|
|
Bottom Job
"Bottom Jobs" have to be
done at least once every two years. Every single
year, if you listen to the folks who do the work!
Candide gets hauled out of the water about every 18 months
so that a new coat of toxic paint can be applied under the
waterline. The paint is toxic enough to kill certain
varmints (like barnacles and other growth) that interfere
with the boat's performance. This page will explain
exactly what's involved with a bottom job. Pay
attention, because if you live aboard and ever plan on
taking your boat out of the marina for a Sunday afternoon
cruise, you'll wind up doing this ever so often...
These guys (Paul and
Geoff) are working hard to break loose a stubborn
turnbuckle. |
 | Step 1: Remove
the Stuff in the Way. I imagine that yard
workers much prefer to deal with powerboats.
To get a stink pot on the lift, all that has to be
done is to move the boat to the travel lift, move
the straps under it, and lift it out of the water.
Not so with a blow boat. Candide has not just
one, but two (jib and stay) "wires" that must be
removed so that the boat can fit under the travel
lift to be hauled out of the water.
Unfortunately, Candide's forward stay had completely
frozen since the last time she had a bottom job.
The only way to free the turnbuckle was to literally
destroy it with a huge crowbar. Eventually,
the guys got it free...and I had to order a new
turnbuckle to the tune of $130.00! Such is the
first step... |
|
Candide emerges from
the water. |
| Step 2: Haul
the Boat from the Water. Here we see the
awesome sight of Candide being lifted clear out of
the water. Awesome because she weighs nearly
30,000 pounds! All of that weight is supported
by two straps. Yep, two straps! Trust
me when I tell you that it's nerve-racking to watch
your love and joy be hauled clear out of the water
with only two nylon straps supporting the entire
vessel! Nonetheless, this procedure has been
done thousands and thousands of time on boats much
heavier than Candide. Never once have I heard
about a boat slipping during a haul out!
Knowing this, though, doesn't necessarily help when
you're standing there watching it being done... |
|
Fouled propeller! |
| Step 3:
Inspect the Varmints. The picture to the left
is absolutely shameful. Candide's propeller is
so fouled that it can barely churn the water.
It's disgusting, gross, and pitiful even. This
propeller was so useless, in fact, that it took
nearly six hours to move to my new marina...a trip
that should have taken only two! As you can
see from the picture, there's an impressive build-up
of those cursed creatures called "barnacles" that
have attached themselves completely around the
propeller. This action seriously inhibits the
forward "thrust" that the propeller normally
provides. Considering that the entire bottom
is covered with the same critters, it doesn't matter
whether the engine is used or not. Even under
sail, as fouled as it was, wouldn't have made my
six-hour trip any shorter! |
|
Sprayed down! |
| Step 4: Water
Jet and Scrape. Water at a billion p.s.i.
can do some wonderful things for removing the growth
under your boat's waterline. Here, we see a
yard worker using a high-pressure hose to remove the
barnacles and other growth from Candide's hull.
Note that the boat is still on the travel lift.
In fact, she's only a few feet away from the
"service slip" from which she was hauled. For
environmental reasons, this is standard practice the
the U.S. All of those barnacles, weeds, slime,
etc., will be carefully removed and properly
disposed of from this particular location.
Maintaining a "Clean Marina" is very important to
most service yards! |
|
On the hard! |
| Step 5: Block
up the Boat. Now the boat is put "on the
hard." The yard workers will place heavy
blocks of wood on the ground and lower the boat on
top of them. These blocks will support the
vast majority of the boat's weight. They'll
use metal stands to hold the boat in an upright
position. When everything's all set, the
straps will be removed and the travel lift will be
moved. When you click the picture on the left,
you'll see in detail how much better the hull looks
after being pressure sprayed. While it's a bit
hard to tell from this photo, the gunwhales (the
wooden trim around the hull) is some 10 feet above
the ground! This means that you'll have to use
a fairly tall ladder to get onto the boat.
Believe me when I say that it's a bit nerve-wracking
to step onto the deck when you're thinking that the
entire boat is supported by a few flimsy metal
stands! |
|
If you forget
something, you'll have to be creative in how you
remove it from the boat! |
| Step 6:
Adjusting to Life on the Hard. Trying to
live aboard a boat that's out of the water can be
very difficult. First, you'll have to climb a
ladder to board the vessel. In the picture to
the left (click to enlarge), you can see the top of
an eight-foot ladder! As you can see, it
doesn't reach to the gunwhales...you'll have to step
down about two feet to reach the top step (the one
that has warnings that read, "This is NOT a step!
Do NOT use this as a step unless you have balance
like the performers in Cirque del Sol. Danger!
Warning Will Rogers! Danger!"). Because
Candide's A/C uses river water to cool itself, it
can't be used when the boat is on the hard.
This means that it gets very hot down below.
To top it all off, you'll have to be very creative
when moving heavy object on or off the boat.
This picture shows me lowering a suitcase full of
business clothes down to the ground (I had an out of
town trip that week). It would have been a LOT
easier if I had removed the suitcase while the boat
was still in the water! |
|
This worker is wearing
a "moon suit" for protection as he sands the old
bottom paint from Candide's hull. |
| Step 7:
Sanding. In this picture, you see a yard
worker wearing a "moon suit." He's covered
from head to toe in a protective, disposable
costume. He's also wearing gloves and a
respirator. No doubt he's sweating profusely
under all this garb and can't wait until the job is
done (I don't think he can go to the bathroom
wearing that stuff). All of these protections
are designed to keep the worker safe from the highly
toxic paint that he's sanding off in preparation for
a new coat. You definitely don't want to
breath that old paint or get it on your skin!
By the way, a lot of liveaboards do their own
"bottom jobs." Virtually every marina in this
country will require them to wear similar outfits,
which costs about $300 or so. The outfits can
be used for several years, but they'll have to find
a place to store it on board. At this point in
my life, I'd rather pay someone to do this nasty job
for me. |
|
Apply the new paint! |
| Step 8: Apply
the New Paint. It's now time to start
painting. As you can see, there's no need to
wear an uncomfortable "moon suit" to do this job.
Simply grab a roller and start applying the stuff!
I chose to have Trinidad Bottom Paint applied to
Candide. The stuff costs about $160 per gallon
and comes in a variety of colors...red, green, blue,
or black. Unfortunately, my marina was out of
green...so I had them apply black rather than wait
for a shipment of green. It should also be
noted that some marinas will only apply a single
coat with their basic "bottom job," while others
will apply two. At my current marina, they
apply two coats as standard fare. It
definitely pays to shop around for you bottom
job...two coats are always better than one! |
|
Ready to go back into
the water! |
| Step 9: Splash
Back into the Water. Finally, the boat is
ready to go back into the water. Here, we see
that the travel lift has been moved into place.
The hull under the waterline is jet black with
brand-new bottom paint and a new sacrificial zinc
anode has been placed around the propeller shaft.
"So what's the big deal?" you may be asking.
Well, it took over five hours to sail Candide 11
miles from her old marina to the new one.
Today, I sailed her from the new marina to the old
one...and it took only two hours! Keeping the
bottom clean and freshly painted is extremely
important when it comes to the speed of your boat!
|
|
Please
drop me a line at:
robert@sleepingwithoars.com
©
2007 by Robert Doty
|
|
 |
| |
Bottom paint is
water-activated. It needs water to properly
function. Once a new coat of paint has been
applied, you have about 30 days before you must put the
boat back in the water. If you wait longer than
this, your paint will be ruined and you'll have to sand
it all off and apply another coat or two. It's
also interesting to note that once the boat has been
put back into the water, she can only be hauled out for
about 72 hours before the anti-fouling bottom paint
goes bad.
|
|
|
