How can you tell?????

How do tell when it is time for a bottom job?

I assume you have your boat bottom cleaned by divers? They would be able to tell you how it looks and what they think.

Seems to be no hard and fast rule.

Some people use divers, some dont.

Probably the most critical reason is to replace zincs and/or check any underwater systems you have that a diver cant.

You might get everything from 2X a year that is a standard around my area for year round in the water boats to every 5 years for some who do it that way. Maybe longer for some...but I will bet they are few at that stretch.

I wouldn't be able to afford it twice a year at 5 grand a pop.

kartracer said:

How do tell when it is time for a bottom job?

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Assuming you can't see bare gelcoat...


If you use ablative bottom paint, a "telltale" undercoat in a different color helps a bit. When the undercoat shows, it's time. Or if the undercoat shows through in only a few places, touch-up can work.

Means some advance planning, of course... and a full paint job to start, unless you're willing to just overcoat your existing color with something different.

Dealing with too much build-up over time is a different issue. Not sure how to decide when to try soda blasting or whatever to get down to gelcoat for a complete makeover.

-Chris

Donna said:

I assume you have your boat bottom cleaned by divers? They would be able to tell you how it looks and what they think.

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We do not have any diver cleaning services in this area, but I am thinking of calling one to come down and check bottom before hauling out.

Donna said:

I wouldn't be able to afford it twice a year at 5 grand a pop.

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Usually the second is just a powerwash, scrape a few barnacles, check and replace a zinc or two. Rarely also paint.

More like $500 to $700 for up to 50 footers....and the alternatives for may, more fuel, damaged props, etc would cost more if they didn't. Around here it is usually the big sportfish or late to leave cruisers.

Donna said:

I wouldn't be able to afford it twice a year at 5 grand a pop.

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5 grand???? What yard is charging that for a 36' boat?

Donna said:

I assume you have your boat bottom cleaned by divers? They would be able to tell you how it looks and what they think.

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Donna is correct. If you have people cleaning your hull at least 4 times a year, you probably only need paint once every 2 years.
Because labor is cheap in Brazil, I brush my hull with a sponge once a month. The result is that My paint job lasted 2 1/2 years and it would have lasted another 6 months if needed.
That also has to do a lot with the waters where you sail.

According to International paint, yachts tend to re-paint more often than needed. It pays to use a diver to check the conditions of your hull

Good luck

kartracer said:

We do not have any diver cleaning services in this area, but I am thinking of calling one to come down and check bottom before hauling out.

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Are you hauling out anyway? Or do you mean to have the diver tell you whether haul out is necessary or not?

-Chris

We get about 4 years out of a bottom job around here, as the cold water inhibits the growth of the critters.

ranger42c said:

Are you hauling out anyway? Or do you mean to have the diver tell you whether haul out is necessary or not?

-Chris

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To have diver check and see if I need to haul out

Not sure any or all divers could give a definite snswer.

Much like an oil analysis, a few factors may be obvious, but without knowing how often the boat is moved (yes you tell them that) and time till inspection (yes that is known too)....but even then, different conditions will allow fouling to be wildly different in some places. So it may take a bit more of a trend of cleanings to develop a schedule.

I guess to me the question is more.... are you interested more in zincs, running gear and thru hulls........or more in whether the bottom needs fresh paint?

Fot things other than paint, a dive is worth every penny if you haven't seen the bottom or zincs for more than 6 months or so. Yes you can check zinc protection from inside the boat....that still only tells part of the story.

The people who have had their boats in the same location, have been using them exactly the same for decades, have been using pretty much the same paint, and have been using the same diver might be able to tell how long their paint lasts.....but I am guessing it is hit or miss to know when a bottom job has failed just because fouling is a little different from cleaning to cleaning.

This is where the different color of paint coats comes in handy or you have to wait till down to the actual bottom....at that point, it's a no brainer to tell.

If an experienced diver can tell, then that is great. But from the first dive under a boat.....the only reliable info on paint you are going to get is whether it needs cleaning immediately or not. And that is even subjective to a point.

I do mine every year in the Spring just before launch. On my 36 a bottom job takes about an hour and a half and one gallon of paint. My 33 takes about an hour and 3 quarts of paint. Both boats are pressure washed in the Fall at haul out. I replace zincs just before launch.

Frequent diving and bottom cleaning is already a part of our routine. That includes checking and changing anodes and checking running gear. Also, if one wants to see themselves, you can see pretty well with a gopro or similar camera.

There are a lot of factors, including location, use of boat, and type of paint used.

We clean very frequently due to our local waters (monthly if sitting in Fort Lauderdale. If cruising, far less frequently) and the desire to not have to scrape, but just gently clean and to maximize performance. I consider the need to scrape as a sign we didn't clean frequently enough. We haul once a year just to look closer at everything, however, and generally refresh the prop speed at that time (props and running gear). We anticipated bottom painting every two years but it's actually run three years and even then not really been to the point of "visible need" but just not wanting to press our luck. When we pulled to paint and the yard looked at the boat, their reaction was "has it really been three years?" We use only hard paint, no ablative.

The standard in our area for lightly used boats is monthly bottom cleaning, annual prop speed, every two years on bottom paint.

Pau Hana said:

We get about 4 years out of a bottom job around here, as the cold water inhibits the growth of the critters.

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PH

As close a you are to the fresh water from Lake Union is the water brackish vs salt?

Thanks "psneeld" that is what I should have asked, being the first time having to haul one out and never having a diver over the side did not know what to ask.

Donna said:

I wouldn't be able to afford it twice a year at 5 grand a pop.

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What in the world are you having done for $5,000?

I could pay someone else to haul, media blast, barrier coat and bottom paint 4 boats for that price.

media blast and barrier coat should last well over 10 years, even with yearly bottom paint re-applications. My bottom was media blasted and barrier coated 8 years ago and still looks like it was done last year. I re-paint with bottom paint yearly.

kartracer said:

How do tell when it is time for a bottom job?

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It depends what you mean by a bottom job.

Cleaning the bottom will depend on:
-water temperature
-how often you use your boat
-whether your marina is salt water, fresh water, or brackish water
-whetheryour boat is a displacement cruiser or planing boat
-what work you did last haul out

For me (relatively cool brackish water) I don't need a diver. I usually haul out annually but just do a spray wash and general checkover. Maybe touch up some flaking bottom paint, replace an anode and scrape the stainless steel keel shoe which get a lot of growth. Every 3rd year she needs a full coat of antifoul and propspeed. Every 2nd or 3rd time (6-9 years) I expect it will need to be scraped right back, sanded, and re primed prior to antifouling.

I have a diver clean the bottom quarterly (checks and replaces zincs as needed and monitors paint condition. I only haul the boat if I need to make specific repairs. I don't even recall how many years is on the paint on my sailboat.

Used hard bottom paint here in Florida. Paint was good for 4 years. Diver cleaned bottom every 10 weeks.

Pgitug said:

Used hard bottom paint here in Florida. Paint was good for 4 years. Diver cleaned bottom every 10 weeks.

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We didn't, but I think we could have gone 4 years. We went three. Now, where we are, definitely can't go 10 weeks between bottom cleanings.

I think it is prudent to haul your boat at least once a year...if you do not live in colder climes that require you to do that anyway. We call it a "quickhaul" here and it is usually relatively cheap. When the offseason starts to set in, the yards usually offer specials on quickhauls especially to members of certain cruising associations. Some places allow you to to bring your own zincs and you can replace them while the boat is out. If you allow them to do the zincs, they will absolutely screw you on the price of the zincs even though the haulout was almost free($3 a foot is not uncommon). Then there are places that are not too keen on you bringing zincs...but they do offer to install them at a more "reasonable" price. Still marked up pretty good but not as bad as the other folks.

I seem to get 4-5 years out of my bottom paint. I use(and love) Interlux Ultra(Bio). My boat moves a LOT.

Back to the original question....when do you need a bottom job....whenever the barnacles start growing on your bottom. Simple as that.

We are also Interlux fans.