Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 10-30-2015, 06:09 AM   #1
Veteran Member
 
City: Outer Banks NC
Vessel Name: Adagio
Vessel Model: Island Gypsy 32
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 58
10yr Barnacle removal

My friends boat hasn't been hualed in probably 10+ yrs, I've never seen a boat so encrusted so to speak. Aside from needing a permit from the EPA to destroy an underwater eco-system what special steps should be taken when he hauls at our local yard ? I've heard spraying with muriatic acid helps in removal but I highly doubt a yard will let him do that as it hangs in the travel lift slings...Thanks
OBXSkipper is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-30-2015, 06:17 AM   #2
Guru
 
psneeld's Avatar
 
City: Ft Pierce
Vessel Name: Sold
Vessel Model: Was an Albin/PSN 40
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 28,149
Scraper on ta long handle for the paint areas...powe washer should get most...if it is a good one with the right tip.


Scraper on the underwater metals then acid if necessary...put a tarp under if marina balks.
psneeld is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 10-30-2015, 07:50 AM   #3
Senior Member
 
City: Great Lakes
Vessel Name: NONE
Vessel Model: NONE
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 448
Muratic Shouldn't be a problem since we dump it in our pools and go swimming in it. Acid Magic is a better choice, no fumes. There are several boats in my marina that have not left the dock or had the bottom scraped in easily a decade and every one of them does not seem to get any worse than mine gets in 4 months. On theirs it is clear that the growth has reached a certain point and stopped. Often wonder about that every time I walk by.
Capt Kangeroo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-30-2015, 08:21 AM   #4
Guru
 
Capt.Bill11's Avatar
 
City: Sarasota/Ft. Lauderdale
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 5,438
You could have a diver scrape it before you haul it. Less mess to deal with once you're on the hard.
Capt.Bill11 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-30-2015, 08:49 AM   #5
Guru
 
HopCar's Avatar
 
City: Miami Florida
Vessel Name: Possum
Vessel Model: Ellis 28
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 5,307
Like Bill said, scrape it in the water. The fish will have a feast and the yard will appreciate it.
__________________
Parks Masterson
Retired from Hopkins-Carter Marine Supply
HopCar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-30-2015, 08:58 AM   #6
Valued Technical Contributor
 
DavidM's Avatar
 
City: Litchfield, Ct
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 6,785
A diver can't use the long, heavy scraper that a yard can. It is no problem for the yard to handle the removed barnacles. They do it every day.

It took almost an hour with a heavy scraper like is used for roofing removal to get most of the accumulated barnacles after 4-5 years off of my buddy's boat. He then scraped the remaining by hand and used muriatic acid to try and get the barnacle base off. He was partially successful.

David
DavidM is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-30-2015, 02:16 PM   #7
Guru
 
City: kemah
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 1,135
waveblade
what_barnacles is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-30-2015, 04:30 PM   #8
TF Site Team
 
Insequent's Avatar
 
City: Brisbane
Vessel Name: Insequent
Vessel Model: Ocean Alexander 50 Mk I
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 4,262
Quote:
Originally Posted by djmarchand View Post
A diver can't use the long, heavy scraper that a yard can. It is no problem for the yard to handle the removed barnacles. They do it every day.

It took almost an hour with a heavy scraper like is used for roofing removal to get most of the accumulated barnacles after 4-5 years off of my buddy's boat. He then scraped the remaining by hand and used muriatic acid to try and get the barnacle base off. He was partially successful.

David
I have been told that it is crucial to get the barnacle base off. I used a sharp wood chisel to do it. Just pushing by hand, no hammers used! It worked quite well, but it is slow. Next time I think I'll use the chisel for a first pass (well, after pressure wash and scraper) and then try acid for the remaining bits of barnacle base. It might need another chisel or something afterwards, but I'm thinking the acid would loosen them a bit.
__________________
Brian
Insequent is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-30-2015, 05:26 PM   #9
Guru
 
Capt.Bill11's Avatar
 
City: Sarasota/Ft. Lauderdale
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 5,438
Quote:
Originally Posted by Insequent View Post
I have been told that it is crucial to get the barnacle base off. I used a sharp wood chisel to do it. Just pushing by hand, no hammers used! It worked quite well, but it is slow. Next time I think I'll use the chisel for a first pass (well, after pressure wash and scraper) and then try acid for the remaining bits of barnacle base. It might need another chisel or something afterwards, but I'm thinking the acid would loosen them a bit.
Acid doesn't loosen them at all. But it will eat away the shell base left after you scrap away the main body.
Capt.Bill11 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-30-2015, 05:59 PM   #10
Guru
 
BruceK's Avatar
 
City: Sydney
Vessel Name: Sojourn
Vessel Model: Integrity 386
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 13,329
After 10 years, the least you can do is sing the barnacles "Happy Birthday" before turning them into fish food.
__________________
BruceK
2005 Integrity 386 "Sojourn"
Sydney Australia
BruceK is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-30-2015, 06:01 PM   #11
Moderator Emeritus
 
jwnall's Avatar
 
City: St. Marks, Florida
Vessel Name: Morgan
Vessel Model: Gulfstar 36
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 3,673
Quote:
Originally Posted by OBXSkipper View Post
My friends boat hasn't been hauled in probably 10+ yrs, I've never seen a boat so encrusted so to speak.
I'm still trying to figure this one out. Why? The boat must not have been abandoned, so it kind of boggles the mind as to why anyone would not have a bottom job, or at least a diver anyway, over a decade. Strange. Oh well. Not my business, I guess.
__________________
John
jwnall is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-30-2015, 07:55 PM   #12
Guru
 
City: kemah
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 1,135
I had just the opposite experience. 8+ years sitting at the dock and pretty much just the prop the rudder the chines and the bottom edge of the keel had barnacles. The rest of the hull was completely clear.

old man next to me hasnt had his defever cleaned in over 5 years he said.
what_barnacles is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-30-2015, 11:04 PM   #13
Guru
 
Forkliftt's Avatar
 
City: Diberville Mississippi
Vessel Name: KnotDoneYet
Vessel Model: 1983 42' Present Sundeck
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 2,450
Needle scaler to the rescue. They work great on barnacles. Parks might let you use his...


1983 Present 42 Sundeck
Twin Lehman 135's
✌️
__________________
Steve Point Cadet/ Biloxi, Mississippi USA
*Present 42 twin 135 Lehmans
Forkliftt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-31-2015, 05:43 AM   #14
Guru
 
O C Diver's Avatar
 
City: Fort Myers, FL... Summers in the Great Lakes
Vessel Name: Slow Hand
Vessel Model: Cherubini Independence 45
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 12,834
Flat bladed hoe (looks like a big chisel on a long wood handle) works very well. Get the angle right and just slide it down the hull. I'm sure this won't be the first encrusted hull the travel lift has hauled.

Ted
__________________
Blog: mvslowhand.com
I'm tired of fast moves, I've got a slow groove, on my mind.....
I want to spend some time, Not come and go in a heated rush.....
"Slow Hand" by The Pointer Sisters
O C Diver is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-31-2015, 06:02 AM   #15
Guru
 
fstbttms's Avatar
 
City: Under a boat, in a marina in the San Francisco Bay
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 615
Quote:
Originally Posted by djmarchand View Post
A diver can't use the long, heavy scraper that a yard can.
Sure they can.

Quote:
Originally Posted by djmarchand View Post
It is no problem for the yard to handle the removed barnacles. They do it every day.
I don't know about where the boat in question lives; but here in the Bay Area ( and maybe in all of California), excessively fouled boats will get a hefty surcharge from the yard as the yard must have the fouling growth barreled-up and shipped off as hazardous waste, which costs them a bundle. 'Course, it's OK to scrape it off in the water before the boat is hauled- that's no problem. Go figure.
__________________
Clean bottoms are FastBottoms!
fstbttms is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-31-2015, 07:49 AM   #16
TF Site Team
 
koliver's Avatar
 
City: Saltspring Island
Vessel Name: Retreat
Vessel Model: C&L 44
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 5,663
I had to deal with huge barnacle growth this spring, due to shifting to much healthier waters. I found that scraping while still immersed worked lots better than waiting for the power wash to be finished and then scraping. That even though I was swimming to do the former and standing to do the latter. Maybe the open, live barnacles don't hold on as tight?
koliver is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-31-2015, 11:37 AM   #17
Guru
 
Hawgwash's Avatar
 
City: Sidney
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 2,258
Quote:
Originally Posted by koliver View Post
I had to deal with huge barnacle growth this spring, due to shifting to much healthier waters.
Hmmm, interesting.
From where to where?
Hawgwash is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-31-2015, 11:54 AM   #18
Veteran Member
 
AKFish's Avatar
 
City: Seward, AK
Vessel Model: Custom 45' Steel Trawler
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 76
Spray with chlorine bleach mixed 10% in water from a pump-up sprayer, then pressure wash and scrape. Apply on-and-off acid or muratic acid (vinegar also works) to dissolve any remaining barnacle shell bases while scraping them off. The longer you keep it wet after haul-out, the easier it is to remove. Let it dry just once and bio is much harder to get off the hull.

The bleach and acid applications just reduce the amount of elbow grease needed...good luck.
AKFish is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-31-2015, 12:03 PM   #19
TF Site Team
 
koliver's Avatar
 
City: Saltspring Island
Vessel Name: Retreat
Vessel Model: C&L 44
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 5,663
Coal Harbour to Long Harbour
koliver is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-31-2015, 12:21 PM   #20
Guru
 
Hawgwash's Avatar
 
City: Sidney
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 2,258
Quote:
Originally Posted by koliver View Post
Coal Harbour to Long Harbour
So, healthier water or more sun? Open moor vs boathouse?
Hawgwash is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Trawler Port Captains
Port Captains are TF volunteers who can serve as local guides or assist with local arrangements and information. Search below to locate Port Captains near your destination. To learn more about this program read here: TF Port Captain Program





All times are GMT -5. The time now is 06:11 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.6.0
Copyright 2006 - 2012