Going south. No-one told me ...

[dgadee]

Boat was left in north Portugal for a couple of months (escape the heat and high season). Back onboard and off again fuel consumption up substantially, under engine speed down substantially. Looked at hull and not too bad. Only when I looked at prop and shaft was it explainable - covered in growth. Now I understand a friend (who regularly crosses to Carribbean) and his obsession with cleaning his prop.

 

[Yngmar]

The higher growth is more than compensated for by the water being warm enough for regular swims. Just clean a bit of bottom while you're enjoying the water anyways and you'll be fine, save fuel and go faster in light air. It gets easier with time. Takes me under 2 hours to do the entire boat now.

Also, try Velox plus.

 

[Wansworth]

The rias are very fertile hence lots of shellfisheries.......and the water is quite chilly!

 

[Yngmar]

...and the water is quite chilly!

Is it? We found it very pleasant in Corme in July last year. This year in August in the Balearics it was getting too warm (nearing 30°C) to be refreshing anymore. We'd quite like to visit the Rias again at some point - one of the highlights of our cruising so far, not so sweaty and far less crowded and expensive.

 

[Wansworth]

Sometimes you can get a warm bit but my experience of the rias bajas has been cold ,sometimes just chilly and sometimes freezing,still good for diving off the boat before breakfast!

 

[dgadee]

Put on my heavy wetsuit (west coast Scotland version) and tried to get at prop alongside a pontoon at slack water. Couldn't get under -too buoyant. How do the experts do it - wetsuitless?

 

[Yngmar]

I have a light wetsuit for when we were scrubbing in the English channel (both sides). Haven't needed it since. If you have a thick one, you'll need a weight belt to compensate for the buoyancy. Decathlon has them fairly cheap, or just buy the lead weights and make your own.

I also found a suction handle occasionally useful. Mostly it's just about practice! The ability to freedive a bit is very useful for boaters.

 

[RupertW]

I have a light wetsuit for when we were scrubbing in the English channel (both sides). Haven't needed it since. If you have a thick one, you'll need a weight belt to compensate for the buoyancy. Decathlon has them fairly cheap, or just buy the lead weights and make your own.

I also found a suction handle occasionally useful. Mostly it's just about practice! The ability to freedive a bit is very useful for boaters.

Plus one for suction handle - I've got the type with two suckers and handle in between and it's great for slowly going along the water line with a firm grip the whole way as I scrub. Haven't yet used it right underwater though as I haven't had much prop growth in the Eastern Med.

 

[capnsensible]

Ive got a small dive cylinder and regulator (plus training!) that gives me around 8 to 10 minutes on the prop, plenty of cleaning time. Growth not too bad in the Canaries but still flippin cold.....for me. Definitely wetsuit!

 

[RupertW]

Ive got a small dive cylinder and regulator (plus training!) that gives me around 8 to 10 minutes on the prop, plenty of cleaning time. Growth not too bad in the Canaries but still flippin cold.....for me. Definitely wetsuit!

Do you find it easy to get refills for a small cylinder - it's something I've been thinking about. Had scuba training years ago but with diabetes I can't get refresher courses in the UK.

 

[capnsensible]

Do you find it easy to get refills for a small cylinder - it's something I've been thinking about. Had scuba training years ago but with diabetes I can't get refresher courses in the UK.

No problem so far. Ive just gone to any local dive shop with the bottle and asked.

Its a while since I did a PADI course but at the place I got the kit they gave me some freebie training. Helped of course by the fact that my Wife was their Office Administrator!

 

[dgadee]

No problem so far. Ive just gone to any local dive shop with the bottle and asked.

What sort of cost is this gear? Sounds useful - had a rope around my prop last year.

Just agreed for prop to be cleaned for €35 in morning. Probably spent 3 times that already in excess fuel.

 

[LadyInBed]

Staying down and vertical in a wetsuit is easier with ankl​e weights or maybe using a shot line.

 

[TQA]

Put your scraper on an eight foot pole and work from the surface with snorkel gear. No diving is required so a wet suit is no problem. I can clean a 44 ft mono in a hour. The prop is a bit fiddly but I get about 90% of the fouling off.

There are places in the Carib where a prop turns into a hanging basket in 3 months and you get almost no prop thrust.

 

[dgadee]

Put your scraper on an eight foot pole and work from the surface with snorkel gear. No diving is required so a wet suit is no problem. I can clean a 44 ft mono in a hour. The prop is a bit fiddly but I get about 90% of the fouling off.

There are places in the Carib where a prop turns into a hanging basket in 3 months and you get almost no prop thrust.

What kind of scraper do you use. Hull fouling mostly eaten by fish (just waterline left) but a quick clean from the surface sounds doable to me.

 

[capnsensible]

What sort of cost is this gear? Sounds useful - had a rope around my prop last year.

Just agreed for prop to be cleaned for €35 in morning. Probably spent 3 times that already in excess fuel.

Its a Canepa and Campi mini tank. Cant find it on their website. But I got mine nearly new for about £25 quid. That was from the dive shop where missus worked so i was lucky. Try ebay?

Good luck, its certainly saved me a bundle over the years, but new prices now, dunno.

 

[dgadee]

Its a Canepa and Campi mini tank. Cant find it on their website. But I got mine nearly new for about £25 quid. That was from the dive shop where missus worked so i was lucky. Try ebay?

Good luck, its certainly saved me a bundle over the years, but new prices now, dunno.

http://www.consigliotrading.it/naut...flypage-ask.tpl&product_id=343&category_id=97

2l or 3l. Seems to be only available in Italy. Might be worth doing an intro sciba course over the winter.

 

[martyn78]

Staying down and vertical in a wetsuit is easier with ankl​e weights or maybe using a shot line.

There is something basically wrong tying weights to your ankles and jumping into water deeper than you are tall!

 

[capnsensible]

http://www.consigliotrading.it/naut...flypage-ask.tpl&product_id=343&category_id=97

2l or 3l. Seems to be only available in Italy. Might be worth doing an intro sciba course over the winter.

Thats the one, as I mentioned I got real lucky with the price. Like so much stuff, people seem to buy things, not use them and flog them off cheap.

There are dive trainers everywhere but if you are in Portugal, I found one in Lagos in the marina very good.

 

[mjcoon]

... Hull fouling mostly eaten by fish (just waterline left) but a quick clean from the surface sounds doable to me.

Hmm, reef fish have "cleaning stations" where large fish go to have small ones eat off their parasites. How do we set up similar for yachts?

Mike.