Going south. No-one told me ...

[capnsensible]

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.

Bait the boat with frogmen......

 

[LittleSister]

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!

Isn't feet in a bag of cement the traditional method?

 

[mjcoon]

Bait the boat with frogmen......

Ah, perhaps a skinny-dipper would have better bits for a cleaner fish to go for...

Mike.

 

[TQA]

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.

8 inch wide flexible stainless steel. I think it is used for applying and smoothing drywall goop. In the Carib fouling will be barnacles all sorts including goose, soft corals of all sorts sea squirts anemones and all sorts of fernie weeds. Once your antifouling has exhausted it's effectiveness you will get a build up that is an inch thick in a year.

After 2 years it will look like this.

 

[LadyInBed]

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

You can't have looked at diving ankle weights, some divers who used 'drybags' used to use them.
Also, anyone who goes under his boat untethered and untended is increasing his risk!

 

[sailaboutvic]

I invested in a power dive nine years ago , it wasn't cheap , but it paid for it self , not only in bottom clean where self me haul out , but seven times now I had to dive to release a stuck anchor and just the other day , I had to spend a good part of the day removing my prop to sort out a loose Anode .
Wouldn't be with out it .

 

[duncan99210]

2/3 litre tank is fine, you can buy them anywhere as backup tanks. Add a single regulator with a button pressure gauge and make a canvas bag to sling over your shoulder. Most dive shops will sell you either a kit or separate items. One thing to bear in mind is that the tank will require inspecting and testing every two-two and a half years (varies from country to country). Without an in date inspection stamp, most places won’t fill them.

 

[ip485]

You will need a weight belt around the waist with quick release. It makes the job so much easier. Without tanks it will certainly keep you fit. With tanks, one tank will last a very long time if that is all it is used for.

 

[dgadee]

Well, diver has just done the job. Hull clean he said but there was a huge build up of crustaceans on the shaft (4" in diameter in places) and 1" thick on most of the prop. No wonder I was using so much fuel and going so slowly under engine.

Can't seem to upload a pic of the stuff he took off, but I've never seen anything like it.

He just used a snorkel, full wetsuit, flippers and weights but was tired at the end - a bit of tide run.

 

[Graham376]

A friend hadn't moved off his mooring for several years and it needed a diver to clear the prop, shaft and rudder just to move slowly to the yard. After lift out, they cleared an estimated 400kg of mussels etc. off the hull.

 

[langstonelayabout]

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

There's places in the Solent like that too...