Boat Hull Cleaning

[Hatter]

I will bet we have a few folks involved in boating as well as shooting - how else would all the unfortunate boating accidents where guns are "lost" occur?

I have a 19 foot I/O that had the hull fouled with barnacles last year, and am looking for someone to clean them off and buff the gelcoat back to a decent appearance.

Any MDS folks providing that service, or recommend a good shop in the Baltimore/York corridor? I live just over the line into PA now, but the boat is on a trailer and can be moved fairly easily.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

 

[TopTechAgent]

Check out Green Clean Mobile Soda blasting.
http://www.gcmobilesodablasting.com/ I know they do boats and they travel to you or your marina.

 

[bkuether]

Are they attached to paint, or raw gel coat?

I have found the trick to getting those buggers off is some type of vibration.

I created my own "wave blade" and while painful to use, was a heck of a lot cheaper than the real thing. But if they are that bad, you will have to go that route.

Here is the link to waveblade....

https://www.waveblade.com/

The trick is to lay the blade on the surface lightly.... and let the vibrating blade do the work. Jam on it, you get less vibration and less results.

 

[TheBert]

I will bet we have a few folks involved in boating as well as shooting - how else would all the unfortunate boating accidents where guns are "lost" occur?

I have a 19 foot I/O that had the hull fouled with barnacles last year, and am looking for someone to clean them off and buff the gelcoat back to a decent appearance.

Any MDS folks providing that service, or recommend a good shop in the Baltimore/York corridor? I live just over the line into PA now, but the boat is on a trailer and can be moved fairly easily.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Do you have a son or two around whom you can cajole into cleaning the boat for the good of the family?

What was the best was to take the boat to a shallow beach and use the sand to rub down the hull below the waterline every once in a while. Or, when that wasn't available you buy some abrasive pads with handles attached and give them to your son and tell him, when the boats hull is clean he can ask to use the car. Best two Christmas presents I bought my dad was a bilge pump and anti-fouling paint.

 

[Yotatech]

Check out Green Clean Mobile Soda blasting.
http://www.gcmobilesodablasting.com/ I know they do boats and they travel to you or your marina.

If you have any build up on the bottom with layers of paint soda blasting isn't aggressive enough you need sand blast.

 

[Hatter]

I will see if I can get some pics up. I used a pressure washer to get the bulk of the shell off, but still have the "feet" and some other staining still to remove. The hull was not painted with anti-fouling paint, gel-coat only. This was the first time the boat was kept at a mooring - it was always on a trailer before.

It is my own fault for not realizing that even in brackish water (Magothy River) the barnacles would attack. I have not tried using chemicals while the boat is on the trailer for fear of damaging the galvanized trailer.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far!

 

[bkuether]

I will see if I can get some pics up. I used a pressure washer to get the bulk of the shell off, but still have the "feet" and some other staining still to remove. The hull was not painted with anti-fouling paint, gel-coat only. This was the first time the boat was kept at a mooring - it was always on a trailer before.

It is my own fault for not realizing that even in brackish water (Magothy River) the barnacles would attack. I have not tried using chemicals while the boat is on the trailer for fear of damaging the galvanized trailer.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far!

OK here is the truth. You can't get barnacles off with chemicals. Some may loosen them up a little, but no matter what, you need either brawn or technology. Check out the wave blade. Talk to the owners and reps of the company. It works. What I did was take a paint tool from Home Depot, and attached a detail sander to it. (Not sure how, but it worked). Now I was taking them off of a painted surface, and this was one year that they were really really bad. Attached to raw gel coat? I am thinking that's a no jury rigged device like mine could have handled.

Regarding brackish water....

I have my boat up in a creek in Middle River. We get growth, although I get away most of the time with my fresh water paint. Honestly you need to have paint on your bottom everywhere in the bay. Above Middle River you can start to get away with fresh water hard paint, but it also depends how far back you are.

For the Magothy? You are doing full strength salt water bottom paint. Don't even try anything else down there. And yeah, I do know, kept my other boat in Greys Creek for 4 years outside of Dobbins Island.

 

[jc1240]

For in-water cleaning, preventive maintenance, anode replacement, etc, check with KB Diver Services (http://kbdiverservices.net). Having them do a yearly cleaning or 2 can go a long way with fairly little cost.

 

[cantstop]

If you are in a marina, make sure the dockmaster is ok with the folks you chose. You are responsible for any damage done to marina property or other boats while contractors work on your boat. At a minimum, make sure the folks you pick are licensed and bonded.

 

[JWBanshee]

you can use on-off by mary kate. its an acid that will melt the barnacles right off your boat. read the instructions. I use a cheap garden sprayer . make sure you wet down any galvinized bolts or the trailer. it will eat the coating off.
JW

 

[ironpony]

Best product for this is elbow grease. If you want a clean gel coat finish in the end it may not be a good idea to soda blast and don't sand blast gel coat you may find it too abrasive and in need of an epoxy primer to re-seal everything then bottom paint. Smooth edge scraper and elbow grease if the power washer does not work. Barnacles can attach very well to bare gel, gives me shivers thinking about it. Not trying to scare you. I have some bottom paint in blue if you go that route, cheap! or trade. Seahawk Cukote 3442 PM . Good Luck.

 

[Ringmaster]

Soda blasting is for removing gelcoat. As the above poster stated the only way to remove barnacles is elbow greese. Get yourself a Mr. Gasket gasket scraper or a drywall tool from Home Depot and start scraping. Putty knives will not work. Not stiff enough. You only have a 19 footer. Should only take a couple of days or buy a few tools and get it done quicker with a few friends. After scraping the bottom smooth sand with 120 grit on a palm sander. Wipe down with a marine paint thinner. Roll on a couple of coats of an ablative bottom pant. Lightly sand every year and roll on one coat of fresh paint. Never do this job again.

 

[CrazyIvan]

I have an antique sailboat that I race out of Annapolis. Many years ago when I first bought the boat, it was covered in large barnacles. I had to use the multi-tool method. The problem to watch out for with a fibreglas boat is that those things attach really well, and can actually damage the gelcoat trying to remove them. On my old boat, (1960's Cal 25) we had to just suck it up and scrape them off anyway. There were lots of areas where the gelcoat was compromised, so we actually sanded the hull fair after removing the barnacles, sprayed 4 coats of Interlux Interprotect 2000 epoxy barrier coat, then had the bottom shot with Petit Vivid hard shell bottom paint. If you like the look of your boat with a bare (no paint) bottom, Vivid also comes in white or a host of colors that should almost match your hull color.

Good luck with the project!
CrazyIvan

 

[Hatter]

Thanks again to everyone for your experience and suggestions. With the weather starting to get nicer, I guess I will break out the scraper and sander and attack this project myself. It really is not a large boat, so I will eventually get it done.

Once I get back home (travelling for work right now), I will stop by the rental place and see if they have jacks I can use to get the trailer out from under the boat and have clear access to the whole bottom at once.