Hello Everybody
I was talking with a yard manager the other day and he suggested using cold galvanizing zinc spray to protect the running gear from barnacles. I thought that was a very interesting solution. I have used the zinc spray before and it sticks like crazy, but I didn't use it underwater so I don't have experience with that. Has anyone ever attempted this? He said you would simply spray the shafts and the propellers with the coating. I suppose it couldn't hurt. Another topic that came up was cleaning the bottom paint with muriatic acid. I have brushed muriatic acid on the shafts and propellers to get rid of the Marine growth in the past and it works wonders. I never once thought of using it to clean the scum from the bottom pain. I would imagine the muriatic acid would give a nice etch to the existing paint Enabling an even better bond with the new paint. Anybody ever do this? Many yards won't let you sand, but etching with a product that turns inert pretty quickly seems like a viable alternative.