Antifoul on saltwater boat stored dry

[95yj]

I am new to saltwater boating as I spent most of my life on Lake Erie. My current boat still has a nice clean gel coat on the bottom. The plan is to keep the boat at the marina on the trailer during the week but have it in the water nonstop from Friday afternoon until Sunday evening. Water temp here is 78 degrees and will run up to mid 80's during the summer / fall.

As far as I know, bottom paints don't work well if the boat is kept dry. The other issue is the boat will be in the water for three days straight every week.

How bad a problem will I have with barnacles etc. without painting the boat? Will painting it do anything for me since the boat will be dry four days out of seven?

 

[arthat]

Re: Antifoul on saltwater boat stored dry

Hi 95yj,

FYI, I boat in salt water, my boat is 17 yrs.old, I leave it on my mooring 2-3 weeks, haul it, wash it good and put in back on the mooring 1-2 weeks. For the rest of the Summer it's on a trailer. I wax the hull in the spring not bottom paint and the boat looks nearly new. I'm in Northern MA.

I hope this helps

Successful Boating

Art

 

[Scaaty]

Re: Antifoul on saltwater boat stored dry

Yep, couple weeks, pull it, quick powerwash, back in. 2-5 days just hose it off. But don't do like some of the idiots here at our marina. They let it sit, then go straight to the boat launch. Take it out and run it around the bay first at top speed, cleans the hull off, but ya still gotta do the transom

 

[Solittle]

Re: Antifoul on saltwater boat stored dry

A lot depends on where you are. A couple of days in salt will not result in a major growth problem. You do have to fresh water clean the bottom when you take it out. There are some places in the Florida Keys where you will begin to feel barnacles start within 3-5 days - - It starts to feel like sandpaper. At other locations in the Keys it may take a week or longer.

My suggestion is to try it before painting.

Mine is painted but I wish it were not.

 

[95yj]

Re: Antifoul on saltwater boat stored dry

Thanks for all the suggestions. I got the answers I was hoping I'd get, now we'll see if it works. I really don't want to paint the bottom. I suppose if the above scenarios don't work, I can always fall back to painting but trying to keep the gel coat clean won't hurt in the mean time.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Antifoul on saltwater boat stored dry

95yi, Three days in the salt water should not produce a lot of growth, if any. You may want to brush the hull after you pull it, and hose it off with fresh water, to get any minor growth. if you want to leave it in the water fro a week or more, you will need to paint it with antifouling paint. If you use ablative antifouling paint, the A-F paint will not lose it's effectiveness while dry stored, and will last several years.

 

[Reel Poor]

Re: Antifoul on saltwater boat stored dry

I agree with Solittle, three days here in the salt water will start a very fine growth on the bottom and up to the waterline. When you pull the boat from the water just give the bottom a feel with your bare hands and you will notice any growth if it exist.