BARNACLES...

[JohnD]

Need some help and advise from the faithful.

I'm in the Chesapeake and problems keeping barnacles off my running gear. I like to get in early in the spring and have found that by late June, July at the latest I'm loosing speed and my running gear has fowled.

The last 2 years I've been sanding, priming with a metal primer and then applying TRILUX.

This year I waited until mid-July to pull and clean the gear, made it AC and back ok then in Aug, I came down with a bad cold and was laid up for a few weeks. By the time I got back out on the water it was the 18th of Aug & gear was fowled again causing me to loose 3-5kts off cruse (and I only cruise at 19-20kts).

I guess I made my mistake by not sanding and re-painting when I did the short haul in July, but there's gotta be a better way.

I'd like to make some longer runs for the late fall rockfish season, but don't want to short haul a month before I haul for the winter.

Any ideas?

-jd

[Sean B]

Not happy to hear the trilux isn't working. I'm just trying it for the first time. In your two-year experience with it, does it fall or wear off, or do barnacles just stick to it anyway? I know the props would probably shed it quickly, and I'm trying "mussell buster" coating on those, but don't have not enough experience to report anything on either coating yet.

As for you immediate problem, don't know any cure except to go swimming with a scraper

[Rawleigh]

I was going to do Mussell Buster last year but ran out of time. Maybe next year!! I'm all for this type of treatment. So far nothing else works. I haven't tried UV's Max wax yet, but I will put that on the rest of my running gear.

[JohnD]

Sean, yeah once the paint starts to fall/wear off the barnacles stick.

a short haul and pwerwash is abot $8/ft so for my 35 that's $280, just to get cleaned off. If I want to sand and re-paint I may get hit with a blocking fee (just depends on mood, or how busy they are) $5/ft plus the supplies for me to do the work.

One way around it is to hold off launching until late may & that seems to get me through September. After the water cools it's they are as agressive.

I'd love to try MaxWax, but figure the same thing it might work for a while then need a re-application.

Another option is to install a lift, but that's $10k + for a 30,000lb model.

[John F.]

John-

Let me know if you find out what works. My experience on the good ol' Chesapeake has been that if I run her at least once a week--even just to get her on plane and have a cold one, I don't get all that much build-up. If she sits for any time at all, the barnacles come. I try to dive my boat (mask and snorkle) mid-summer, and can knock off the stray barnacles in under an hour. Not bad unless the sea nettles have started.

Hope all is well--fishin' pretty much stinks mid-Bay. All small. Went out this am jigging on the Whaler, and biggest I got was just under 18." No one else aroudn I talked to/saw got anything close to keeper size. I trolled last Sat am on the B31 for a couple of hours--one little feesh. If it picks up, we'll all go out for a day of draggin' on the Anna E.

John F.

[Brewster Minton]

I was told to put hot sauce in the paint and they hate that. I have used it two seasons in a row with few to none on my gear.Pit Bull Hot Sauce.

[JohnD]

The fish seem thick in the Patapsco but not hungry.

We cought 4 last weekend 2-22'' 2-18'', last week my neighbor had 8 fish in the boat in under an hour but non bigger than 24'' this time of year we don't get really big fish this far north.

Brewster, I love that tip and will give it a try next year.

Its funny, back in late Aug/Sept I removed my outriggers so the drawbrige wasn't an issue. but by then the damage was done. I tried taking a dive with swimming mask but they were just too thick.

Sounds like hot sauce in the paint and more frequent trips next year !

br,
John

[In Memory Walter K]

I knew a guy who always mixed Cayenne pepper in his paint, Said it leached out all season and worked. Walter

[Dug]

When you say mix the pepper into the paint, you mean into the bottom paint.

I don't think you can put bottom antifouling paint on the running gear can you?

Won't it react badly between the metals?

[Carl]

You can put bottom paint the the running gear, it can cause issues with the SS, but it flakes off before damage is done.

Cayenne, tabasco and others I have tried, but really don't see a difference, other then the cayenne clogged the tip when trying to spray.

Running and scraping often seem to work best, especially in those hot months.

[In Memory of Vicroy]

Well, the Max Wax is still under study as no one has seemed to have tried it on our boats running gear. The buzz came from Corrosion X via a press release a few months ago that their biggest customer for the Max Wax, the Port of Auckland, N.Z. had discovered that spraying a 2-3 mil coating of Max Wax on propellers, then letting it cure out of the water for 12-24 hours before splashing, prevented any marine growth for 6 months.

I tried it on the little prop on my Honda 15hp and ran the motor in the slings for a while, then picked the boat up a little to where the prop would cavitate, ran it there for a while, figuring that would blast it off if it was gonna come off. It did not come off. Have run the boat a good bit, and its still there. But the Goo Boat is at the camp in a sling lift, and fresh water to boot, so no real test other than it seems to stick good.

Someone needs to try the Max Wax on big B31 wheels and lets see if it works or not. Application needs to be on a clean wheel, wipe down with alcohol to get any oil off, then one coat of 2-3 mils, let it cure the 12-24 hours (less if warm, more if cold).

If anyone want to really give it a try and is fixing to haul, I'll send you all you need free. Let me know.

UV

[RussP]

http://www.propspeed.com/

This stuf is like CX for your running gear!!!

I've worked on many yachts with this on the running gear and never seen marine groth period.
I have it on my props and so far so good. The running gear has to be completly clean and application instructions have to be followed and you never have to worry and barnicles again. It's so slippery you don't even have to lube a shaft to remove it, slides right out. It'll run around $300 to do the gear but in heavy fouling areas it's worth it.
Good luck,
RussP

[JohnD]

The propspeed sounds interesting. I've shot them an e-mail and asked for more info/samples. The website has some intersting pictures.

I had heard of something like this before but you had to send your stuff to them.

thanks for the ideas guys.

-JohnD

[Sean B]

Propspeed is starting to gain a following in my area too. I also thought you had to send stuff out for the coating- I think that might have changed recently? If you can do everything in place yourself then come time for the next bottom job I might try it. Looks like there are some serious and particular requirements for the coating method. Top coat three minutes after the primer coat, so you need two guys- one painting the final coat just behind the guy painting on the primer...seems like something I would want to do myself with a capable buddy, as opposed to trusting yard labor. I saw it on some demo props in a Canaveral prop shop, and it looked like a thick coat of varnish.

Vic, I've got the boat on the hard this week with fresh trilux being re-painted on the running gear, and mussell buster already on my props. After that is all finished I'm going to hose it all with your Max Wax before she goes back in. Not a bare metal test like you're looking for, but a test anyway.

I figure it can't hurt, should add another layer of cheap anti-foul protection, and if/when it does wear off the trilux epoxy will be there behind it. I still have most of the two cans you already sent me, should be enough. Will watch to see how long it sticks and report any observations.

[Capt Dick Dean]

How about just going over the side with a Scotch pad? Works for me.