Periodic bottom painting vs. annual power wash ?

[baz]

Subject: Periodic bottom painting vs. annual power wash ?

Many of us repaint our boat's hull bottom every few years; maybe every 3 or 4 years from what I've read.

Sanding and repainting the hull below the water line is time consuming, a dirty job, possibly environmentally damaging, expensive and deciding on one or two coats to extend the hull staying clean.

On my previous R-25 (Classic) I had it hauled out and placed in the yard to have its bottom cleaned, sanded and repainted. The boat was in the yard for 3 days on stands with a huge plastic flooring underneath it to catch all the loose debris from the sanding etc. I watch the guys cleaning and repainting the hull and was glad it was them and not me doing the work.

I'm now wondering if simply having the boat hauled once per year or so, and while on the lift and up in the air the hull be lightly power washed simply to remove growth etc. If the original hull painting job has been done properly a light power wash will not cause the bottom paint to slough off.

I also wonder if no hull paint hasher been applied at all would an annual power washing be as good as applying paint to begin with and repainting every 3 years or so. Power washing would surely also be a less expensive than bottom painting.

My marina provides a light power wash policy with the boat lifted and left hanging on the lift while it's hull is power washed. It's quick and not that expensive.

Comments welcomed. Thanks.

 

[Red Raven]

We used to keep a boat with no bottom paint in the salt water here in the northwest for the summer. It starts to get growth at around one month and needed to be pulled and cleaned with a pressure washer every two months. Beyond two months and we would start to get barnacles and they are much harder to clean off and leave a mark on the hull.

Our tug is in the water for only 6 mos. of the year and the unpainted rudder and trim tabs were seeing barnacle growth. They are now both painted.

I would recommend bottom paint unless you are going to pull the boat after each use or at least every two months. If you only clean it once a year you will likely have a mess under there and it will never be completely clean of the barnacle residue again without major sanding.

Curt

 

[Chimo]

A couple of quick comments:

We are lucky in the PNW to have cold water! My experience with boats in Maryland was very different. Slime and growth seemed to jump on to the hull as the boat was launched!

I have been using Micron CSC ablative paint for years with good results keeping boats in the water all the time. These days I have a boathouse so daylight only really gets to the stern, the rest of the boat remains slime free. When I've pulled the boat I get a light pressure wash (emphasis on the LIGHT) in the lift. Any minor marks or blemishes I then wet sand by hand. That usually takes 15 minutes and I then let the hull dry out before re-coating. I have been getting three years between painting with two thin coats, taking care about the time between coats and before launch. Ignoring either one of those items will lead to flakes. The Venture 23 I sold in the fall had never been sanded down. When I bought it I did the Interprotect epoxy system on the new hull followed by a coat of red hard bottom paint and the black CSC on top. I never saw the red show through telling me the paint was getting too thin.

Hope this helps.