Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

My kid, home for Christmas, had me weld up a barnacle scraper.
A long wood handle with a sharp steel blade. Does this seem like a
good idea to you? If not, how? and with what?

Thanks for clueing me in.

Brian W

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

Brian Whatcott wrote in
:


My kid, home for Christmas, had me weld up a barnacle scraper.
A long wood handle with a sharp steel blade. Does this seem like a
good idea to you? If not, how? and with what?

Thanks for clueing me in.

Brian W


That should get off the barnacles......along with the gelcoat and a few
layers of glass mat (or some plastic from the chopper gun if your boat is
less than 8 years old).

She'll be free of both barnacles and bubbles in the gelcoat!

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

On Sat, 27 Dec 2008 20:53:53 -0600, Brian Whatcott
wrote:


My kid, home for Christmas, had me weld up a barnacle scraper.
A long wood handle with a sharp steel blade. Does this seem like a
good idea to you? If not, how? and with what?

Thanks for clueing me in.

Brian W

Sure, got one. You need to have two. One long handle to operate from
the dock or dinghy and a shorter handled one to use when you dive down
and scrape the prop.

Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

On Sun, 28 Dec 2008 05:59:37 +0000, Larry wrote:

Brian Whatcott wrote in
:


My kid, home for Christmas, had me weld up a barnacle scraper.
A long wood handle with a sharp steel blade. Does this seem like a
good idea to you? If not, how? and with what?

Thanks for clueing me in.

Brian W


That should get off the barnacles......along with the gelcoat and a few
layers of glass mat (or some plastic from the chopper gun if your boat is
less than 8 years old).

She'll be free of both barnacles and bubbles in the gelcoat!

Come on Larry, scrappers are used all over and don't bother the bottom
paint, say nothing of the gel coat.

Although, on second thought, he did say "sharp steel blade". I assumed
about 1/16th flat stuff for the blade, unsharpened. No need to sharpen
it like a razor.
Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

Bruce In Bangkok wrote in
:

Although, on second thought, he did say "sharp steel blade". I assumed
about 1/16th flat stuff for the blade, unsharpened. No need to sharpen
it like a razor.
Cheers,


My visualization was of something resembling steel claws or pointy steel
teeth to dig into the barnacle pile to gouge them loose....(c;]

It always amazes me how people think of a boat hull as some kind of
really strong, nearly indestructable material you can scratch but can't
break. I think of them as more like a thick eggshell you can nearly
poke your finger through if you poke it in just the right place.
Reality is something in between there, I suspect, much more fragile than
the average passenger would like to know about.....headed out of the
harbor into the Atlantic.

The CORA (Charleston Offshore Racing Association) insists everyone have
a big diaphram manual bilge pump so my buddy Joe asked if I would
install one for him. I showed up with my little battery-powered drill
motor with a hole saw the appropriate size for the fitting to go in a
line of fittings about 6" below the toerail. "How are you going to put
a hole in it with that?", he quipped. I picked my spot, pressed the
center bit of the hole saw where I thought it should go and pulled the
trigger. 30 seconds later, I backed the thin little plug out of the saw
and handed it to him. "It's only this thick.", I mused. "There ain't
much to 'em.", I continued as his mouth hung open. "Hold this in the
hole until I get the nut on the inside, will ya?", as he was staring
through the big hole I'd just punched into his plastic boat. The hull
couldn't have been more than 3/8" thick, maybe 4 layers of mat at the
most. Those Whales can move quite a bit of water...probably more if
you're in a panic watching it get lower and lower in the ocean.

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

"Larry" wrote in message
...
Those Whales can move quite a bit of water...probably more if
you're in a panic watching it get lower and lower in the ocean.



Nothing removes water faster than a guy with a bucket and the proper
motivation. LOL


--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

On Dec 27, 6:53*pm, Brian Whatcott wrote:
My *kid, home for Christmas, had me weld up a barnacle scraper.
A long wood handle with a sharp steel blade. Does this seem like a
good idea to you? * If not, how? and with what?

Thanks for clueing me in.

Brian W

why do you "need" a barnical scraper?

I dont think ive ever heard of one.

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

On Sun, 28 Dec 2008 12:08:25 -0800 (PST), Two meter troll
wrote:

why do you "need" a barnical scraper?

I dont think ive ever heard of one.


Do you boat in salt water ?

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

"Brian Whatcott" wrote in message
...

My kid, home for Christmas, had me weld up a barnacle scraper.
A long wood handle with a sharp steel blade. Does this seem like a
good idea to you? If not, how? and with what?

Thanks for clueing me in.

Brian W


Duh! Ever hear of applying bottom paint in a timely manner? There is NEVER
any real need to scrape barnacles provided you re-new your anti-fouling
annually.

Here we go again! Another negligent boater who ask for assistance on a topic
that lends credence to my observation that few sailors have any pride these
days. Not only do they neglect their boats but they seem proud to let the
whole world know about it by advertising their sloth on Usenet as if it were
the norm.

And look at all the helpful folks who queue up to answer their questions in
a serious manner never once realizing how equally negligent it makes them
sound. Sheeesh! Where's your pride and professionalism, people?


Wilbur Hubbard

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

Wayne.B wrote:
On Sun, 28 Dec 2008 12:08:25 -0800 (PST), Two meter troll
wrote:

why do you "need" a barnical scraper?

I dont think ive ever heard of one.


Do you boat in salt water ?


I do. In my area, not only have I seen a number of hand made long
handled barnacle/bottom scrapers to use from the dock, but I myself with
a mask/fins and hard plastic cutting board have dived my boat and
scraped the hull a few times. The cutting board worked great, but I
didn't have enough breath or the right tool to get the prop as clean as
I would have liked. Wire brushes, chisels, and scotch-brite wouldn't get
off the flat stuff adhering tightly to the metal.

This spring I'll probably break down and haul out though.

Stephen

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

Wilbur Hubbard wrote:
"Brian Whatcott" wrote in message
...
My kid, home for Christmas, had me weld up a barnacle scraper.
A long wood handle with a sharp steel blade. Does this seem like a
good idea to you? If not, how? and with what?

Thanks for clueing me in.

Brian W


Duh! Ever hear of applying bottom paint in a timely manner? There is NEVER
any real need to scrape barnacles provided you re-new your anti-fouling
annually.

So why do many professionals dry dock their vessels only every third
year? Obviously you've never encountered modern antifoulings. What are
you still using Wilma? Rendered mutton fat, quicklime and chilli powder
I suppose.

Here we go again! Another negligent boater who ask for assistance on a topic
that lends credence to my observation that few sailors have any pride these
days. Not only do they neglect their boats but they seem proud to let the
whole world know about it by advertising their sloth on Usenet as if it were
the norm.

And look at all the helpful folks who queue up to answer their questions in
a serious manner never once realizing how equally negligent it makes them
sound. Sheeesh! Where's your pride and professionalism, people?


Wilbur Hubbard

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

On Dec 28, 12:31*pm, Wayne.B wrote:
On Sun, 28 Dec 2008 12:08:25 -0800 (PST), Two meter troll

wrote:
why do you "need" a barnical scraper?

I dont think ive ever heard of one.

Do you boat in salt water ?

ya but i tie my boat to a pile at high tide and scrape the bottom once
a year with a 4 in paint scraper when the tide goes out.

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

On Dec 28, 1:06*pm, Stephen Trapani wrote:
Wayne.B wrote:
On Sun, 28 Dec 2008 12:08:25 -0800 (PST), Two meter troll
wrote:

why do you "need" a barnical scraper?

I dont think ive ever heard of one.

Do you boat in salt water ?

I do. In my area, not only have I seen a number of hand made long
handled barnacle/bottom scrapers to use from the dock, but I myself with
a mask/fins and hard plastic cutting board have dived my boat and
scraped the hull a few times. The cutting board worked great, but I
didn't have enough breath or the right tool to get the prop as clean as
I would have liked. Wire brushes, chisels, and scotch-brite wouldn't get
off the flat stuff adhering tightly to the metal.

This spring I'll probably break down and haul out though.

Stephen

I just never thought of scraping the bottom from the dock.
it must take forever to clean the bottom that way.

I think i will stick to my method at least i can touch up the paint
and see if everything is ok.

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

"Dave" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 28 Dec 2008 15:55:54 -0500, "Wilbur Hubbard"
said:

There is NEVER
any real need to scrape barnacles provided you re-new your anti-fouling
annually.

I recommend that you scrape together enough nickels for a multi-season
paint, Neal.

Your comment proves you are a mere lubber. What does multi-season paint
really mean? It means it MIGHT work for a couple of years provided you haul
out and store your boat for half the year like all typical lubbers. We real
sailors sail our boats the entire year around and the boat is never on the
hard for six or more months at a time.

I don't care how much money you spend for bottom paint, here in the tropics,
where we real sailors live and sail, paint only lasts a year before the
barnacles start to attach themselves and grow. On an ocean voyage (oops,
sorry, I guess you've never done that, huh?) at a certain time of year,
gooseneck barnacles can attach themselves and grow within mere months of
applying new premium bottom paint. Probably even that has-been old chap,
what's his name again?? Oh yah, Bruce at the Bangkok Dock! Even he probably
knows this much as he did manage to make it half way around before he
chickened out because he couldn't handle or afford the overly large pig of a
boat he has and still has because nobody will buy it because it's such a
derelict-looking mess.

Wilbur Hubbard

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

On Dec 28, 3:20*pm, "Gregory Hall" wrote:
"Dave" wrote in message

...

On Sun, 28 Dec 2008 15:55:54 -0500, "Wilbur Hubbard"
said:

There is NEVER
any real need to scrape barnacles provided you re-new your anti-fouling
annually.

I recommend that you scrape together enough nickels for a multi-season
paint, Neal.

Your comment proves you are a mere lubber. What does multi-season paint
really mean? It means it MIGHT work for a couple of years provided you haul
out and store your boat for half the year like all typical lubbers. We real
sailors sail our boats the entire year around and the boat is never on the
hard for six or more months at a time.

I don't care how much money you spend for bottom paint, here in the tropics,
where we real sailors live and sail, paint only lasts a year before the
barnacles start to attach themselves and grow. On an ocean voyage (oops,
sorry, I guess you've never done that, huh?) at a certain time of year,
gooseneck barnacles can attach themselves and grow within mere months of
applying new premium bottom paint. Probably even that has-been old chap,
what's his name again?? Oh yah, Bruce at the Bangkok Dock! Even he probably
knows this much as he did manage to make it half way around before he
chickened out because he couldn't handle or afford the overly large pig of a
boat he has and still has because nobody will buy it because it's such a
derelict-looking mess.

Wilbur Hubbard

well that clears up the sock puppet mystry.

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

"Gregory Hall" wrote in message
...

"Dave" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 28 Dec 2008 15:55:54 -0500, "Wilbur Hubbard"
said:

There is NEVER
any real need to scrape barnacles provided you re-new your anti-fouling
annually.

I recommend that you scrape together enough nickels for a multi-season
paint, Neal.

Your comment proves you are a mere lubber. What does multi-season paint
really mean? It means it MIGHT work for a couple of years provided you
haul out and store your boat for half the year like all typical lubbers.
We real sailors sail our boats the entire year around and the boat is
never on the hard for six or more months at a time.

I don't care how much money you spend for bottom paint, here in the
tropics, where we real sailors live and sail, paint only lasts a year
before the barnacles start to attach themselves and grow. On an ocean
voyage (oops, sorry, I guess you've never done that, huh?) at a certain
time of year, gooseneck barnacles can attach themselves and grow within
mere months of applying new premium bottom paint. Probably even that
has-been old chap, what's his name again?? Oh yah, Bruce at the Bangkok
Dock! Even he probably knows this much as he did manage to make it half
way around before he chickened out because he couldn't handle or afford
the overly large pig of a boat he has and still has because nobody will
buy it because it's such a derelict-looking mess.

Wilbur Hubbard


Sure you are, Gregory! You don't fool anybody as usual. The least you could
do is forge the headers so the NSP's are the same at least. Doh!

Wilbur Hubbard

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

WaIIy wrote in
:

Shame on you Larry for not putting epoxy on the raw sides of the hole
you drilled.

That doesn't sound like you.



What difference would that make on a chopper gun sailboat??

It certainly can't become "delaminated" as there are no laminations to
start with.

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

Wilbur,

Reread the man's post. He isn't a negligent boater though perhaps his kid
is. Your answer to his query was quite rude.

Dave M.

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

On Dec 28, 6:54 pm, "David L. Martel" wrote:
Wilbur,

Reread the man's post. He isn't a negligent boater though perhaps his kid
is. Your answer to his query was quite rude.

Dave M.

Do any of you know ANYTHING about your boats?

Using a long handled scraper to remove barnacles is a very normal
thing. Go to Lowes or Home Depot and buy a straight edged garden
edger. It looks like a hoe with a straight blade instead of a bent
blade. It can be used to reach your prop from the dock or to reach
under your boat while you stand in shallow water.
Hubbard is an idiot who seems to know nothing about boats. If I dont
get at least 3 years out of my bottom paint I gets ****ed off and I
keep my boat in an extreme fouling area of Florida. All you have to
do is either use your boat a lot or scrub the bottom with a brush a
couple times a year.
You are not likely to puncture your bottom, Jeez, what are you guys
thinking? If your hull is more than 1/4'" thick glass it is waaaaaay
too thick. FG is strong, no reason to overdo it.

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

Dave wrote:
On Sun, 28 Dec 2008 21:46:06 +0000, IanM said:

So why do many professionals dry dock their vessels only every third
year? Obviously you've never encountered modern antifoulings. What are
you still using Wilma? Rendered mutton fat, quicklime and chilli powder
I suppose.

I don't think Neal can afford the good stuff.
It doesn't work as well if the mutton fat and chilli powder was
'previously owned'.

Ian
--
"Quality is like oats. If you’re satisfied with
oats that have been through the horse one
time, you can buy them cheaper." Anon. (19th C )

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

"Capt. JG" wrote in
easolutions:

Nothing removes water faster than a guy with a bucket and the proper
motivation. LOL




People are always horrified when they saw my powerboats come out of the
water on the trailer streaming water out of the table tennis drain cocks
I always installed in them. In 40 years I never had a boat sink because
of them being screwed in where the transom plugs I could never remember
to insert before launching were to go.

I met a guy with a better idea at the ramp one day. He said they wanted
to much for these autodraining gadgets. So, he installed a toilet tank
valve seat (without the overflow tube) into his transom over where the
old drain used to go. On the outside of the BIG hole was a standard
flexible rubber toilet flush flapper that fit through the hole as it
should, suspended by the two ears it would sit on inside your toilet
tank. The only difference being the end of these ears had nylon washers
forced over them so the flapper couldn't fly off and get lost while she
was on a plane and the hole was WIDE OPEN to the sea.

If the water wasn't so deep he couldn't start the engine and drive the
nearly-full runabout away from the dock, he said he could empty the hull
in less than 1% the time it would have taken the little hole with the
plug removed. The boat simply.......well............FLUSHED!

Come off the plane, a tiny bit of water splashed into the stern to seat
the flapper and she was ready to fish. Take off again, and whatever was
in the boat....FLUSHED out the back....EVEN THAT CRAP THAT ALWAYS
PLUGGED THE LITTLE PLUG HOLE!

Oh, one slight modification to the flapper. The hollow center of the
tapered part that floats until your toilet tank had emptied before it
dropped to close it had been filled with bathtub caulk to keep it from
floating up and STAYING OPEN, which wouldn't be good. His flapper was
quite heavy with the caulk-filled bullet plug. "It always lays open
when we're underway at any speed", he told me.

To clean the fish crap out of the bilge, you used a stick to hold the
flapper open to "fill" the boat with enough water to wash the deck.
Then, you simply took her for a spin to FLUSH. It looked really clean
to me!

Can you imagine the shame of anyone on a yachtie dock spotting such a
rig out of a toilet. They'd be horrified! Those come from WALMART!

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

"IanM" wrote in message
...
Dave wrote:
On Sun, 28 Dec 2008 21:46:06 +0000, IanM said:

So why do many professionals dry dock their vessels only every third
year? Obviously you've never encountered modern antifoulings. What are
you still using Wilma? Rendered mutton fat, quicklime and chilli powder
I suppose.

I don't think Neal can afford the good stuff.
It doesn't work as well if the mutton fat and chilli powder was
'previously owned'.

Ian
--
"Quality is like oats. If you’re satisfied with
oats that have been through the horse one
time, you can buy them cheaper." Anon. (19th C )




I actually tried habanera on my Cal 20. As far as I could tell, it made no
difference. LOL

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

"Dave" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 28 Dec 2008 15:55:54 -0500, "Wilbur Hubbard"
said:

There is NEVER
any real need to scrape barnacles provided you re-new your anti-fouling
annually.

I recommend that you scrape together enough nickels for a multi-season
paint, Neal.


I definitely need to haul my boat, but it's working on three seasons with
very little bottom growth. I'd have to look, but I believe it was Trinidad.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

"Dave" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 28 Dec 2008 16:06:02 -0800 (PST), Frogwatch

said:

Hubbard is an idiot who seems to know nothing about boats.

Aw, c'mon, David. Neal reads lots of boating magazines. Besides, he's an
expert in defending jaywalking cases.


LOL Was he sober?

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

"David L. Martel" wrote in message
...
Wilbur,

Reread the man's post. He isn't a negligent boater though perhaps his
kid is. Your answer to his query was quite rude.



My intention wasn't to pick on the man, per se. It was to enlighten folks
who happen to share the same lax attitude as to the sorry state of yachtsmen
maintaining their vessels. When a vessel gets to the state where barnacles
are growing all over the bottom and have to be scraped off with a heavy-duty
custom-made scraper it's an indication of a lapse in judgment or a lazy,
negligent attitude. Since when it is rude to attempt to correct gross
misconceptions?

Scraping barnacles can be likened to picking nits out of your hair. The fact
that you are picking nits out of your hair indicates you didn't pay enough
attention to your personal hygiene. Scraping barnacles indicates you didn't
pay enough attention to your boat. You let the horse out of the barn so now
you're gonna keep cleaning the stall in lieu of getting the horse back in?

One should be ashamed to admit this sloth. One should not go seeking advice
about it on Usenet while acting like it is par for the course because it is
NOT par for the course. It is stupid and lubberly.

Wilbur Hubbard

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

On Sun, 28 Dec 2008 14:49:26 +0000, Larry wrote:

Bruce In Bangkok wrote in
:

Although, on second thought, he did say "sharp steel blade". I assumed
about 1/16th flat stuff for the blade, unsharpened. No need to sharpen
it like a razor.
Cheers,


My visualization was of something resembling steel claws or pointy steel
teeth to dig into the barnacle pile to gouge them loose....(c;]

It always amazes me how people think of a boat hull as some kind of
really strong, nearly indestructable material you can scratch but can't
break. I think of them as more like a thick eggshell you can nearly
poke your finger through if you poke it in just the right place.
Reality is something in between there, I suspect, much more fragile than
the average passenger would like to know about.....headed out of the
harbor into the Atlantic.

The CORA (Charleston Offshore Racing Association) insists everyone have
a big diaphram manual bilge pump so my buddy Joe asked if I would
install one for him. I showed up with my little battery-powered drill
motor with a hole saw the appropriate size for the fitting to go in a
line of fittings about 6" below the toerail. "How are you going to put
a hole in it with that?", he quipped. I picked my spot, pressed the
center bit of the hole saw where I thought it should go and pulled the
trigger. 30 seconds later, I backed the thin little plug out of the saw
and handed it to him. "It's only this thick.", I mused. "There ain't
much to 'em.", I continued as his mouth hung open. "Hold this in the
hole until I get the nut on the inside, will ya?", as he was staring
through the big hole I'd just punched into his plastic boat. The hull
couldn't have been more than 3/8" thick, maybe 4 layers of mat at the
most. Those Whales can move quite a bit of water...probably more if
you're in a panic watching it get lower and lower in the ocean.


Some time ago there was a long drawn out discussion on rec.boats
started by someone who had visited a boat show and leaned against a
Bayliner. The hull flexed......

Older boats (like mine) built before people discovered just how strong
fiberglass really is are 1 inch thick at the rail and get thicker as
you go down.

Regarding moving water out of a boat. A friend once commented that he
had only been seasick once. They were bring a dragger down from Nova
Scotia and got in some bad weather and the garboard came loose. He
said he was bailing with a bushel basket and puking at the same time.
I said, "kind of hard to do that isn't it?" He replied, "not when
you're as scared as I was!"
Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

On Sun, 28 Dec 2008 12:08:25 -0800 (PST), Two meter troll
wrote:

On Dec 27, 6:53*pm, Brian Whatcott wrote:
My *kid, home for Christmas, had me weld up a barnacle scraper.
A long wood handle with a sharp steel blade. Does this seem like a
good idea to you? * If not, how? and with what?

Thanks for clueing me in.

Brian W

why do you "need" a barnical scraper?

I dont think ive ever heard of one.

Never been to sea? It's "barnacle" by the way.
Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

Wilbur,

My intention wasn't to pick on the man, per se.

But that's exactly what you did when you wrote, "Here we go again!
Another negligent boater who ask for assistance on a topic that lends
credence to my observation that few sailors have any pride these
days."

You owe the OP an apology for your poorly worded or thoughtless attack on
him. He has not neglected his boat, which seems to be what you accuse him of
doing.

Dave M.

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

On Sun, 28 Dec 2008 21:46:06 +0000, IanM
wrote:

Wilbur Hubbard wrote:
"Brian Whatcott" wrote in message
...
My kid, home for Christmas, had me weld up a barnacle scraper.
A long wood handle with a sharp steel blade. Does this seem like a
good idea to you? If not, how? and with what?

Thanks for clueing me in.

Brian W


Duh! Ever hear of applying bottom paint in a timely manner? There is NEVER
any real need to scrape barnacles provided you re-new your anti-fouling
annually.

So why do many professionals dry dock their vessels only every third
year? Obviously you've never encountered modern antifoulings. What are
you still using Wilma? Rendered mutton fat, quicklime and chilli powder
I suppose.

Nope, you are wrong.

Read the directions and you'll see that nearly all post TBT paints are
"self-cleaning" or some similar description. If you don't sail about a
bit you will get growth. Thus, if your yellow banana boat is tied to
a stump and never moves you WILL need to scrape and paint every year.
Move once in a while and you get three years, or more.

Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

On Dec 28, 9:02 pm, "David L. Martel" wrote:
Wilbur,

My intention wasn't to pick on the man, per se.

But that's exactly what you did when you wrote, "Here we go again!
Another negligent boater who ask for assistance on a topic that lends
credence to my observation that few sailors have any pride these
days."

You owe the OP an apology for your poorly worded or thoughtless attack on
him. He has not neglected his boat, which seems to be what you accuse him of
doing.

Dave M.

I've never seen Hubbard post anything of use to anybody and I doubt he
knows anything about boats. His assertion that only lubbers go more
than a year without hauling is so bizarre and out of touch with
reality, even in the tropics that I doubt he knows anything at all on
the subject.
I keep my boat in an extreme fouling area of Florida and I get 3 years
between hauling although I do scrub the bottom a few times between.
If you use her a lot you minimize fouling too. Several coats of good
hard paint applied well should last AT LEAST two years under extreme
conditions. The prop will need to be cleaned every month.
Using a long handled scraper is very common and the best tool is a
straight bladed garden edger similar to a garden hoe but it has a
straight blade. You can get one at Lowes or Home Depot. It is very
useful for standing in shallow water to reach your keel or for
reaching your prop from the dock.
Where I sail, I often hit bottom due to constantly shifting bars so I
often get patches of my hull with no anti-fouling and this tool has
enough mass that one can easily remove barnacles when this happens.
It has been my experience over several years that anything Hubbard
posts is pure nonsense so you should mostly ignore him except when he
tries to give bad advice.

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

Bruce In Bangkok wrote in
:

He replied, "not when
you're as scared as I was!"


I think my worst scare was when we were bringing back Geoffrey's
Endeavour 35 sloop from Florida. There was just two of us, Lloyd and I.
Lloyd at got me up for my watch about midnight and I was to get him up
at 3:30 for his 4-8. About 3AM, I'm 100 miles due S from Charleston in
3-4' seas making good time in a broad reach staring at the radar on a
completely moonless night when "something" to my starboard went
WOOOOOOSH!, a moment of silence, followed by a HUGE roaring SPLASH! that
went on and on.

......then, total silence, the sea noise as if nothing ever happened. No
monster wave, no swamping, no going off course, as if it never happened.
BUT IT DID! Supercharged on adrenaline, Larry was WIDE AWAKE for hours
and not sleepy at all. 3:30 came and went. 4 - 5 - about 6:30 Lloyd
came out looking refreshed from the V-berth and a shower in the tiny
head. "Why didn't you wake me?" My hands were still a little shaky and
my face must have still showed my supercharged state.

I don't think if a Navy Boomer had done an emergency blow and come out
of the water 50 yards off my Starboard beam it would have made any more
noise. I didn't hear any tanks blowing or mechanical noises emergency
blows are sure to make...and I didn't hear a blowhole open to vent a
whale, but that's what it must have been.

We had a second scare during breakfast that was more manageable. We had
a table that hooked to the helm stand and had just pigged out on Lloyd's
excellent Jamaican hot scrambled eggs mixed with fried onions, bell
peppers and potatoes smothered in some kind of spicy Taco cheeze whiz.
We were talking about the third book he was just finishing during the
cruise, his favorite pasttime at sea.....when this MONSTEROUS wooden
cable reel nearly as tall as our mast just floated by. The RADAR alarm
didn't sound, I rushed around the helm to watch the scope and saw
NOTHING, no return at all from our little 2KW Raymarine on a stern stick
up 25'. The wind had died in the morning as the sun came up, the sea
had calmed, but we were still making 5-6 knots on the beam reach with a
150 Genoa wrapped around the main well, a goodly apparent wind over the
airfoil. It just floated there....EMPTY. Now, during the night the old
cruiser was making a good 8 knots and we both started thinking about
what would have happened and were we would be if we'd slammed into that
damned reel at 8 knots in the pitch dark. It would have surely broken
the bow off and sent her to the bottom as she had no watertight
bulkheads like the Amel Sharki Geoffrey sails, now. There was as much
reel in the water as above it...

Dogged tired, I did crash, finally, and slept about 6 hours before Lloyd
got me up again to take the 16-2000 in light air so he could sleep. I
woke him about 2AM and slept some until we got to the Charleston Jettie
entrance about dawn, a beautiful sight every time I point the bow to its
slot on the South side of the rocks.....

That WOOSH still holds the record over the 15-17' seas we encountered on
another trip up the coast caused by "rushing" I hate. The boat just
becomes a tiring thrashing machine over 9' to fight until the damned
front passed....but it didn't WOOOOSH in the dead of night!

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

Bruce In Bangkok wrote in
:

Nope, you are wrong.

Read the directions and you'll see that nearly all post TBT paints are
"self-cleaning" or some similar description. If you don't sail about a
bit you will get growth. Thus, if your yellow banana boat is tied to
a stump and never moves you WILL need to scrape and paint every year.
Move once in a while and you get three years, or more.



You guys all lack "The David", our amazingly physically fit, Adonis
looking to attract the most beautiful free women, POLICE DIVER, who
lives on the docks in his restored antique sloop....

Every month, David, for a VERY reasonable "donation" to support his boat
habit on cop's pay, dives every boat in the dock and simply wipes that
bottom so clean you cannot believe it hasn't been in the yard in 2
years. He inspects and changes zincs, cleans out cutlass bearings like
new, polishes the crap off the shafts and wheels, makes sure everyone's
air conditioner seawater inlet is free and clear along with all the
underwater electronic sensors and inspects the whole hull for anything
that looks bad.....at his convenience on his schedule. Generous
"Donations" are put in paper bags in the cockpits to keep David
interested in your boat's health. Boat money couldn't be better spent.

You guys need to breed yourselves one of these wonderful boys to take
the drudgery out of hull cleaning. Noone ever "scrapes" a hull with
David around. When he dives your boat, he takes a stiff nylon brush and
his cleanout tools for the holes and crannies. There are no barnacles
that need scraping......How awful....

Once you get a David, don't forget to invite him AND HIS HAREM to
whatever dock parties the wife doesn't want to attend. I didn't even
know Charleston had that many beautiful, unmarried, "seat covers" to
drape over the cushions....simply amazing.

It's 10PM in Charleston and STILL 62F down here on the rivah. God I
love global warming! Motorcycled around in 79F on the bank clock all
day.

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

On Mon, 29 Dec 2008 02:02:13 GMT, "David L. Martel"
wrote:

Wilbur,

My intention wasn't to pick on the man, per se.

But that's exactly what you did when you wrote, "Here we go again!
Another negligent boater who ask for assistance on a topic that lends
credence to my observation that few sailors have any pride these
days."

You owe the OP an apology for your poorly worded or thoughtless attack on
him. He has not neglected his boat, which seems to be what you accuse him of
doing.

Dave M.

But, of course he was lying when he spelled it "wasn't". He actually
meant "was".

Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

Larry wrote:
WaIIy wrote in
:


Shame on you Larry for not putting epoxy on the raw sides of the hole
you drilled.

That doesn't sound like you.




What difference would that make on a chopper gun sailboat??

It certainly can't become "delaminated" as there are no laminations to
start with.


Every thread is a "laminatin" as far as end-grain water migration
is concerned...

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

On Dec 28, 6:01*pm, Bruce In Bangkok
wrote:
On Sun, 28 Dec 2008 12:08:25 -0800 (PST), Two meter troll

wrote:
On Dec 27, 6:53*pm, Brian Whatcott wrote:
My *kid, home for Christmas, had me weld up a barnacle scraper.
A long wood handle with a sharp steel blade. Does this seem like a
good idea to you? * If not, how? and with what?

Thanks for clueing me in.

Brian W

why do you "need" a barnical scraper?

I dont think ive ever heard of one.

Never been to sea? It's "barnacle" by the way.
Cheers,

Bruce
(bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)

aww look Bruce is trying to have a spine......... how pathetic.

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

"David L. Martel" wrote in message
...
Wilbur,

My intention wasn't to pick on the man, per se.

But that's exactly what you did when you wrote, "Here we go again!
Another negligent boater who ask for assistance on a topic that lends
credence to my observation that few sailors have any pride these
days."

You owe the OP an apology for your poorly worded or thoughtless attack
on him. He has not neglected his boat, which seems to be what you accuse
him of doing.


Don't hold your breath . . .

Wilbur Hubbard

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

"Brian Whatcott" wrote in message
...

My kid, home for Christmas, had me weld up a barnacle scraper.
A long wood handle with a sharp steel blade. Does this seem like a
good idea to you? If not, how? and with what?

Thanks for clueing me in.

Brian W
I use both one of these things that looks like a hoe thats been straightened
and a 7 in 1 tool (fancy name for paint scraper from Lowes and HD). The hoe
thing lets me get some momentum on the swings because of it's lenght and
because of the wood handle is easy(er) to find when I drop it. It stands up
with the scraper end on the bottom. The 7 in 1 tool (with parachute cord
lanyard) is handy for the running gear and light stuff.

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

On 28 Dec 2008 17:26:01 -0600, Dave wrote:

On Sun, 28 Dec 2008 21:46:06 +0000, IanM said:

So why do many professionals dry dock their vessels only every third
year? Obviously you've never encountered modern antifoulings. What are
you still using Wilma? Rendered mutton fat, quicklime and chilli powder
I suppose.

I don't think Neal can afford the good stuff.

Workboat paint. Tar over steel.

Casady

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

On Sun, 28 Dec 2008 16:06:02 -0800 (PST), Frogwatch
wrote:

Using a long handled scraper to remove barnacles is a very normal
thing. Go to Lowes or Home Depot and buy a straight edged garden
edger. It looks like a hoe with a straight blade instead of a bent
blade.

Also heard them called log peelers and ice chisels. If you round the
corners slightly they won't dig into the gel coat.

Casady

Dumb Q : Barnacle Scraper
 

"Larry" wrote in message
...
Bruce In Bangkok wrote in
:

Although, on second thought, he did say "sharp steel blade". I assumed
about 1/16th flat stuff for the blade, unsharpened. No need to sharpen
it like a razor.
Cheers,


My visualization was of something resembling steel claws or pointy steel
teeth to dig into the barnacle pile to gouge them loose....(c;]

It always amazes me how people think of a boat hull as some kind of
really strong, nearly indestructable material you can scratch but can't
break. I think of them as more like a thick eggshell you can nearly
poke your finger through if you poke it in just the right place.
Reality is something in between there, I suspect, much more fragile than
the average passenger would like to know about.....headed out of the
harbor into the Atlantic.

The CORA (Charleston Offshore Racing Association) insists everyone have
a big diaphram manual bilge pump so my buddy Joe asked if I would
install one for him. I showed up with my little battery-powered drill
motor with a hole saw the appropriate size for the fitting to go in a
line of fittings about 6" below the toerail. "How are you going to put
a hole in it with that?", he quipped. I picked my spot, pressed the
center bit of the hole saw where I thought it should go and pulled the
trigger. 30 seconds later, I backed the thin little plug out of the saw
and handed it to him. "It's only this thick.", I mused. "There ain't
much to 'em.", I continued as his mouth hung open. "Hold this in the
hole until I get the nut on the inside, will ya?", as he was staring
through the big hole I'd just punched into his plastic boat. The hull
couldn't have been more than 3/8" thick, maybe 4 layers of mat at the
most. Those Whales can move quite a bit of water...probably more if
you're in a panic watching it get lower and lower in the ocean.

Larry,
You can't judge all boats by that any more than you can judge all boaters by
the words of Wilbur.
Lots, if not most of the older boats have very strong hulls. When I
installed the thru hulls on my Phillip Rhodes Traveler I found about 2.5" of
hand laid glass in the bilge area. That boat was built by a commercial
fishing boat builder in the PNW in '79. My '63 Chris Craft "Caribbean" broke
loose of a very bad anchoring (by a paid "professional") when Floyd passed
by and ended up hard on the rocks on a causeway with some gouges and scrapes
in the gel. The gouges were at the most 3/8 deep, which may be death to
some, but not the tanks that Chris Craft built. The bulkheads were still in
place with the tabbing (pretty heavy duty and tabbing doesn't really
described the quality) unbroken. That boat was refitted and is still in
service.
I bet your little handheld computer that the ratio of boats that sink
because of failed equipment over hulls breaking up is probably 1,000 to 1. I
personally only know one sailor that lost his boat to the hull being
destroyed and he was run over by a frieghter!
I like the motion of a heavy boat and am willing to sacrifice light air
performance. Shipping containers have very hard corners.
Don't mean to offend anyone with a go fast light weight boat, but that's my
opinion and what I practice.