Barnacles

S

Stan Major

New member
OK it was stupid. I left my boat in the water here in New Smyrna for a month. While it was nice having a dock to be able to get out and fish every morning it seems I am going to pay the price. When I took the boat out yesterday to return back home a crust of barnacles is all over the bottom. I have seen suggestions such as CLR, LIME AWAY, vinegar, muriatic acid, scraping etc. Will I have to haul out and have this professionally done or can these nasty creatures be removed without doing too much damage to the gelcoat? I appreciate any successful experiences people may have had removing barnacles. Thanks
 
Start pressure washing the boat. Start with 1000 PSI, and if necessary work up in pressure. Max I would go is 2500 PSI, I have used up to 3500 PSI and 4 gallons a minute with a commercial boat yard sprayer with a boat which has bottom paint, where we were stripping bottom paint off. Too close this can damage gel coat.

After the pressure wash, and manual scrape with with a plastic scraper. (West Marine carries yellow flexible ones in the Epoxy resin section--used for spreading resin. Us these as an edge to remove the majority of the barnacles, left after pressure wash .)

You probably will have the small calcified foot plate left. First I would try Mary Kate "on and off" Chances are 90% it will do the job. Be very cautious and wear full neoprene gloves, a protective suit, face mask, googles, hood etc. do not get it on the trailer! If it doesn't do the job, then go with 50% muriatic acid. This is really wicked stuff--and can be very dangerous. If you cannot get 50%, dilution is by putting the acid very slowly into the water--again full protection.

Benjamin Moore makes a product called Concrete Pretreatment and Etch M85-00 which is 50% Hydrochloric Acid, The protectant is supposed to prevent damage to metals, but I would avoid getting it on the trailer.

Most likely if it does not come off with the pressure washer, you are going to have to remove the boat from the trailer, and block it up properly to get to the entire hull.
 
I keep the Anna Leigh on its trailer here on Guemes Island; but I have friends who have a slip for a 46' boat at Anacortes Marina. They leave the slip and cruise for weeks at a time and have offered that I can use the slip while they are gone (very convenient to be able use the boat as a "motel" if I have to stay late off island since our last ferry during the week is 8:30pm).

I was considering leaving the Anna Leigh in this salt water slip for the month of July just for the hell of it, and for the afore mentioned convenience. For those of you used to NW waters, if I do this, will I incur bottom problems similar to Stan Major? A month in a slip ain't worth that to me.
 
Our experience is that bottom growth doesn't happen as fast in the cold waters of the PNW as it does down south. In south Texas, we can see barnacles starting to cling in a week. Similar to Stan's water situation.

Moving the boat frequently makes a big difference. Just sitting in the slip makes it easier for growth to occur.

When we first picked up our boat, it wasn't bottom painted. We spent a couple months cruising in the PNW, moving almost daily, and there was no issue with growth. When we took the boat back to Texas, it got bottom paint.

From our perspective, there is no down side to bottom paint, other than the fact that it doesn't look shiny on the trailer.

Don't say anything about using a neighbor's slip - most marinas don't allow "sub-leasing", even if money doesn't exchange hands.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
Our experience is similar to Jim's. All of our boats have had bottom paint--but sometimes it gets old and not effective. I think for several weeks you should be OK in the PNW.

In the Florida Keys, where we spent a couple of months each winter--most of the folks pull out and pressure wash each week--2 weeks max. The winter of 2013, my bottom paint was getting old, and I didn't move the boat often due to back problems. I had a few barnacles even with bottom paint which was 4 years old. With the bottom paint, the barnacles come right off with the low pressure (1000 to 1200 PSI).
 
JamesTXSD":17lmpita said:
Don't say anything about using a neighbor's slip - most marinas don't allow "sub-leasing", even if money doesn't exchange hands.
Click to expand...
Up in this corner of Washington things are pretty easy going. This marina (one of the bigger ones) does not have a problem with the arrangement (at least short term arrangements). Now if money changed hands, they might object, but as it is the "front office" knows all about it, and indeed even have a form to fill out so they know the name and type of boat and how to reach you if necessary. The only official item was that they required that I show them my insurance certificate and they made a copy of that.
 
MSDS for Marykate on and off cleaner shows 25% muriatic acid, phosphoric acid, oxalic acid, some other stuff. For barnacle residue, my SWAG is that an equivalent dilution of muriatic acid will be as good, and far cheaper. Muriatic acid at the hardware store probably cheaper than at the boat supply store.

As Bob says, goggles, face shield, gloves, long sleeved protection, good ventilation required if you are going to work with muriatic acid. The fumes are really obnoxious, though below 50% they are much less aggressive.

Might note that it will etch concrete unless rinsed off with fresh water. And it will really play hell with the galvanizing on your trailer!
 
We leave our boat in the water here in PA for 3 - 4 weeks at a time and then pull it out to clean , fuel , ect. Have had no problems , a little muck on the bottom but that comes right off ..... being in cold water is the deal . If I was in a warmer water area I would think twice about having a boat without bottom paint in the water for a long period .
 
I know this is kind of off topic but......

We are in tine water year round so when the boat was new I paid the big bucks and had the bottom sealed with Interprotect 2000E and then bottom painted. I happen to have good experience with Micron CSC back in the Chesapeake so I asked for a couple of coats of that in black. At the suggestion of the yard they first put on a coat of hard bottom paint in red. The idea is that if I ever see the red I know I must repaint soon. So far I am finding that two coats easily lasts two years without red showing through. Since the original I have painted the bottom myself.

I do check the hull from time to time. I don't like standing in cold water near the beach so I use the GoPro to take a look around.
 
Stan - I have had that happen a few times on different boats over the years (my current boat has bottom paint). I have found a couple of ways to deal with them. With the boat in the water, I anchor in shallow water, go over the bottom with a medium to hard bristle boat brush, lightly scrape with a plastic scraper as Bob suggests, and then remove the remaining circular calcium plates with a non-scratching Scotchbrite pad (heavy Scotchbrite will leave small scratches in the gelcoat). When the boat is out of the water, I let the bottom dry--I find that they are easier to remove after drying--then lightly scrape and use a pressure washer. I use a spray-on rust removal product intended for taking irrigation water stains off of the house (Goof Off or Zep at Loews). I spray it on with a garden sprayer, let it sit for about five-minutes and rinse it off. I then brush and use Scotchbrite as above. The rust remover has not caused an issue with my trailers (it is rinsed off well). I have found these techniques affective and not too difficult.
 
Last season I tried Mary Kates and a couple other hull cleaners ,finally went to straight muratic acid. After 4 hrs I decided to take it and have it done. That muratic acid sure is harsh,accidently getting a few wiffs, that is bad stuff. Then the workers did gel coat damage with a power washer too high and too close ,you could see it chipped through where tip was to close. Also ruined transducer wire with the power washer. This spring took it somewhere new they made repairs and bottom painted it.
 
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