2015 Summer Haul Out: Part 2

--Blogpost written by Bob

Before the bottom painting was started, I arranged for the boatyard to clean and wax the hull, paying specific attention to removing the black marks on the navy blue boot stripe.  This only added $500 to the haul out costs and was well worth it since it made the hull look like new! 

Coating on Propeller & Shaft

Last year we had unusually high growth of slime and barnacles on the Chesapeake Bay.  Several times during the summer we had to dive below and scrape the barnacles off the propeller.  Some of the added marine growth was due to the fact that we skipped bottom painting last year because the boat was hauled out during the winter for the fuel tank replacement and it was too cold to paint the bottom before relaunching.  I never had to coat the propeller and shaft to prevent barnacle growth in previous years--so, this was a first for me (but it is becoming fairly common on other boats on the Chesapeake Bay).

The gray coating on the propeller and shaft looks great--it is Petit's Barnacle Buster.
I hope it keeps the barnacles off!

Pettit Barnacle Barrier in spray cans.

What surprises could still be lurking?

Surprise, No Coal Tar Epoxy!

The coal tar epoxy barrier coat that I was told was installed on the bottom when I bought the boat 30 years ago was not there after soda blasting--it was apparently never installed.  I thought about adding a barrier coat now since the bottom had been stripped down to the bare fiberglass.  After thoroughly discussing the situation with Luke Frey, Hartge's Service Manager, we decided NOT to add another barrier coat.  The fiberglass below the waterline had relatively high moisture readings--water had been absorbed into the fiberglass over the years because of the type of fiberglass that was used 30 years ago.  (When the head discharge thru hull was removed we confirmed that my hull is not cored below the waterline--this makes the moisture content in the fiberglass more acceptable than water in the core.  Incidentally, above the waterline, the cored hull was "dry as a bone.")  Adding a barrier coat over fiberglass containing moisture would not provide any protection whatsoever.  We decided to fill all pock marks and voids in the bottom and then apply new bottom paint.

Filling Voids

The boatyard used a 3M brand vinyl ester resin to the fill
the small voids and pock marks on the bottom.

Bottom Painting

A special anti-fouling paint is used on the boat's bottom (the area normally underwater) to minimize marine growth.  We use an ablative type of bottom paint which is designed to wear away over time--so it has to be reapplied every year or two.  It contains copper and biocides that resist marine growth.

I've changed the brand of bottom paint this year because the biocide that was used in the old brand's paint has been discontinued and the new biocide used by the same manufacturer is not as effective.  I've switched to Petit Ultima SR-60 because I understand their biocide is more effective.  If it holds up well I will continue to use it.

Good bottom paint like Petit Ultima SR-60 cost over $200 per gallon, quite a
bit more than your average household paint.  The high cost is due to the
high copper content and the biocides in the paint.

The first coat of bottom paint was applied while dodging rain drops.  There is some wax
along the waterline (white deposit) which must be removed before adding the
second coat of bottom paint. The paint color is a much darker green.

Summary

This year's haul out cost about $5,500--more than double the cost of previous haul outs because of the additional work.  The soda blasting represented about 30% of the total cost of this year's haul out.  I am very pleased with all the work and it provides me some peace of mind for our future cruising plans.

With our boat back in the water, we will be moving aboard for most of the summer while our master bathroom undergoes a massive renovation prior to the sale of our house.

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