Cleaning a moored boat

C

C-Dawg

New member
I'm keeping my boat moored in salt water this summer and I'm curious how others perform periodic cleaning. Do you wash the boat in the slip after each use? How often do you haul out and perform a full hull wash? I don't have anti-fouling paint on the hull, so how often should I haul out and thoroughly clean?
 
After about a month in our marina, with no use, my bosses sailboat had a very good growth of green hair 1-3 inches. It did have very old (maybe 10 year) bottom paint. I believe that it depends on how frequently and how fast it is moved that will determine some of how long you can go between cleanings.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
C-Dawg":35rq33vx said:
I'm keeping my boat moored in salt water this summer and I'm curious how others perform periodic cleaning. Do you wash the boat in the slip after each use? How often do you haul out and perform a full hull wash? I don't have anti-fouling paint on the hull, so how often should I haul out and thoroughly clean?
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You really need antifouling paint on your hull if you're keeping it in the water. Without bottom paint you are inviting trouble....I would pull it no less than monthly to scrub it down but at this effort and expense bottom paint will be cheaper.

I fresh water rinse my vessel (hull and engines) after each use. I do not plan to pull it for a cleaning until the end of the season.
 
We keep the boat in dry storage, but I just got back from a month long trip with it and there was very little growth on it. Most of the growth was on the aft quarter and the transom, but we were moving every day so that would impact the amount of growth.
 
We Moor in saltwater in Anacortes for the warmest part of the year. My wife and I just hauled the boat and applied a good coat of Collinite's wax. With the wax in place a hosing off with freshwater after each use keeps things looking alright. Droppings and dirt don't seem to bite in as much and are easier to get off. We'll grub her out in the late Fall and wax again before putting her away for the Winter. The key with exteriors of course is not to let it degrade or it becomes very difficult to restore the finish. I had the bottom barrier-coated and bottom painted this Spring. It's way easier than hauling out and pressure washing every several weeks to get the green hair and barnacles off. I would recommend keeping the boat out of the water for at least a few months each year regardless. It seems to be way easier on the boat to let it dry out like this. We also have a sunbrella cockpit cover to keep the cockpit from holding too much rain water. I've seen folks use boat washes of various sorts in the water (some claim to be biodegradable) but if you keep it waxed this is unnecessary. Good luck! Mike.
 
Thanks for the replies. I was wondering about using soap at the marina, whether it was frowned upon or not. I do plan to get the bottom painted at the end of this season so I'll just haul it out every three weeks or so to clean really well.

How do you wax the entire hull while it's sitting on the trailer?
 
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