Prop and shaft fouling, ouch....

[bostonhatteras]

[QUOTE=Scrod;268681]Spray on straight Muriatic acid. Makes a great smoke show. Be sure to wear your PPE.

Brushing or spraying, doesn't the muriatic acid have an effect on the passivation of the stainless? I've seen bright stainless turn dark grey and then form rust after being treated with muriatic acid. The phosphoric acid I used this spring didn't make the barnacles fall off but it loosened them considerably so that quick passes with the wire cup on the grinder made short work of the clean up.

[brico]

I have power brass wire brushed the shafts and props with ease 48 hours after the boat was out of the water and on dry. It was easy job, about 20 minutes each side (prop and shaft)

After talking to few boaters in the yard who provided very positive feedback on Pettit Prop Coat Barnacle Barrier http://www.pettitpaint.com/product.asp?id=262

I am going with that option for this haul out. I just have to remind myself to do a monthly check with my Go-Pro camera to see what is the condition and rate of fouling (if any) and make the timely decision for next haul-out.

[MikeP]

When our boat's bottom is painted, the yard also paints the shafts/props with the bottom paint. That usually keeps the shafts/props fairly clean for THAT season but otherwise the barnacles build up fast. Typically, it takes around 2 months for the barnacle buildup s to reduce our 53MY's WOT speed from 17+ knots to 10-11.

Since the boat only comes out of the water for bottom painting, the only way to get rid of the barnacles is to periodically dive the boat/scrape them off. If there is some coating that will keep barnacles off for the long term, that would be REALLY neat.

[rsmith]

Not a wire wheel fan. I've always felt the wheel transfers metal from the wires and seems to smear and close the pores of what your buzzing up so the paint won't adhere as well. I prefer a disk sander for the job

[thoward]

Our haulout survey for purchase.lol

[Avenger]

Spray on straight Muriatic acid. Makes a great smoke show. Be sure to wear your PPE.

Brushing or spraying, doesn't the muriatic acid have an effect on the passivation of the stainless? I've seen bright stainless turn dark grey and then form rust after being treated with muriatic acid. The phosphoric acid I used this spring didn't make the barnacles fall off but it loosened them considerably so that quick passes with the wire cup on the grinder made short work of the clean up.

I should have been more specific. My yard does just the props with straight muriatic. Never noticed any color difference on the shafts around them. Shafts are cleaned by scraping and abrasives. Passivating involves dipping ferrous metals in acid, so I'm not sure if more acid would be an issue.

[Finalee]

Our haulout survey for purchase.lol

Hate changing the subject' but I gotta ask how was the rest of the boat?

[thoward]

Hate changing the subject' but I gotta ask how was the rest of the boat?

It was essentially an outdated, unmolested, one owner, northern boat. The market crashed and it was left to sit for about 3 years hence the growth. Is has been a great boat although there have been some hickups here and there.

[jim rosenthal]

You know your boat has been in the water a long time when the barnacles grow feet with shoes on them.

[JakeC]

Oh my, that just made me laugh so hard, perfect!