How Long in Salt Water w/o Bottom Paint

[JimJam]

I may need to keep my (soon to be) brand new 20ft Bayliner in a saltwater slip for 5 or 6 days. It won't have bottom paint or extra zinc or any other special protection. Will the be any abnormal wear that I should be concerned about? I will freshwater flush the I/O, wash the boat down at the quarter car wash and wipe her down when I retrieve her. Thanks in advance.

 

[bowman316]

Re: How Long in Salt Water w/o Bottom Paint

anything less than a week should not hurt it.
the more you take it out, the less stuff will grow on it

 

[JoLin]

Re: How Long in Salt Water w/o Bottom Paint

No worries. You'll be fine.

 

[NSBCraig]

Re: How Long in Salt Water w/o Bottom Paint

Yep don't worry about it.

 

[Solittle]

Re: How Long in Salt Water w/o Bottom Paint

We do our boating in the costal waters of south Florida. My answer to your question is that it depends on where you are. We have had the boat in the water in the Fl keys for a week and little or no barnacle growth. Move 50 miles further south and at the end of the week the bottom will be like course sandpaper with early barnacle growth - - which by the way is very easy to get off IF YOU CLEAN IT RIGHT AFTER YOU PUT IT ON THE TRAILER!!! Let it dry and it gets like concrete.

Your best bet is to talk to the local boaters who regularly boat in the same area. In any case I would not put on the bottom paint for occasional use.

 

[dsiekman]

Re: How Long in Salt Water w/o Bottom Paint

Your best bet is to talk to the local boaters who regularly boat in the same area.

Agreed. It all comes down to where you are and how much you enjoy scraping barnacles. Myself, not so much.

 

[rwidman]

Re: How Long in Salt Water w/o Bottom Paint

I may need to keep my (soon to be) brand new 20ft Bayliner in a saltwater slip for 5 or 6 days. It won't have bottom paint or extra zinc or any other special protection. Will the be any abnormal wear that I should be concerned about? I will freshwater flush the I/O, wash the boat down at the quarter car wash and wipe her down when I retrieve her. Thanks in advance.

When you take it out of the water, you may have a brown stain that you cannot wash off with boat soap (although you should wash it as soon as possible). This product:

will clean the stain off. Read the directions.

 

[ufm82]

Re: How Long in Salt Water w/o Bottom Paint

Salt water scum will also come off with Simple Green and it is environmentally friendly. I used it when I docked my boat for a week in Hudson, Fla. I was in the back end of a canal and the water tended to stay dark despite the twice daily tide. The back never really got flushed and the scum was pretty heavy on the white hull. A liberal spray of Simple Green, a quick scrub with a long handled brush and a trip throught the high-pressure car wash and the hull cleaned up just fine.

UFM82

 

[LAC_STS]

Re: How Long in Salt Water w/o Bottom Paint

Yea it depends on where you are at. My dock/marina is about 1 mile in a little inlet and I can leave my boat in the water for about 1 1/2 weeks before the barnically get it.

But by the ICW it gets worse, and by any of the inlets from the gulf you only get about 4 days.

I dunno where your at but you can also take the boat to a sandbar after 3 or 4 days and get out and brush the bottom of the boat and drive off.

 

[rwidman]

Re: How Long in Salt Water w/o Bottom Paint

Salt water scum will also come off with Simple Green and it is environmentally friendly. I used it when I docked my boat for a week in Hudson, Fla. I was in the back end of a canal and the water tended to stay dark despite the twice daily tide. The back never really got flushed and the scum was pretty heavy on the white hull. A liberal spray of Simple Green, a quick scrub with a long handled brush and a trip throught the high-pressure car wash and the hull cleaned up just fine.

UFM82

Not the stuff I'm talking about. It's a stain caused by decomposing organic matter in the water. I tried everything under the sink before other boaters recommended the Starbrite Hull Cleaner.

There are a couple other brands that work about as well. These are not soaps, they are a mild acid that is safe for fiberglass and the environment.

 

[bowman316]

Re: How Long in Salt Water w/o Bottom Paint

yea, right at the waterline, you will get a brown line.
that is that hardest part to get off.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: How Long in Salt Water w/o Bottom Paint

I may need to keep my (soon to be) brand new 20ft Bayliner in a saltwater slip for 5 or 6 days...

Shouldn't be an issue. Just clean it when you take it out.