Out of the water

gravygraham

gravygraham

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For some reason I decided to undertake the annode change and antifouling myself this year (full moon perhaps). My logic is, if I can paint the lounge and change a plug . . . Anyway, we were a bit aprehensive because from the pontoon her bottom looked seroiusly grubby but as she rose from the briny in the slings we were pleasantly surprised - jet wash man did his thing for ten minutes, and, I think she looks pretty tidy.

Intheslings.jpg


She's now sat on the tarmac propped up by all manner of shaky looking blocks of wood and angled props. Seems an irony that something so expensive and precious is perched on something so cheap and disposable - worse still I've got to crawl about underneath her in me overalls - and try to look like I know what I'm doing!
This next pic might interest some of you. Presumably only seen on round sterned craft, it's a bustle designed to make something resembling tunnels for the props, and to give a bit of lift to help her plane.

Rearbustle.jpg


Question - what, if anything should I paint on the props (after cleaning them)?
 
Hi
I did my own anti-foul and anodes this last winter (applying exactly the same logic as yourself!). Once the job was completed I vowed never again!!! Lying flat on my back in puddles of water rollering on highly toxic antifoul just wasn't any fun at all, and I concluded that in future I'd pay to have it done even at the expense of other things.
But to get to your point, I asked the self same question re. the props to loads of people who are in the know, and the most popular answer was - do nothing. There are various paints (Blakes do one) that you can apply, and greases that you can slap on, but the benefits seem - at best - pretty marginal. So I just cleaned the props and left them. Next year when she comes out of the water I'll review the situation.
Good luck lying in the puddles!!
 
Good luck with the anti-fouling bit. Sometimes I'm glade I only have to do 21ft of it...

I do like the look of your Kent 33, a proper little ship IMO.

Reference props, I agree with everyone else, polish them up and leave them un-painted. There, saved a bit of painting! /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
 
I agree with others on here - just clean and polish the props for UK waters.
You may have seen my other thread - This year, I opted for doing it all myself but also employed some local labour to help with the donkey work. We painted the props with Velox Plus but I would have just cleaned and polished them if we were in UK waters. A well known forumite on here polishes his so that you can see your face in them - it seems to make the surface so smooth that stuff doesnt build up. The key in the UK though is to use the boat often.
 
nice if you can get the time. MIne sits there for too long then gets lots of use, but by then the performance has dropped off /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Gravygraham, was the bustle a retrofit or original fit? Does the Kent plane and what speed will she do? Nice boat btw. Agree with the others. For UK waters, just clean the sterngear and leave it
 
Thanks for your wise words folks. She's a Kent 33' launched in 2006. As it happens we're looking to replace her.

LadyLoiuseinStour.jpg


We've had 19.5kts out of her (clean bum, wind in the right direction etc) but about 17 is her usual max with 12-15 cruising. The bustle, designed to give lift is original and her nose rises up when on full chat but not to the extent of usual planing craft.

Graham
 
It may seem obvious so excuse me if it is but using a long handled roller designed to go behind radiators can alleviate a lot of the lying around... and if you are on tarmac get yourself one of those trolleys that mechanics whizz in and out from under cars on they are fairly cheap and make life much easer... once cleaned it take less than an hour to apply a coat of paint to my 26' cruiser... good luck.. Iain
 
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