Weed on waterline

[DoubleEnder]

What favourite products/tools/technologies does the forum suggest to clean a weedy waterline, without drying or hauling? Is it just a stiff brush, or are there any clever tips?

Thank you
Graham

 

[Seajet]

I go round in the tender, using a green 'Scotchbrite' cloth - not the pads with a sponge, if poss the stuff which comes in small sheets for kitchen use - by hand.

Far more effective than any stiff brush from afar !

 

[vyv_cox]

To some extent it depends what antifouling is on the hull at that point. Some eroding A/F is very soft, scrubbing it with a brush will colour the water and remove most of the paint. If you have boot-topping or scrubbable, or even one of the harder eroding ones like Micron, you can get away with light scrubbing.

In the Med I swim around the boat weekly in the summer, just rubbing my hand over the parts that are growing green deposits. This year we have spent longish periods in the marina where the weed growth rate is phenomenal. Each time we go out I need to brush around the water line.

At one time I used to paint the top foot or so with scrubbable, the rest with eroding. Have not bothered the last couple of years as the eroding we have been using seems harder (but no better at preventing fouling).

 

[Seajet]

My boat has eroding a/f at the waterline ( no seperate boot-top ) and I get away fine with a light scrub once or twice in a 6 month season, the mooring is in relatively warm half tides on UK South Coast.

The weed on the a/f just wipes off, while the Scotchbrite can be used vigorously on any weed above the paint, say at the forefoot where the mooring weighs the bow down.

 

[V1701]

I use wetsuit, weights,mask & snorkel a couple of times a year to do the whole hull underwater (pan scourer again). It's manageable with my boat but a very good workout...

 

[rob2]

When (to my shame) I let the weed grow to a hula skirt, I used a stainless garden hoe to rip the worst off, a long handled yard broomto make further progress but hand and scourer is the only way to finish the job!

Rob.

 

[capetown]

For my Copper Coat I've fitted a sturdy 4" plastic scraper set at about 45 degrees on the end of a broom handle, used from the tender, get's most of it off then follow with the deck brush.

I'm too chicken to use a metal hoe.

 

[TQA]

Plastic scraper works for me. Mine grows on the boot top esp on the lower edge where it buts up against the AF in the shade under the stern.

2 to 6 inches a week in Falmouth Antigua, a fertile and well fertilised harbor.

 

[alahol2]

Scotchbrite like stuff on a pole sander for me. Either from a pontoon or from the dinghy. Saves too much bending.

 

[lustyd]

When my boat gets a bit weedy I take it out sailing and the weed falls off. The boat goes slower at first but not slow enough to make up for the hour or two I would have spent cleaning!