Barnacle Question

[murshru]

I have a 24ft. bayliner with a Murcruiser engine. I keep my boat in a slip in 5 to 8 feet water at the slip. I had a problem with an awful alot of barnacles on my outdrive. Has anyone else had that problem?

[CB]

Yes, depending on your location barnicles can start to form on your hull and other parts of your boat in just a few days. There are a number of ways to remove them including chemicals and scrapers. Once off you need to keep them off. You may want to look into this product: Marine Hull Protectant you can also see a video of it in action here: YouTube - Boat Barnacle Removal with KISS Polymers

Good luck

[mnydvr]

I make my living as a diver and mechanic, I can tell you from honest experience that there is only one way to kep the bottom clean and that is to have it done professionally.Any product you may buy is said to work but they don't, you can thank the D.E.P. and the E.P.A, they have taken out all of the products that make bottom and drive paint work.In N.J. we have actually resorted to putting cyan pepper in drive paint, it only works for a little while.It has gotten SO bad that we have actually had to run muriatic acid throuhg cooling systems to clean them out!.There is no cure or short cuts!,most of my boats get cleaned once every 2 weeks and I have seen drives that look like giant fossils and you could not distinguish if it was an alpa or a bravo.Maintanance is the only answer and I DO NOT recommend doing it yourself and it is not because I do it for a living! it can be very dangerous under there ,so remember to check you cooling ports on your drive often and also any through hull fittings,if she starts to run hot, or sluggish you can bet that the reason!!