Bottom Coat Required?

Hello,
I have a 17’ Double Eagle that I’m planning on mooring at a marina for 3 months this summer.
There’s no antifouling on the boat now and I’m reluctant to put it on.
Does anybody have an idea of how often I’d have to pull the boat and clean the bottom to keep the barnacles and growth off?

Cheers,
BN
 
depends on how often you run it, I pull mine once a year.. zincs, scuff, paint..

depends on where you moor also, salinity and light being huge factors.

if it just sat,,, be prepared, in salty water and high light exposure to have micro Barneys in a few weeks without paint.
 
depends on how often you run it, I pull mine once a year.. zincs, scuff, paint..

depends on where you moor also, salinity and light being huge factors.

if it just sat,,, be prepared, in salty water and high light exposure to have micro Barneys in a few weeks without paint.
So is there a lot less growth if in a boathouse?
 
I know guys who just cover their outdrives with a black tarp and they get way less growth......and yes madjigga, I am following you
 
Your boat may enjoy it’s beard
My boat goes in at Telegraph beginning of May till mid September . I fish about 3-4 days a week and pull it once a month. May and June aren't to bad but tiny barnacles and a bit of hair on the waterline and leg. July and August are definitely more with the sun
 
If you need it, you need it, but if you can get away without it you are better off. I would say try it this season without the bottom paint and pull the boat a few times and pressure wash it and see how that works for you. You can always paint it for the following year if you find that not working out. It really does depend how much you use it (water friction on the hull and the number of bright sunny days etc.). Even with the paint you may still have to pull the boat to clean off legs, pods, motor mounts, below water line through hull fittings, trim tabs, transducer etc. - depending on the boat configuration. If you start losing bottom lock at depth, it sometimes means there is lots of growth on the transducer. We have bottom paint and if we leave the boat in too long we can have mussels, barnies and weed growing all over the outboard mounts and the tabs/rams, etc.
 
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I wouldn’t do it if it’s just for 3 months, actually to be honest I don’t see the point of the paint at all theses days, doesn’t seem that effective at keeping the growth off. Either way you end up having to scrub and clean off the bottom of the boat. Once it’s painted it’s constantly needing to be touched up and re done. I moored my boat for 10 years and had to clean it lots to keep growth down, and now that I trailer I wish the paint wasn’t there and that’s hard to undo
 
@Gham I’m trying to remember what you used that helped your hull stay cleaner for longer?
 
Hello,
I have a 17’ Double Eagle that I’m planning on mooring at a marina for 3 months this summer.
There’s no antifouling on the boat now and I’m reluctant to put it on.
Does anybody have an idea of how often I’d have to pull the boat and clean the bottom to keep the barnacles and growth off?

Cheers,
BN

I have had my boat moored year-round without bottom paint for ten years. In the summer I try to pull and clean every 3 weeks (there will only be a thin scum on the hull which is easily removed with a bleaching and light scrubbing or just rinse). At 4 weeks or more you will start to get weed growth and barnacles requiring bleaching and a good scrub. In the dead of winter I have gone 2 months with minimal growth on the hull.

...Rob
 
I wouldn’t do it if it’s just for 3 months, actually to be honest I don’t see the point of the paint at all theses days, doesn’t seem that effective at keeping the growth off. Either way you end up having to scrub and clean off the bottom of the boat. Once it’s painted it’s constantly needing to be touched up and re done. I moored my boat for 10 years and had to clean it lots to keep growth down, and now that I trailer I wish the paint wasn’t there and that’s hard to undo

True once you paint it you will be messing with it forever. On a glass boat the paint is soft and chalky because it is ablative and designed to wear off from water friction and expose fresh toxins to kill the micro critters trying to attach to it. Sometimes it still gets a scum on it, especially if it does not get run a lot in the bright months, and you have to be very careful cleaning it off or you will take too much of the paint off. Bottom paint is not that good for boats that are on and off trailers a lot, because that also will scuff off the paint, bunks more than rollers.

I also think having it on the boat can make it a little more difficult to sell a smaller boat and may reduce its value a little. Some may wonder if it is covering up a bad hull/gel coat repair job and it is hard to remove it all if the new buyer wants to only use it in a lake. Often it does not look that good, especially if it has not been freshly painted. Bottom paint tends to make more sense for larger boats that spend a lot of time (years) in marina slips and less sense the smaller the boat is. My boat has a large hull forming Al pod so it has to have two different types of bottom paint. The paint I use on the Al part of the boat is a lot less ablative and more durable but also less effective at anti-fouling than the super soft anti fouling bottom paint designed for the glass main hull. I was taught that Al and glass hulls have different requirements for bottom paint.
 
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I have owned my boat since new (1992) and it is berthed every summer and on the trailer each winter. I never painted the hull and never wanted to. You have to pull once a month and bleach below the waterline. Use straight bleach in a garden sprayer. Mine is a larger one with a 3 foot hose and nozzle attachment. I do this after loading the boat on the trailer then haul it a mile to the power wand car wash in Sooke. In the months with the worst growth you may have to spray the bleach a second time and then hit stubborn spots a third time to remove. I use the car wash foam brush to get blood and stains off the sides while waiting for the bleach to do its thing, then finish with a rinse. If you get any barni's at all there will be few and so small you can just drag your nail across them and flick them off. If you can keep the bottom of the hull polished and waxed it will keep the gelcoat from getting calcium stains that will develop over time. Not a big deal because there are some good caustic cleaners that will easly remove that too.
 
I do the 3-4 month summer moorage thing and usually pull it once to clear the bottom of those tiny barnacles. I know it’s time because I can see my fuel economy has dropped a bit. I’ll get a slight hairy carpet growth at the chine near the waterline but can control it with a stiff bristle broom once a week at the dock. I also hit the zincs with a wire brush weekly since I can reach them from the swim platform. This has been my program the last 6 years.

I say skip the bottom paint.
 
I have owned my boat since new (1992) and it is berthed every summer and on the trailer each winter. I never painted the hull and never wanted to. You have to pull once a month and bleach below the waterline. Use straight bleach in a garden sprayer. Mine is a larger one with a 3 foot hose and nozzle attachment. I do this after loading the boat on the trailer then haul it a mile to the power wand car wash in Sooke. In the months with the worst growth you may have to spray the bleach a second time and then hit stubborn spots a third time to remove. I use the car wash foam brush to get blood and stains off the sides while waiting for the bleach to do its thing, then finish with a rinse. If you get any barni's at all there will be few and so small you can just drag your nail across them and flick them off. If you can keep the bottom of the hull polished and waxed it will keep the gelcoat from getting calcium stains that will develop over time. Not a big deal because there are some good caustic cleaners that will easly remove that too.
Please suggest a good cleaner for f-glass, my hull is stained from oily water.
 
So I'm in the same situation this year. First time going into the water for 6 months. I have a 17ft double eagle. Non painted hull. So just pull it out every month give it a clean down and we should be good?
 
what BarryA says. It's helpful if you can park in freshwater for a few days every so often (ev. few months) - if you don't trailer and launch/retrieve. Once you get past the spring barnacle and then mussel settlement season - it gets easier.
 
In the spring i can go 5-6 weeks without pulling the boat. In the summer 4 weeks is max. Put zinc cream all over trim or part of motor in the water as that well help keep growth and mussles off. It looks like crap but it works.

Please suggest a good cleaner for f-glass, my hull is stained from oily water.

FSR gets most stains off.
 
I agree with most here, don't paint your hull if it's only for three months, but make sure your zincs are still good! Depends on how often you will be using the boat, and some areas will have faster growth, but pull it out once a month and give it a good cleaning, should be fine.
 
Zincs! Good one FR. Totally.

Now-a-days they even have specialized "zincs" - different for FW, estuarine & SW. Zincs are a cheap but critical replacement - esp. for aluminum boats and lower ends. Even if they aren't quite ready for replacement yet - use a wire brush and clean the oxides off the outside every once in a while when you get a chance.
 
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