Prop speed opinions

[Joe Monaco]

having the bottom painted was wondering about recent experiences or opinions of prop speed. I fish/cruise about 200 hours a year. Is it worth the expense to have this done on my 31 foot express or not really.

Thanks

Topic

[Tony Athens]

I don’t know the cost of bottom cleaning other than my Bro’s boat has 2X plus the amount of surface yours does.. He does this about every 5 years or so and it’s way cost effective.. Plus, at least in Calif, the bottom paint you buy now is “close to worthless” per Tim and the cost is beyond crazy………Luckly, I have only had to pull his shafts once since new…………………..

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Woo

[Woo]

What does a diver charge for a mid 30ft boat over your way?

I use Propspeed, as it definitely has advantages over normal bottom paint in my dock’s conditions. However, I am prepared to do some sums based on what you’ve said above Tony.

[Tony Athens]

Bottom cleaning vs bottom paint and yard costs based on 25+ years

This is what my Bro has figured out over the past 25+ years/60,000 + hours of operation on his vessel on the original shafts…

Pay a diver to clean the hull and running gear as needed ( 8-10 times a year), then pull the boat when needed — Thinking back, maybe 6 yard pulls since the early 90’s?…His hull was like new the last time I looked and basically had ZERO paint on it left.. He starts fresh every 5 years or so.. Plus, it’s so much easier on my work schedule.………..

Tony

[Tony Athens]

Bottom cleaning vs bottom paint and yard costs based on 25+ years

This is what my Bro has figured out over the past 25+ years/60,000 + hours of operation on his vessel on the original shafts…

Pay a diver to clean the hull and running gear as needed ( 8-10 times a year), then pull the boat when needed — Thinking back, maybe 6 yard pulls since the early 90’s?…His hull was like new the last time I looked and basically had ZERO paint on it left.. He starts fresh every 5 years or so.. Plus, it’s so much easier on my work schedule.………..

Tony

[Joe Monaco]

My diver said don’t bother with it. A large trawler at the boat yard had it done and it looked really nice. That’s what got me thinking. Ultimately I will only see it when I’m diving around the boat so not a great reason to spend the money on it. From what I’m reading many folks say it only last a season. It probably makes more sense to just pay the diver a bit extra for additional cleaning a few times when the water is warmer. I appreciate your thoughts on the subject.

[Philip]

Check with your diver and see what they say.

I know up in the Long Beach area they have high growth of hard white ring coral on the metals, and they (scuba duba) have been watching those boats with prop speed vs non prop speed and keeping growth at bay.

For me I chose to just increase bottom cleaning intervals during the warmer water months to include monthly cleaning and in between cleaning running gear/intakes. This seems to have done the job well and saved some serious $$ as that stuff is expensive.

Of course depending on what kind of boat you are running, where you are located, and what you are trying to accomplish makes all the difference. Prop speed can be good stuff in the right scenario.

[Author]

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