Slime removal from hull (boat in the water)

[cmedsailor]

I have been using my boat for 15 months since last lift out and antifouling and the hull now has only a thin slime. No barnacles, no weed, no hard and nasty stuff. You can remove the slime with your finger (it's very soft). The antifouling I am using is self-eroding. Since I am planning a relatively big trip (around 250 miles in total) and it would be nice to maintain good speeds could I scrub that slime off? If yes with what so I don’t remove the antifouling paint? A plastic scrapper, a soft brush (maybe a broom!)?
Thanks

 

[MM5AHO]

I find that stuff comes off with some sailing. More water flowing past the cleaner it gets (also self eroding).

 

[MoodySabre]

I have been using my boat for 15 months since last lift out and antifouling and the hull now has only a thin slime. No barnacles, no weed, no hard and nasty stuff. You can remove the slime with your finger (it's very soft). The antifouling I am using is self-eroding. Since I am planning a relatively big trip (around 250 miles in total) and it would be nice to maintain good speeds could I scrub that slime off? If yes with what so I don’t remove the antifouling paint? A plastic scrapper, a soft brush (maybe a broom!)?
Thanks

A large sponge might be better - like the Hullmate Brizo uses. That doesn't take any AF off.

 

[Lucky Duck]

My marina has one of these for use by the berth holders and I find even with the 'soft' brush it still produces a cloud of white a/f!

 

[thinwater]

The easiest way is to swim and use a rubber-faced glove. You will waste a lot less paint that way. Carpet squares, if the glove is not enough.

 

[TQA]

Even easier is to work from the surface wearing snorkel gear and use a long handle brush or scraper. I am an old fart and can do a 44 ft boat in less than an hour, including removing the flower pot that has grown on my prop.

 

[slipknot]

Tape an empty 2ltr plastic coke bottle to a broom. Run that under the boat and the bouyancy of the bottle will press the broom head to the hull & remove the fouling.

 

[cmedsailor]

I like all your ideas on what to use (since it seems I can clean it without removing the antifoul paint). But I should have said that most probably I will borrow or rent some diving equipment to do that job. Reading all the answers, which all tell me to use something soft, probably I could use one of those T-shape things for cleaning windows where one side is rubber and the other one is like a sponge. I could probably use both sides (the sponge definately is soft, not very sure about the rubber).

 

[johnalison]

Many years ago, we used to do a mid-season scrub with a strip of old carpet. With a line at each end, it is possible for two people to scrub almost the whole hull by moving the strip between them back and forth, and angling it as much as possible when the keel gets in the way. Modern rounded shapes should make it even easier.

It is a shame that slime doesn't make the boat go faster, but it doesn't.

 

[cmedsailor]

It is a shame that slime doesn't make the boat go faster, but it doesn't.

But does it make the boat go slower? This is something I really have not figured out yet (and was reluctant so far to clean it) because it's in fact quite a slippery film.