The family is trying to decide on renting a house this summer–either oceanfront versus canal side. The canal homes have floating docks with “deep water” access. My question is how long I can keep the boat in the water without having major bottom-growth issues (I don’t have bottom paint). If it’s going to take hours of work to get it clean, I would rather just pull it out each day. If that’s the case, then we’ll probably stay on the ocean side. Thanks for the help.
I forget to mention it’s a week long rental, not the entire summer (I wish!)
Ben Miller
Depends on flow in creek. At one week you’ll be cleaning off green growth and brown slime but not barnacles and other invertebrates.
I think you should be fine for 1 week. I did that in Edisto a few years ago. Beforehand I put a coat of wax on the entire hull and after a week it was fine.
Edit to add: Man, it sure was nice to walk down to the dock, turn the key, and head out fishing!
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It’s a man made canal that flows into the ICW. The canal has only one entry and exit point and is relatively narrow. This would probably reduce flow across the bottom, but I’ll still have the tides to contend with.
Ben Miller
if your using it each day,i doubt there will be anything but a dirt stain on the hull…
once you have it in the water you will always want it there…way more convenient…
waxing your hull will create more friction and therefore lower speeds. if its only gonna be in the water a couple days i wouldnt wax it, just take the time to clean it well when you pull it outta the watta
Gut Wrench is right…just use it every day or two and you will be fine. You might have some slime to small growth on the transom, but a brush will take it off. Better yet, use that as a reason to pull up on a beach or sandbar and brush it off while in the water.
a week’s worth of brown scum line can be removed in short order with a $12 bottle of hull cleaner containing oxalic acid.
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left mine in for a week at edisto over last summer. starbrite hull cleaner took about 20 minutes to clean off the slime. well worth the convience of just jumping in and going fishing.
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Slack Line, How does waxing a hull give it more friction? I allways thought it would help reduce friction. I do know it makes it a lot easier to clean off any slime on the bottom with a good coat of wax on it. Allways ready to learn something new tho!
Russ B.
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I wondered the same thing about the wax, T2B. Thanks for the insight.
Ben Miller
quote:
Originally posted by SLACK_LINEwaxing your hull will create more friction and therefore lower speeds. if its only gonna be in the water a couple days i wouldnt wax it, just take the time to clean it well when you pull it outta the watta
HUH??? Not sure where you got that info…You may want to do a little research on dat one.
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I think a week is OK. Anymore after that the saltwater in the engine will begin to crystalize. You don’t want that. If you can rinse the motor. i wouldn’t worry about any growth on the hull if you run the boat any. Any growth will be knocked off during the ride.
My boat stays on the dock on a creek. In the spring and summer I use the boat the most and sometimes it stays in the water(without paint) and it is fine but I do flush the motor.
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waxing increases the surface cohesion between the hull and the water thereby slowing the boat.
boat racers actually lightly sand their hull bottoms to rough it up and decrease the cohesion thereby increasing their speed.
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Hey Miller Time. I am curious as to the house you are renting. I’d love to find something in the area for a week that had a dock, etc…
Looked it up a bit and your absolutely right about the wax on the bottom of hull actually slowing a boat down. Same principal as a dimpled golf ball or a roughed up pad on a bass boat or why one can get a little better top speed with a tiny wind chop versus glass calm conditions. If it’s super slick water tends to stick to it verus the water being broken up a bit by turbulence. Actually read a good article that was wrote on the matter by a old friend I used to work and paddle with who is a engineer and gold medalist kayaker. The difference in speed is very very small tho as opposed to allowing any growth to accumulate on the bottom of hull which can slow a boat down significantly. Myself I would still opt for waxing hull to help any growth from accumulating and make cleaning it off easier.
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Russ B.
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I had mine in a tidal creek for a week at Cherry Grove. I kept a sponge on board on just wiped the slime off the hull at the water line. No extra waxing, no growth an no 20 minute wash at the end of th week. Just a normal wash with sponge and soap.
Totally worth it to walk down the dock at 6am hop in and go.
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I think it depends on the water, temp & use vs sitting, but my experience with no bottom paint is a growth of “beard” in about 5-6 days and barnacles after 7 or 8 days. Waxing should help.
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We rented a place like that on Ocean Isle. Although the water is s stagnate for a while, the tide does come and go. The water movement also depends on where on the canal you are. Closer to the ICW the more the water moves due to boat traffic. If you use the boat I would not worry about growth.
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