Paying someone to scrape the bottom of your boat or doing it yourself?

[tallship]

I've done this both ways, and changed it up from time to time.

For the most part, there was a well-liked neighbor who did bottom cleaning in the local marina's along the Cerritos Channel in the Port of Los Angeles and because I knew and trusted him, and wanted to give him a bit of income to help him maintain his liveaboard lifestyle, contracted him for a monthly scrub.

Honestly, I didn't mind doing it myself, but L.A. Harbor is kinda (no, superduper) yucky and I honestly spent more time washing down my wetsuits afterward than wiping off the algae from my hull. And in the winter? Well, um... IIRC his name was Dan, and better that he brave those less than tepid waters than me in the months between November and March, than I, lolz....

My last ship, however, at 102' LOA, was just too much, so we would sail her to Bodega Bay and wait until she was hard aground, using a huge danforth with a line to the main halyard so we could get her to list enough to do a quick bottom paint in some areas, and then scrape elsewhere, before the tide rolled back in and buoyed us.

This was typically a two or three day affair, and involved seven or eight people, lots of beer and wine and food, and just generally a fun event three or four times a year. NOTE: This is prolly best performed barefoot if you don't want to lose your boots to the suction of the muddy silt.

[AndyEss]

I’m not sure what your question is.

I’d be extremely careful about grounding a 102 ft long hull for any reason. A hard spot on the bottom, a piece of steel or concrete debris, and you might end up with lesser or greater hull damage, including structurally over-stressing the entire hull.
As for diving in the industrial harbor of Los Angeles/Long Beach, I’m with you in hiring a diver who lives in the same marina as you. Oddly enough, the liveaboard I used during my time in Wilmington was named Dan too.

[tallship]

Originally Posted by AndyEss

As for diving in the industrial harbor of Los Angeles/Long Beach, I’m with you in hiring a diver who lives in the same marina as you. Oddly enough, the liveaboard I used during my time in Wilmington was named Dan too.

Hm..... Well let's see then... Maybe we knew the same guy. Really nice guy, Never went ANYWHERE without his talkie (more on that in a minute). I lived in Lighthouse at the time, and I believe he lived next door in Colonial (and if I'm not mistaken Augie was still alive before his family ran it into the ground after he passed).

It would have been say, Well my daughter hadn't been born yet, and she'll be 25 on the 19th of this month. I was still there when she was born, but I bought the big ship in Napa soon after that so she'd have a real home.

Anyway, There was the annual Ensenada race/cruise around that time, and Dan was supposed to go on someone's boat (I did not know them), but because (I think) his battery had gone kaput he wouldn't go until he got a new one - He really NEVER went anywhere without it.

There was a lot of scuttlebut and conjecture, but as the story goes, that sailboat was found adrift off Dana Point and last I heard they hadn't found any of the crew.

I had forgotten completely about that, and I might have it all wrong, you know how rumours fly.

Dan always did a good job though, and I trusted him, so just told him whenever and to lemme know and I was happy to pay him coz that was the only money he made I think, unless perhaps he helped out over at Lupe's (Eddies), at Cerritos (Joanne's, or rather her mom Red's, marina).

I lived at Cerritos for a while too a few years before that, and got a discounted rate because my slip was right under Joanne's office and in order to get out you had to just nudge it it and out of gear at the lowest RPM possible and back right under the Crane of Eddie's, so there were times when I just couldn't get in or out of my slip there, which was fine, coz I always talked to Lupe and he would tell me what was coming up as far as haulouts over the next couple of days.

I really enjoyed sitting on my cabin trunk in the evenings just enjoying a cup of tea and watching them load and unload the ships across the channel at the Matson Terminal.