clean bottom

[tmorgan]

I dry sail my Sun Cat on a fresh water lake so I don't have any paint on the bottom.  How long can I keep her in the salt water on the Chesapeake Bay before stuff starts sticking and growing on the bottom? 

I took a couple of 4 day trips to the Bay last year and never thought about it but this year we are planning a 10 day cruise.

[Bob23]

   Well, the Chesapeake should be warmer than the Barnegat Bay here in NJ so you can expect more growth sooner. Up here, an unpainted boat will see growth in about 3 weeks or so. True, just a bit of growth but who wants any?
   Bob23, barnacle free!

[doug]

Don't think you can count on more than 2-3 days without growth in the height of summer. Stuff grows fast in the bay. Given that, and my desire to sail (instead launching on Fridays and removing on Sunday), it was bottom paint in my second season; its still a good idea to pull it and power wash mid summer (or at least give it a good scrub in wading depth). With paint I still ended up with both hard and soft growth (the hard on my tape stripe due to the weight of the o/b on the port side).

[doug]

I responded without reading the entire post (just like at work). Our neighbor kept his boat in the bay during summer without paint for a week or so. Required a power wash but everything came clean.

[multimedia_smith]

My boat has no bottom paint... only the gel coat with starbrite teflon sealant/polish.  I typically trailer for a day sail or an overnight.
My question is... Do I need to worry about blistering if I keep it in the water for a week?
Thanks in advance for anyone's experience
Dale

[Paul]

One week?   Absolutely not.  One year?  Now maybe.

You know mine had blisters.  Kept it in the water for over a year.  Didn't even consider blisters to be a possiblitiy.  So, what was the time frame when the blisters started to show?  Between one week and one year.   No really.  I think warm weather, wave action, and certain conditions when the boat was made all influence whether one gets blisters or not.  The local boat repair shop told me to just keep sailing.  It's just a cosmetic thing.  He was right.  No structural damage occurred at all.

In addition, antifouling bottom paint won't prevent blisters anyway.  A barrier coat (Epoxy) will severely reduce the chances of blisters.  In all my research on the matter, I figure the scare of "blisters!!" has been over done.  Don't get me wrong.  They are bad, but it's not the end of the boat.

Hope this helps,

Paul

[multimedia_smith]

Thanks... I'm planning on taking her to a fresh water lake for a week and I really don't want to paint the bottom... In fact that was one of the deciding factors in getting this particular boat... just plain beautiful gel coat and no hidden repairs under the paint.  It's in great shape and the teflon coating seems pretty good... I wasn't sure about putting a thick wax coating on...
I'll rest easier now... thanks for your response.
Dale

[curtisv]

My boat has no bottom paint... only the gel coat with starbrite teflon sealant/polish.  I typically trailer for a day sail or an overnight.
My question is... Do I need to worry about blistering if I keep it in the water for a week?
Thanks in advance for anyone's experience
Dale

No worries about blistering in a matter or weeks.  The only boat I know that had a blistering problem was sailed by a couple from Cape Cod to the Carribean and the boat spent 10 months in the water most of the time in some very warm water.

Curtis

[mrb]

Blisters,  I've kept two boats in salt water and not had any problem with blisters. One boat was clean when I bought it and clean when I sold it due to good bottom coat. Other boat was sail boat rigged for ocean passages.  The original owner became ill and his son sold it after years of boat sitting at dock with no care.  Next two owners didn't have a clue and then I bought it on a leap of faith or stupidity.  I had her hauled and took three bushel of muscles and countless growths of the bottom and was very pleased to find her blister free. I cleaned her and applied the same coat that the coast guard was using at the time.  A year latter she was still clean.

Now to the subject of worrying about blisters in a couple weeks. My opinion is don't let that worry enter your mind.  Fresh water or salt. Water molecules have to migrate through the jell coat in sufficient quantity to cause blisters and I don't think that is going to happen in two weeks or even three months. A good polish does a lot to help protect the boat.

As to blisters if you get or have them don't let any one say not to worry.  Take care of them even if you have to cut sailing season short. THEY CAN DELAMINATE THE GLASS LAYERS, then you have big time problems.

Just my observations and opinion
good sailing
Melvin

[Finbar Beagle]

Folks,

Been researching how long un-painted  bottom could remain clean-ish, (hose, light scrubbing, do it yourself car wash...), in mid summer in various conditions (brackish, fresh, salt) in the East coast seaboard, let's say GA to MA.

It seems to be round 2 weeks, with recommendation to have good, recent wax polish.

Does this sound practicable?

Thanks,
Brian

[Bob23]

I'd bet that Georgia and Massachusetts are quite different.

[Finbar Beagle]

Bob,

Good point, I guess GA would be worse case.  I may be picking up a Picnic Cat, and believe my tow range comfort level to be 8 hours, so from Barnegate Bay, NJ to Glocester harbor MA, and south to the Pamilco Sound, NC.  I have a family connection with Hilton Head, SC, so Calibogue Sound would be southern terminus.

So if 2 weeks for Barnegate Bay, in Late July, is it 5 days in Savannah Georgia, and 10 days in Boston?

[Bob23]

I'll be on Cape Ann at the end of July. I'll ask around.

[jdklaser]

Protect your investment.  Take the time to put a few barrier coats on the bottom.  Money well spent

[Salty19]

Wow--brought a 10 year old topic back to life!   One of the cool thing about these boats is advice from 10 years ago still applies today.
And questions asks then are still being asked today.

I would feel OK with doing what you suggest without paint or barrier.  A couple of weeks max pulling it in between (and presumably washing/drying) shouldn't be a problem anywhere.  My thoughts are if you find areas of growth that needs scrubbing hard, acidic chemicals, or a magic eraser to remove then you need barrier coat to keep these organisms at bay.

The barrier coat jdklaser suggests does help protect the bottom in general, things like groundings and beaching, accidental or on purpose.  It's not a bad idea to have a barrier coat, but it's not too pretty to look at and restoring back to gelcoat in the future is very difficult.