Wax the bottom?

[gazelle]

Hey folks

I have a 20 foot fiberglass boat that we keep in the water for 8 months out of the year. I know that it is better to keep the boat out of the water but we have found that we use the boat 3x's more if we keep it in the slip. Of course we get algae buildup on the boat. I try to scrub most of it off when we are using the boat when I have time. At the end of the year I dimply pressure wash the hull to get the majority of it off and then use a hull cleaner to remove any staining.

While I was in the middle of waxing the bottom I began to wonder if it was worth it? In your opinion does waxing help keep the algae off? Does it help "protect" the bottom from being stored in the water for so many months? Or an I just wastime my time every spring putting the wax on?

While we are at it, will bottom paint help protect the hull for years to come from things like blisters?


I am not too concerned about the algae on the boat from a cosmetic stand point. Most of the boats on this fresh water lake have algae so it isnt like you are judged on it.

 

[Philster]

Re: Wax the bottom?

Algae can kill performance.

There are other products that are billed as more suited to treating the bottom, but fall way short of bottom paint. In your case these might be all you need.

http://auroramarine.com/aurora/catalog/vs721/index.html

 

[90stingray]

Re: Wax the bottom?

I wax mine all the way underneath... the dirt and stains rinse right off for me. But I trailer my boat. I have tried not waxing before and the buildup is noticablly harder to remove. I personally would do what I can to not bottom paint... maybe invest in a lift?

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Wax the bottom?

wax isn't going to do much for a boat that is slipped... The wax will be completely gone on any surface under the water in a relatively short time.

 

[oops!]

Re: Wax the bottom?

ditto.....uh....kinda like after the fiirst few hours that you run the boat

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Wax the bottom?

wax adversely affects speed, too. Spend your time topside

 

[riptorn]

Re: Wax the bottom?

Depends on what wax you use.
Water beads on wax.
Wax is a repellent.
After a few years sitting in the water the gel coat gets pores and feels rough. You need buff with a rubbing compound (for gel coat) until smooth then the wax.
Wax is also used when building boats.
But it's a pain crawling under the boat for hours! LOL

 

[oops!]

Re: Wax the bottom?

Wax is also used when building boats.

just want to clarify this....

wax is only used as a release agent between the mold and the hull....

if they did not use wax on the mold....a mechanical bond would form between the sprayed on gellcoat and the fiberglass of the mold.
this would bond....and the new hull would never be able to come loose form the mold.

the other time they use wax is to make the shiney for the point of sale.....thats it !

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Wax the bottom?

Gazelle, it spounds like the growth where you are at is not too bad. That's good for you. Growth on the hull bottom causes extra drag, which causes your engine to work extra hard. That causes high combustion temps. That causes valves to "tulip", that causes poor compression, por engine operation, and more fuel consumption. AVOID THIS AT (almost) ALL COSTS. I know from first hand experience. Unless you want to be removing cylinder head and or replace them, don't operate the boat with a fouled bottom.

Regular wax will NOT help. At all. There is a product called "Super Slick", that I bought out of a "competitor to iboats" catalogue. You might want to check Over there, they have Ton's of stuff. Check iboats, they might sell it too. It's a denatured wax that you put on thick and leave it. The growth sticks to it and washes away better just from running the boat. It's not perfect for high growth areas (like where I live), but it might be great for you.

All that said, you need bottom paint. Not just for the anti-fouling properties either. You need an epoxy barrier coat to protect against blisters. Then anti-fouling paint over that.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Wax the bottom?

I personally wax our runabout with 3M marine polish/wax every season, but it's kept on a trailer when not in use. I don't think waxing it will help anything much for leaving it in the water. Anti-fouling paint would be the best option short of getting a lift in your slip to raise it out of the water when not in use.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Re: Wax the bottom?

I personally wax our runabout with 3M marine polish/wax every season, but it's kept on a trailer when not in use. I don't think waxing it will help anything much for leaving it in the water. Anti-fouling paint would be the best option short of getting a lift in your slip to raise it out of the water when not in use.

Where does one wax a boat? While it's on the trailer?

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Wax the bottom?

Where does one wax a boat? While it's on the trailer?

That's about the only place you can wax a boat for areas under the waterline, lol. I suppose you could do it while it was on a lift, but it would be really complicated. I just lay under the trailer and do the bottom, but the bunks still hide a small portion of the hull. Again, may not be necessary, but my 36 yr old hull still shines. The fact that it only has about 750hrs on the hull helps that, too.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Wax the bottom?

Tilliam, Whereas it is true that growth on a boat hull will slow the speed of the craft, growth alone will not cause the engine damage you have cited.

 

[idonthaveaname]

Re: Wax the bottom?

I like paint. Don't know about all that Super Slick stuff. To me...just a waste of money.

The boys in the Keys keep their boats in all season. Painted hulls on most. They usually find a quiet shallow someplace and scrape the bottom to keep the algae off when needed. Wax the top of your boat. If you trailer, like some here, no paint and wax the bottom if you want to. It's more important to keep the elements off the details...chrome, cleats, motor, etc. and regular top side waxing will help stop the UV from killing your gelcoat.

 

[shrew]

Re: Wax the bottom?

Two words, Bottom Pain.

I can name that tune in one word....."Ditto". shaking my head that we had to go 15 posts before it was mentioned. Wet stored boats are better off with a barrier coat and then bottom paint. Trailored boats are a different story, however the OP states he's storing his in water so the results are not really comparable.

 

[R Socey]

Re: Wax the bottom?

Ablative bottom paint. Did you guys know that the roughness of a sharks skin is actually hydrodynamic, but counter intuative - just a thought.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Wax the bottom?

I can name that tune in one word....."Ditto". shaking my head that we had to go 15 posts before it was mentioned. Wet stored boats are better off with a barrier coat and then bottom paint. Trailored boats are a different story, however the OP states he's storing his in water so the results are not really comparable.

Uumm, in post #9 I stated that he needed bottom paint, with an epoxy barrier coat. Even if his boat is a "trailer boat", he is wet slipping it. Wet slipping = boat paint (with barrier coat).


Chris 1956, yes, excessive growth does cause the engine damage I listed. Well, I should say that continuing to operate a boat with excessive growth causes it.

 

[Philster]

Re: Wax the bottom?

Excessive growth has the potential to contribute to engine lugging, wherein lugging is the act of putting undo stress on the engine's internals, noted by an inability for an engine to handle a given load, most often evidenced by its inability to accelerate and reach max operating RPM range.

The OP doesn't seem to battling that sort of growth, but he still needs to protect the bottom of his boat.

 

[gazelle]

Re: Wax the bottom?

Thanks for all the replies


So it sounds as though many are recommending that I put on bottom paint to help prevent blistering. Will it really help that much? I just wonder how much more protection it will add if the water can already get through a gel coat and into the fiberglass. Will one or two layers add that much more protection? This is a serious question and I am not questioning the logic, just looking for clarification.

Prior to this boat I had an aluminum Starcraft with bottom paint. It really did not stop the algae growth but was necessary to stop corrosion, especially since the previous owner kept it in a slip in salt water. All I remember about bottom paint is that it makes a mess when you paint and it is a pain to paint under the bunks. Not to mention that they do not give the stuff away especially the type you can use on aluminum.

I would love a lift but I rent my slip from the state park system. Purchasing a lift would be an expensive endeavor. First I would have to buy the land then build the dock for the lift to fit on. Here we have a rock bottom so most of the docks have to use steel beams for the post. The local guy quoted a little over 2k each to buy and drive one piling. So all told to get a lift for my boat I am looking at an investment of around 300k if I do it cheap. One day that is the plan but I have to finish off paying my current mortgage before I start another.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Wax the bottom?

Its worth taking a look at one of the floating boat lifts... This would be the only way I'd EVER slip my boat. As far as the marina owner is concerned, it is nothing but a pontoon boat essentially. Nothing is permanent nor touching the bottom. (top one rotates the pontoons out and sinks the lift, the other actually has a small air pump which inflates the pontoons)

http://www.sunstreamboatlifts.com/floatlift.htm
http://www.boatlift.com

(there are others out there also, just picked two at random)