Divers

[JC78]

Sorry to always be asking newbie questions, but here is another: How often, if ever, does everyone have a diver clean their hull? I often see them around my marina working on other boats, usually sailboats. Is this something I need to have done periodically on my Albin 28?

[DougSea]

Is your area prone to heavy fouling? Are you losing significant speed as the season goes by? Then you may want to consider it.

As for the sailboats, they probably have "hard" bottom paint which doesn't self clean as well as the "soft" ablative paints many powerboats use. So they need a scrubbing. Plus, losing a knot when you top at 6 is a lot different than losing one when you top over 20!

[jcollins]

Hi JC,
I echo what Doug says. It depends on where you keep your boat and how often you use it. I'm in brackish water and use my boat at least once per week. I paint my bottom every other year. Sometimes when we're at anchor I'll scrub the sides at the waterline but very seldom do I have anything on the bottom. I do get some barnacles on the tabs and running gear. Not much though. I have the hard bottom paint. Works for me.

John

[JC78]

OK, so I opened up a can of worms (for me, at least). What are the pros and cons of hard vs ablative bottom paint? Pretty sure my boat has ablative as of now.