Your thoughts please

[Daydream believer]

Have you worked out how long it will take to do the scrub?
I dry out, pressure wash and scrub my hull, it takes me getting on five hours, that's a lot of air!
If you could work out a method of applying A/F then you'd be on a winner

A 30 ft boat takes about 30 mins to jetwash once the gear is set up so unless you have a Thames barge I suggest you should get a move on or spend less time nattering to all & sundry who happen to be passing

 

[joha]

How do you propose to collect the residue?
A lot of marinas have to collect the dross from jet washing operations & dispose of it as contaminated waste.
Our club has to call our posts leaning posts not scrubbing posts to avoid HSE clashes
In the river Blackwater you cannot see past the end of your nose in the water so you would not be able to work in some areas
Some owners allow a massive weed build up & it would be really hard to successfully clean off the weed from some boats

Yes that is a problem as the MMO have banned hull cleaning on big ships in the UK at the moment. There are reclaim systems about but they are going through the paper work BS just now to enable it to be done again in UK waters. There is a cavitation system that can clean slime and quite severe growth off it does not take the paint off but the paint must be in good condition ie smooth with no ridges or it will lift the AF a company in Malta has this system and one in Spain. It is a handheld device like a pistol and does work (have seen it working) It would be ideal for yachts quite cost effective but not on big ships as it would take a week or more to clean the hull. There are also ROV systems about too that use a reclaim system.

John

 

[Resolution]

I would suggest anyone thinking of paying for dive work looks at the HSE website, especiallythe FAQ page

http://www.hse.gov.uk/diving/faqs.htm

Look at the fourth question down - "if I hire a diving contractor etc...."
.

That's OK. On a quick perusal all it says is that if you as a boat owner hire a diver you should
1) ensure he has appropriate qualifications and knows his job; and
2) tell him of any special hazards (eg fish line & hooks wrapped round the prop?).
I would have thought as client you would want to do these things anyway.

 

[afterpegassus]

On a couple of occasions, after coming up from checking the mooring, I attempted to scrub the beard from around hull. This turned out to be hard work without something to brace off, and visibility diminished quite rapidly as the scrubbing commenced. I was also put off by working in clouds of water borne antifoul.
So, good luck with the venture, but I'll continue to dry out to scrub.

 

[OceanSprint]

That's OK. On a quick perusal all it says is that if you as a boat owner hire a diver you should
1) ensure he has appropriate qualifications and knows his job; and
2) tell him of any special hazards (eg fish line & hooks wrapped round the prop?).
I would have thought as client you would want to do these things anyway.

You may be right, but to me "knows his job" means like Joha knows his job, not "knows his job" like he (or she) knows what a demand valve is.

Perhaps YM could look into it all and do an article on how to access dive services?

 

[William_H]

How things are so different in UK to here in Oz. There is a guy who visits boats at our yacht club marina once per month and does a clean for 25squid. (for a typical 25ft sail boat)
My son's used to do it for pocket money a few years back for 5squid or squid for a bigger boat. They just used mask and snorkel. They had regular clients and I sued to help out occasionally to keep the clients happy.
I am far to frugal to pay and do it myself with just snorkel and mask. ( I have a scuba tank but that is far too much troubel) My boat is sufficiently small that I can hang off the gunwhale with one hand to do the first half metre of so from the water line. I then simply take a breath dive and scrub. It helps to hang onto the keel bottom for doing the keel. By doing it regularly I can keep it very clean. Actually by the end of summer I would have a session several times per week. But by then most of the a/f has gone and weed is running amuck. I actually enjoy the job and if I don't finish there is always next time. I may wear a light wet suit and lead weight early and late season but mostly not. I think it gives me a bit of exercise. I hope I can keep doing this for many more years. (only 68 now) Today may well be the first day of swimming under the boat for this new season. She has been back in the water for 4 weeks since a/f application. Mostly to have a look as I hope it is still clean. I start off with a gentle wipe then get to wet and dry sand papwer late summer. good luck olewill

 

[OceanSprint]

I think here we had the experience of north sea oil diving. In the 70s, a lot of corners were cut to save time and money, and companies hid behind layers of subcontracting to shed any liability. There were many deaths, with no one taking responsibility, and that is what drove legislation,and the establishment of a very keen diving inspectorate under HSE.