If I leave the bottom growth, can it damage anything?

The Continuum

The Continuum

New Member
Jul 14, 2009
87
Tacoma, WA
Boat Info
1997 290 Sundancer (SDA)
Engines
Twin Mercruiser 5.7L EFI w/ Alpha Ones
I had my boat hauled out and bottom-cleaned at the beginning of the season, and all was well. Then due to my schedule, I couldn't use the boat for about 30 days. When I took it out last week, the boat was really struggling to keep at speed. It seemed the motors were working much harder than normal, and the boat wouldn't stay up on plane without pushing the motors too hard.

I got back to the dock and noticed the unusually high amount of growth on the bottom, drives, and props. So my question is this: Will it hurt anything to just leave it be until next season? I'm not thrilled about paying to have it hauled out and cleaned again for only a few more outings this summer.

Thanks!

-Seth
 
You ever hear the phrase "There is no such thing as a free lunch"? Well, that is the way bottom jobs are. If you leave the boat in the water as it is, then it takes an even more aggressive approach in the spring to clean it up. That means harsher chemicals or heavier abrasives and more sanding which is very likely mean a new bottom job. So........ you clean the boat now or you do a fresh bottom job in the spring after you clean up the growth.
 
We've all been there... Do a " quick haul " pressure wash & drop it back in for your remaining season. Minimal cost & minimal stress... Enjoy, Tim
 
First of all, do you have an ablative paint on the bottom at all?
 
A monthly dive service to clean your bottom is one of the cheapest things you can get for your boat, my boat is a little longer and its $40 a month. It also extends the life of your bottom paint if done right, which saves you probably as much money as you would pay for the cleaning, and you have a set of eyes down there once a month to notice anything out of the ordinary, like a failing thru hull, worn zincs, or a dinged up prop.

Cheap insurance.
 
Sure would like to know where you are getting a diver for 40/month. I have only spoken to one diver here and he wants 300 for my 290 and its about 300 to pull it an wash it.
 
You want a cheap dive service......?

Pay for 6 months or a year in cash, in advance. The diver who we use charges $125-$150 per month for customers he bills monthly....I renew with him in December (when his other customers are not using him). I pay him $500 in cash and tell him to start after my annual haul out in Feb. My average cost is a little less than $50/month. Its a bargain and it helps him make it thru the winter.
 
Mind charges $2.00 per foot or $76.00 I usually pay him $85.00 each time however, he usually dives about once per month, especially in the summer time, when it gets cooler he dives about every six weeks. I would say $40.00 sounds a bit cheap and for sure $300.00 is high.
 
$1.50 per foot for monthly service here, on an annual contract. If you don't have them clean regularly, it's time and material and it can be pretty high. My guy will even come early if I have a trip planned and want it cleaned just prior to leaving, if I give enough notice. I have found that it pays to be good to your diver. Good ones will spot things and let you know if a problem is brewing.
 
Thanks for the wisdom. It's the first time this has happened to me in the middle of the season. We are in a different marina though -- one much further into the channel. I had new bottom paint applied two years back. I normally just clean it at the beginning of each season.

I'll check into getting a diver. Thanks again!
 
Wow, seems like everyone's dive service prices are crazy compared to ours at just over a buck a foot. I have mine done monthly, at $40 a pop, unless they are replacing zincs and then they charge me another $40 for zinc replacement plus west marine wholesale cost of the zincs.

I guess I should consider myself lucky? I think it is because we have a LOT (like 2,500) of boats in a small area, and there is quite a bit of competition amongst dive services.
 
Well this diver is a scam. He removed my aluminum props and installed my stainless props. The biggest socket he came with was 3/4 inch and told me my boat has oddball sized prop but. It's 1-1/16 which is standard for all boats. So anyways took her out and lost 1 prop, so there's a thousand bucks gone. Decided to just buy a bigger pitch aluminum set. So putting them on today I notice that I almost lost my starboard prop as well. He forgot a nut that the lock plate locks into. No wonder I lost a prop and almost the other. Thinking about what could have happened in the pass I was in that day if I lost both going through that narrow channel with a 16 knot current makes me shudder.

Anyways he said that my bottom was full of growth. Unknown to him I had pulled the boat a month before and cleaned the bottom. He quoted me 300 to clean the bottom and he would take 25 bucks of the prop install, which was 125 dollars. After I lost my prop I told him to not touch my boat. A week later I get a text message from him that he cleaned my bottom and that the 300 he would have charged me for it was free because that his contribution for me me losing my prop.

I asked around the marina today and he has a horrible reputation in our marina. I will never use a diver except to retrieve dropped stuff in the water. I plan to pull my boat 2x a year to clean an replace zincs. This fall I will redo the bottom paint. Next spring I will service both legs. I think this will be a good plan for maintaining this boat.

Again customer beware with divers. Find a good one and one you can trust
 
I think it is a bit more expensive in Oz. I priced one, then was having a general conversation with the marina manager, I can slip it for around the same.

If I get really motivated, I guess I could hire a tank for t day, come to think of it my daughter has been pestering m to go for a dive, I could hire 2 tanks and supervise!


Seriously, like the previous post, I slip mine twice a year.

I have Volvo Duoprops with stainless props, in Saltwater, and it eats Anodes, 6 months.

It was slipped in July last year. I had it booked for January, but they were too tied up. It got slipped in early March, was up for a bit over an hour, they changed anodes and gave the hull a quick brush.

I booked it in then, to come up in September.

I have done quite a few runs out in the open sea at 20kn. And 2 good runs in July of 70Nm with 4 x 20Nm sprints at 20Kn. The boat is out every weekend.

The bottom is remarkably clean. Oh and the Propspeed works brilliantly.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
With that amount of use Ian the propspeed would be good. I had it on mine but after a three month period of little use the props started to get small shell growth and from then on it deteriorated rapidly. I went to antifouling on them and it's better but my use would be much less than yours.
 
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