Hull Cleaning

S

shipforbrains

New member
Hi guys, just had my boat in PE harbour for 4-5 weeks. Holy ship! There are barnacles, weed, worms and all kinds of crap all over the bottom, not to mention the ore dust all over the top.

I've got quite a potent hi pressure cleaner that i've wapped some of the barnacles off with, but the problem areas are on the motors, transducer, trim tab cylinders etc that were not anti-foul coated.

Does anyone know if there's a product off the shelf that can be used to "loosen" the barnacles? Any help much appreciated!!!!
 

Attachments

  • IMG-20130314-00595.jpg
    IMG-20130314-00595.jpg
    61.6 KB · Views: 293
R

Racer-X

New member
Wow, that's insane!

That happened in only a month?

Try some elbow grease.

What about a small scraper and a careful hand?
 
S

shipforbrains

New member
yeah, either exactly 4 weeks or exactly 5 weeks, but i think it was 4 ...

and yeah again, seems its gonna boil down to elbow grease, but even so the little sh1ts stick so hard, you actually break of the "lump" and leave a tiny layer of barnacle behind. Then you need to get that off. Not AS bad on anti-foul but seriously bad news on anything not painted. Even plastic.

one thing learned, the convenience earned by walk-on mooring was "moor-toe" by the time the first scupper was cleaned!!
 
M

Mariusvj

New member
PE Harbour has some serious marine growth, I think the polutants make the stuff grow even better.

There is also a strong electrical charge in the water the corrodes metals.
 
S

shipforbrains

New member
definitely got that right marius - garnished with barnacles, and topped with a sprinkling of the finest export quality ore dust PE has to offer:alien


but thanks again silver, will be trying that yacht cleaner wednesday
 
L

LawrenceF

New member
You can also use acid (hydrochloric like your pool acid or muriatic) to get the stuff off any fibreglass or plastic bits but it will strip anti-foul. Toilet bowl cleaner works well on vertical surfaces because it clings allowing time to work. Good old Jik will also kill the slime and algae. For metal parts you will have to clean totally by hand. Once clean you can use International Triton 33 anti-foul in either paint or aerosol. Hell of a price but works. But to get at the back of your engine brackets they would have to come off. Do not use a HP cleaner on anti-foul unless you intend to repaint. Just a gentle scrub with a softish brush and clean water. Barnacles use a "glue" to attach. make sure you get every last bit off or the next lot will attach in no time.
 
S

shipforbrains

New member
Thanks Lawrence, i see you've come across this problem before. i had no idea the barnacles would attach so quickly and so many!! Really makes mooring very un-attractive for anything less than a 28 footer, in my opinion.

Anyhow, i have hi-pressure blasted most of them off, along with anti-foul, which i now have to re-apply. But the blasting actually shears the barnacle off and leaves the "glue" part behind, which you described. Flippin nightmare!! I got some yacht cleaner, so will try that, then play it by ear from there on. Will also try some acid, see which is best. The worst area is inside the trim/tilt where access is basically impossible, and i dont want to use acid in there.

Apparently, though, the barnacle growth rate was worse this year than "normal", so maybe i was just privileged to be host to a major barnacle festival::S
 
M

Mariusvj

New member
Bruce, speak to the owner of buoy and a dad, Tim Fleischer, he has a solution.

The modern eco friendly anti fouling paint lacks the killer instinct and you can fortify it with copper, because invertebrates cannot tolerate copper.

If you speak to any marine aquarist, they will confirm this.

Add some copper rich paint and the barnacles don't like you any more.
 
L

LawrenceF

New member
shipforbrains wrote:
Thanks Lawrence, i see you've come across this problem before. i had no idea the barnacles would attach so quickly and so many!! Really makes mooring very un-attractive for anything less than a 28 footer, in my opinion.

Anyhow, i have hi-pressure blasted most of them off, along with anti-foul, which i now have to re-apply. But the blasting actually shears the barnacle off and leaves the "glue" part behind, which you described. Flippin nightmare!! I got some yacht cleaner, so will try that, then play it by ear from there on. Will also try some acid, see which is best. The worst area is inside the trim/tilt where access is basically impossible, and i dont want to use acid in there.

Apparently, though, the barnacle growth rate was worse this year than "normal", so maybe i was just privileged to be host to a major barnacle festival::S
Click to expand...

I don't know PE waters or why it should foul so fast but my boat sits in a tropical lagoon so the growth in warm shallow water is fast. A cover should help the ore dust problem? If you want to do a 100% job of anti-foul you need to know what is under it i.e. are there epxoy coats and primer? If not, there should be. it is a job that has to be done properly like everything to do with the sea and it is a mission. If you want to do it I will describe what is needed and then you can speak to Dekro paints marine. Their stuff is good and not outrageously priced. Can you remove your T&T cylinders because that is the only way you can get in there to do a proper job?
 
M

Mariusvj

New member
PE Harbour is a mix of commercial and fishing and there are some fish processing plants in the harbour.

The fish by products that find their way into the water, deliberately, or otherwise, as well as the od sewage spill, create a nutrient rich environment, which promotes growth.

Withing three months you need to start applying for a Mariculture permit, because your boat looks like a fish farm.
 
S

shipforbrains

New member
hi Marius, missed your post earlier for some reason. Have you got contact details for Tim Fleischer? Interesting comment also about electrical charge in the harbour as well - any idea of the source? Leaking shore power or what?
 
L

LawrenceF

New member
All commercial harbours with big vessels running generators or plugged into shore power have electromagnetic pulses in the water. these are variously said to encourage or inhibit the growth of marine organisms depending on the polarity etc. It is also said to be true of ultrasonic pulses. They have tried various of these devices on yacht hulls etc but I am cynical as to whether they actually work. If they were a "sure fire" thing everybody would know about it and use them becasue it would beat the shit out of the hard dirty graft and expense of sanding and recoating antifoul etc!
 
S

shipforbrains

New member
Thanks for all the input guys - my problem has been reduced to getting the sh1t off, as i will not be leaving my boat in the water again!! So, unless i end up with a 28ft plus boat sometime, i will be trailering after every trip - and i wont have this problem again.

It's got down to manageable proportions now, and will hopefully be finished by end of the week - new anti-foul included....

For the records, the clean-up involved a Very high pressure cleaner (lifted gelcoat in places), scrapers, Yacht cleaner, 1500 grit wet paper, polishing buff, new anti-foul and lots of PT!! All this for 4 weeks in the water - still can't believe it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top