Barnacle

[Phil Fill]

The first time in 13 years the Eagle has a case of barnacles mainly on the prop and shaft.* )-;* Which is good and bad, the good is it shows no large amount stray electricity is entering/leaving the boat as they do not the tingly feeling.* The bad news is Barnacles!* )-;* I had the diver scrape/clean them off the best he could but said in spring before taking the Eagle out to clean them off again.* There are not barnacles on the hull which is painted with Pettit Trinidad, just the prop/shaft* )-;

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So I have been thinking.In the spring with the boat in the water to use a high pressure washer and/or an air driving wire brush.* It seems both/either would clean knock them off better than hand scraping them.* The pressure washer if held close to the prop should still have enough pressure to clean them off and than come back with an air driven steel brush driving by a portable air compressor.* So has anybody used either methods and/or what methods have you used?*

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I have heard and seen on some boats an electrical monitoring that pass a small current down the shaft/prop which helps eliminate barnacles, but it would seem that would use up the shaft zincs faster* Has anybody seen heard of such a devise/method?* Anyway I am not a happy camper that my boat has a case of the barnacles.* Dang yuck dirty salt water.* )-;****

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[Marin]

The only place we have had barnacles on our boat has been on the running gear and through-hull screens and leading and trailing edges of the rudders that the paint wore off of. The normal pressure washing done by the yard after haulout with the boat in the slings over the catchment basin knocks them all off in short order.

We use the boat a fair amount all year, and if we get long periods of windy weather that keep us from going out we'll run the boat in the slip in gear every two or three weeks. Se we've never had barnacles on the prop blades, only a few on the hubs. Apparently if you spin the props often enough it throws off the barnacle larvae before they get a chance to really glom on and grow.

But our experience is that the pressure washer takes them all off--- we've never had to resort to scraping, wire brushes, etc. after the pressure washing.

 

[Keith]

I have some at each haulout. Just pressure blast and scrape away. Next bottom job I'm going to do the underwater metals with Propspeed. Have heard nothing but good about it. I would have used it last time, but they were out of stock everywhere in the size I needed. I'll order earlier next time.

http://www.propspeedusa.com/index.htm

-- Edited by Keith at 06:00, 2007-11-06

 

[ralphyost]

Keith
Why not just coat the metal with Epoxy paint then paint with a hard bottom paint? Seems just as effective and a whole lot CHEAPER.

I did this on one of my former boats and it was very effective. I did the prop and trim tabs. This was a 25ft I/O boat and the metal was always submerged.
R.

 

[Keith]

Well, I've tried Petit's underwater metal kit with poor results. I also tried another "metal" prep stuff followed by my usual Trinidad, also poor. Do you have a specific epoxy in mind? Would it work on the prop, as well as the rudder? Heck, I get to experiment about every three years here....

 

[Phil Fill]

I was thinking of plain West System with #3 and/or #4 filler in it.***I find using #*3 and/or #4 filler makes the epoxy*stick better*and be harder/tougher.* Clean and rough*up the prop so the Epoxy has something to stick/bond*to, then rough*up the epoxy*and apply a couple of coats of Trinadad.

 

[Marin]

Just be careful about painting too much stuff on the prop blades, particulary if you're talking about epoxy plus paint, etc. You don't want to throw the thing out of balance.

We don't put anything on our props or shafts. For a couple of haulouts I tried the old wive's tale of smearing the props and shafts with WD-40 before putting the boat back in the water. I'd read a few comments from people swearing this works to keep the barnacles at bay. I can't see how it would, since WD-40 comes off real easily in water but we had it on the boat so what the heck.

I don't think it made a lick of difference so we stopped doing it a few haulouts ago. But even with nothing on the shafts and props, we get no barnacles on the blades and only a few on the prop hubs and shafts. Like most people in this area, we haul out every two years for bottom painting. I attribute the lack of bottom growth to frequent spinning of the running gear and our colder waters, which I believe greatly slows underwater growth compared to the Gulf, Florida, etc.

 

[rgano]

Here in my bayou you'll get barnacles and oysters on your unpainted running gear in a few weeks, and oysters are NOT going to come off with any high pressure anything.

I just hauled after a good 18 months which included 2400 miles up and down from Chattanooga last Oct-Nov followed by a lot of sitting still other than during the bi-weekly maintenance runs. Only the end couple of inches of the props were in need of recoating. I used Interlux barrier coat form West Marine (2 coats) and Trinidad (2 coats).

I have been doing this for years now and have learned you need to scratch the metal with a 50-grit disk to get the epoxy to stick and grip.

I roll on the paint with a small roller to get a thick but even coating. No balance problems - runs smoother than most boats I have anything to do with. No pitting of props as happened to the bare things before I bought the boat.

 

[BaltimoreLurker]

Moon Dance was hauled for the winter yesterday.* I like to be there when they pull her out to get a look at the bottom before they pressure wash it.* I use Pettit Hydrocoat on the hull and Pettit Zinc Coat Barnacle Barrier on the running gear.

It was the 2nd year for most of the hull paint, I only touched up the dings and along the waterline this past Spring.* The running gear was taken down to bare metal before I applied the zinc coat.

I could not be happier with the results, a little slime and only3 barnacles in total.* The untreated rudder shaft and transom transducer were crusted with barnacles.

As they say, YMMV, but I'm sticking with what works for me.

 

[JD]

My diver was under the boat the other day.* His report was that the hull was fine and there were*few barnacles on the prop, shaft rudder,*shaft*and shoe (all Prop Speed prepped).* He said that all of the barnacle came off with the passing of his glove over then lightly.* He was certain the if I had just used the boat that most of them would have come off from the running of the boat but for sure the ones on the prop and rudder would have.

So Prop Speed it is again the next time I haul for a bottom job.

 

[Tidahapah]

Yeah, Propspeed, see numerous items over the past few years re this. I am a beliver of this stuff after trying every other combo known to man.
Benn

 

[BaltimoreLurker]

I have heard that Propspeed is about as close to perfection as is available.* But for the price differential of what?* ~ $200 for Propspeed vs. ~$20 for the Pettit product - I think I'll be sticking with the spray-on zinc.* The $180 difference is about $60/barnacle on my boat.*

 

[Phil Fill]

The last time I pull I put two costs of Pettit Trinidad on the running gear, which has held up reasonable well.* I have a diver check the zincs and clean the hull/running gear twice a year.* There are some but they seem too scrap off easy.* This summer I turned the boat around so the stern was not in the sun most of the day, and that may have help also.* We dont get as many in the winter months, but then again the water is not as salty and the water is dirty/brown.*


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So I think I am going to slap some more Trinidad on this summer, it seem to help?*


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[SteveH]

I vote for the Pettit Zinc Barnacle Barrier as well. Last summer seemed to be an unusually active for barnacle growth in Puget Sound as I had to dive and clean my prop and rudder three times during the course of the summer. We hauled last March for a bottom job and in so doing cleaned the prop and rudder down to the bare metal and applied 3 coats of Pettit Barnacle Barrier. I've since dove the boat a number of times during this past summer and not one barnacle anywhere. Maybe this past summer was a less active barnacle year I'm not sure, but the Pettit Barnacle seems to work and cost only $20 a can.

SteveH

 

[Phil Fill]

I my try the Pittit prop*next time.* We don't seem to get many on the hull just the running gear and zincs?* ***

 

[Roostor]

Phil Fill wrote:

I my try the Pittit prop*next time.* We don't seem to get many on the hull just the running gear and zincs?* ***

I am sure you are aware of this...but just make sure you do not paint the zincs...their purpose is to be sacrificial anodes and paint would compromise that.

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