near LAFB in Hampton Back River, so the lower Chesapeake Bay.

Went fishing last weekend, and had zero bites, and neither did any other boats did we see pulling in any fish.
Last few years have been poor, is the Bay dead or is it fished out by too many fishers?

sdowney717 said:

I try and go as long as I can, longest has been 4 years.
With the bottom paint being weakened by government fiat, how long before you get big barnacles on the hull?
I am at the 2 year mark, and got plenty.
With ye old good TBT paint, at the 4 year mark I was very clean.
...................

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Have you considered having a diver clean your hull on a regular basis?

That's the norm where I live even though we use bottom paint. If you have barnacles on your hull your loss of efficiency and extra fuel used will be more than paying the diver.

I can't answer your fish question. Maybe a local fishing forum would have your answers.

I can go 4 years. But I dock in fresh water and have a diver go down and clean twice a year.

WesK said:

Have you considered having a diver clean your hull on a regular basis?

That's the norm where I live even though we use bottom paint. If you have barnacles on your hull your loss of efficiency and extra fuel used will be more than paying the diver.

I can't answer your fish question. Maybe a local fishing forum would have your answers.

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I have actually considered diving on my own boat to clean the hull.
I can easily reach several feet down past the chines. To go deeper I need goggles. I did buy a hood.
One summer, we anchored in a shallow cove and cleaned off as much as we could. the problem is of course, only a few months the water is warm enough to make me want to do this. Maybe a dive suit keeps you warmer in the water?

I envy those whose boats are in huge tidal swings, where the entire hull is exposed..

With Trinidad SR, 3 years was the norm in warm, salt, fertile water with regular cleaning. Right now we're in brackish water and can go about 4 years.

Not to get n a political debate but your old TBT paint was banned in the US, for our boats in 1988, 38 years ago.

No schedule ..

Prefer not to schedule anything unless needed or to my advantage.

I can see my prop zinc, rudder zincs and prop by just looking under my canoe stern.

A scedule would probably depend mostly on bottom paint life in your specific area. No point though in using very expensive bottom paint if you need to haul for zincs or some other reason more often. Right now I'm wanting to change my prop so I'm in relative need re that ... but nothing else other than a quickie light spray wash. Too many variables for a schedule but if you've been w a certian boat in a specific spot for some time a schedule could be assigned based on all the well known variables.

Otherwise for me it's just when I have the need.

Larry M said:

With Trinidad SR, 3 years was the norm in warm, salt, fertile water with regular cleaning. Right now we're in brackish water and can go about 4 years.

Not to get n a political debate but your old TBT paint was banned in the US, for our boats in 1988, 38 years ago.

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Hope copper is here to stay except for Washington State it will be a daily $10000 fine to use any copper paint.
Is Copper Bottom Paint Sinking? - BoatUS Magazine

This ban applies only to private recreational boats 65-feet and under. That leaves commercial, government, research, and for-hire passenger vessels — not to mention large ocean-going ships that frequent Washington waters — free to discourage marine growth with paint that recreational boaters can't use. And the fine, if they do, is a maximum $10,000 per day.

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I am with Eric, no schedule. I have hauled my sailboats only when I had to. A diver takes care of my zincs and cleans the bottom. Paint is only done when the diver complains too much. My last sailboat got hauled once for maintenance, that was for a new prop install.

Is bottom paint usage price sensitive?
I see Trinidad SR at $280 per gallon.

They love to make a big show of how toxic copper is.

"Replacing copper-based boat paint with less toxic or non-toxic paint is the only way we can reduce copper pollution in our marinas," he said. "Better options exist. Let's use them."

But some longtime boaters, who say they are seeing more birds and seals feeding in the marina than ever before, are unconvinced that the current copper levels are toxic to critical sealife.

They also say the industry lacks a proven alternative to copper paint.

Some recall when tin was banned in bottom paint, and copper was hailed as an ideal replacement. They see the current ban as part of a frustrating cycle that could eventually lead to the new, more expensive paints being prohibited in the future.

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Proposed Marina del Rey copper cleanup provokes boater revolt - latimes
If they dredge the harbor that will make the water even more 'toxic', but that is their goal to get rid of copper in paints. So if they can create a public crisis to further the agenda, well they can try.

I need to lift out at least every 12 months.

Wood hull = constant vigilance :

eagle419 said:

I need to lift out at least every 12 months.

Wood hull = constant vigilance :

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Very nice looking boat.

Mine is wood too.
I totally rebuilt, re screwed the hull and sealed it in various goos, no epoxies.
Been a solid dry hull. nothing has eaten the wood. One worry is gribbles, they can destroy a boat just like a Teredo.
Neither can get my hull any more.

Bottom

I get 3 yrs here in freeport tx but have to dive boat ever yr for zincs

Pure pleasure said:

I get 3 yrs here in freeport tx but have to dive boat ever yr for zincs

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If I could learn how to dive the boat, I could cut hauls back 50% at least.

I guess I'm at the far other end of the spectrum. Will possibly haul twice this year. Splashed in December and will haul out the end of this month. Will check the bottom (dive on it) in early September and may haul again before heading South in October. Rubbed a bunch of paint off the keel and skeg on the trip South in February. When the prop got struck on the trip South, the reconditioning left the prop with an annoying harmonic (singing) over half the RPM range, so it needs to get pulled and tweeked. To me it makes more sense to haul, do all that, touch up any other spots, check zincs, transducers and through hulls.

I use a work boat yard, so the cost is probably a lot less than many others pay. Depending on what I find in September, I may haul again as I'm more comfortable with this yard that I've used for 20+ years. I'm guessing it's half or less of what I would pay in Florida, and I can do any or all of the work myself.

Ted

At my marina, cost is 200$ per month on hard, and for a 37 foot boat $400 to go back in at $10 per foot. plus they charge $25 to use the pressure washer.
they do not charge to haul out, only charge on going in. So for one month an easy $600 immediate costs before spending money on paint.
Does that sound cheap, reasonable or expensive ?

sdowney717 said:

At my marina, cost is 200$ per month on hard, and for a 37 foot boat $400 to go back in at $10 per foot. plus they charge $25 to use the pressure washer.
they do not charge to haul out, only charge on going in. So for one month an easy $600 immediate costs before spending money on paint.
Does that sound cheap, reasonable or expensive ?

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I think the haul out fee is below average, but again depends on the area. $200 per month seems high to me but then I think my yard is less than $100 per month. If the yard has a limited amount of space, storage tends to be higher.

Ted

My local Yard charges $9.50 per foot for round trip haul out for boats 40-49' in length. Storage fees are $2.25 per day/foot. Expensive storage since there is very little space at the yard. Pressure washing is $3.50 per foot.

I haul out every October. I just painted the bottom on Monday. Launch will be in about two weeks. New bottom paint every year. Virtually no recreational boats stay in over the Winter here.

2 years max, and sooner if the trim tab zincs start to look punky. I know I can have them replaced by a diver, but I want to look at the other metal as well.

2yrs max for me. Dive on it in the fall just before water gets too cold, again in the spring when it just gets warm enough. Bottom usually ok, wheel shaft and rudder get growth fast. Water almost warm enough to dive right now.

Two years a lot

sdowney717 said:

I try and go as long as I can, longest has been 4 years.
With the bottom paint being weakened by government fiat, how long before you get big barnacles on the hull?
I am at the 2 year mark, and got plenty.
With ye old good TBT paint, at the 4 year mark I was very clean.
We are near LAFB in Hampton Back River, so the lower Chesapeake Bay.

Went fishing last weekend, and had zero bites, and neither did any other boats did we see pulling in any fish.
Last few years have been poor, is the Bay dead or is it fished out by too many fishers?

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I have learned that after two years divers often end up scraping the hull as they clean. I went three years once and found that divers had taken paint down to barrier coat and beyond in a couple of places. I keep my boat at Southall Landing behind the house and haul my boat at Dandy Haven, where she is today.

I brought this boat, new to me, from Florida two weeks ago and hauled her the next day. Het bottom paint was going on 4 years old. I found an oyster big enough to eat between the keel and the speed transducer.

I have decided to haul this boat every year, and put on one coat of bottom paint.

Gordon

When I lived aboard 365 in NYC the technique was to use ablative paint (Micron 66) and use multiple coats.

The first was red , the 3-4 topcoats were white. Claimed fewer whale strikes.

If the ice scraped down to red in a hard winter the boat was tied to a wall and the WL down a foot was repainted at low tide.(6+ft tides) .

3 -4 years was the norm between haul outs.

During my recent haul out, I found places thick with abblative I paint but still lots of hard growth. It was apparent that even though there was lots of paint, it had lost its effectiveness.

Gordon

"It was apparent that even though there was lots of paint, it had lost its effectiveness"

That is from a dead surface ,non moving boat so no ablation, cure is a scrubbing to get to the fresh paint under..

Ff,

My point exactly.

Gordon

eagle419 said:

I need to lift out at least every 12 months.

Wood hull = constant vigilance :

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John,
Re your post #10 ..
Perfect colors.
Gleaming gloss white and red copper bottom.
Can't be beat.
Good picture.

Never had a schedule never needed one just listen to your boat and she'll tell you.


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sdowney717 said:

......... I envy those whose boats are in huge tidal swings, where the entire hull is exposed..

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We have a six foot tidal swing but the boat goes up and down with the tide so it doesn't make a difference.

As for diving myself, I wouldn't do what my diver does for what I pay him. It's hard, dirty work in the heat and in the cold.

FF said:

"It was apparent that even though there was lots of paint, it had lost its effectiveness"

That is from a dead surface ,non moving boat so no ablation, cure is a scrubbing to get to the fresh paint under..

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No, the "cure" is to use the appropriate paint in the first place. If your boat moves slowly or not at all, ablative paint is the wrong paint for the application.

The major paint companies have guides on their website. Put in your information and they will recommend the appropriate paint for your boat.

cafesport said:

Never had a schedule never needed one just listen to your boat and she'll tell you.


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That only works if you take your boat out often for short trips. We use our boat a few times per year but for cruises of anywhere to a week to ten days, up to a few months. Starting out on an extended cruise and deciding you should have had the bottom cleaned is not good.

Divers around here "schedule" boats by conditions. My diver comes more often in the warm season and less often in the cold season. It's "automatic".

I plan on leaving for an extended cruise next week so I asked the diver to clean the boat the day before I leave.