Bottom paint pollution and the case for having a naked bottom

[dreuge]

What a great idea! And we should also stop breathing to limit carbon emission too.

[geoleo]

Originally Posted by dreuge

What a great idea! And we should also stop breathing to limit carbon emission too.

Oh no we can breathe into long tubes that go deep into underground caverns so our CO2 will be "captured. " Those without tubes will be offed.

[CarlF]

I read through the research about bottom paint pollution you posted and decided careful use of copper anti fouling paint on recreational boats is a pretty small problem.

Unlike the floating micro plastics needlessly added to everything from toothpaste to soap to sun tan lotion that can’t be trapped in municipal treatment plants and are pumped out into the ocean in huge volumes - copper based bottom paint looks pretty tame - the released copper doesn’t float and sinks to the bottom in a few hours where it’s not going to be eaten by fish. Of course, tin paints were another story but hopefully no one here is using tin.

The few gallons of ablative paint I put on every 2nd year doesn’t account for much material compared to sewer lines, agriculture runoff, commercial and industrial activity.

And if you are a cruiser crossing oceans, a naked bottom with growth becomes a transport system to move invasive species around the world. This is a serious problem and many European ports don’t allow diver bottom cleaning in the harbor as the foreign species get scraped off by the diver.

[BugzyCan]

I spent 2 weeks+ in the ocean with my unpainted boat. The bottom barely had any growth, but the rubber dinghy had a lot of slime and tiny barnacles. The water here is rather cold, so I think cleaning it would be a pain. If I had a slip, I would lift boat out of the water at the end of each trip to keep growth away, but the idea of an unpainted boat appeals to me for the environment, and also the cost/hassle of it all.

[Seabeau]

Originally Posted by CaptainPete222

After posting on this forum a week ago hoping to hear from others about their experience having a naked bottom and doing frequent cleanings, not surprisingly I heard from a number of avid racers who use this approach and it worked out well for them. They have the added (exclusive?) motivation to want to win a race, but it did show me that it’s feasible if you’re sufficiently motivated.

Although I was approaching the idea of having a naked, ultra fast epoxy bottom without biocides from the standpoint of potential cost savings (while having the fringe benefit of a fast bottom), my research into this has brought me to many articles about the harmful effects of bottom paint on the marine environment. I’m embarrassed to admit that, despite it being fairly obvious that biocides would be incredibly toxic to marine flora and fauna, I really didn’t think about that very much before now.

This realization led me to considering whether the ablative paint I have used in the past was better or worse for the environment than a hard bottom paint. So I looked into that and stumbled on this article that talks about the harmful impact of the tiny particles of plastic that bottom paint releases into the water, particularly ablative paints for obvious reasons. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8350503/. This is yet another thing that I’m embarrassed to say I haven’t put any thought into. It definitely adds another reason to my growing list of reasons to switch to a naked 2000e (or performance epoxy) bottom.

Obviously this approach isn’t for everyone and I wouldn’t even consider running an experiment to see how having a naked bottom would work out if I didn’t keep my boat in clean, warm water and if I didn’t get a strange satisfaction from swimming around the boat with a scrubber pad. I put this out there for anyone who’s interested and will report back on my experience using an ultra smooth naked bottom and weekly cleanings.

We all need to keep in mind, that coastal cities are by far the largest contributors to ocean pollution and marine degradation and not boat bottoms.

[Icarus]

Originally Posted by CaptainPete222

After posting on this forum a week ago hoping to hear from others about their experience having a naked bottom and doing frequent cleanings, not surprisingly I heard from a number of avid racers who use this approach and it worked out well for them. They have the added (exclusive?) motivation to want to win a race, but it did show me that it’s feasible if you’re sufficiently motivated.



Although I was approaching the idea of having a naked, ultra fast epoxy bottom without biocides from the standpoint of potential cost savings (while having the fringe benefit of a fast bottom), my research into this has brought me to many articles about the harmful effects of bottom paint on the marine environment. I’m embarrassed to admit that, despite it being fairly obvious that biocides would be incredibly toxic to marine flora and fauna, I really didn’t think about that very much before now.



This realization led me to considering whether the ablative paint I have used in the past was better or worse for the environment than a hard bottom paint. So I looked into that and stumbled on this article that talks about the harmful impact of the tiny particles of plastic that bottom paint releases into the water, particularly ablative paints for obvious reasons. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8350503/. This is yet another thing that I’m embarrassed to say I haven’t put any thought into. It definitely adds another reason to my growing list of reasons to switch to a naked 2000e (or performance epoxy) bottom.



Obviously this approach isn’t for everyone and I wouldn’t even consider running an experiment to see how having a naked bottom would work out if I didn’t keep my boat in clean, warm water and if I didn’t get a strange satisfaction from swimming around the boat with a scrubber pad. I put this out there for anyone who’s interested and will report back on my experience using an ultra smooth naked bottom and weekly cleanings.

I guess you will spend a lot if time scrubbing the underwater body of your boat....

[Icarus]

Originally Posted by CaptainPete222

Fortunately, I don’t need to clean every four days in the relatively unpolluted waters where I am. I already have sections of bare 2000e where my paint has worn off and a weekly cleaning is sufficient to keep those areas pristine. Same goes for my unpainted Hobie tri that I keep tied up to the side of my boat and have left unused for up to a week. The slime comes off easily. I can’t speak to how quickly growth would accumulate in heavily polluted waters, but you may be right that you’d need either to clean more frequently or hire someone to do it. I owned a boat rental in Maine for 12 years and didn’t paint the bottoms of many of my boats and, at the end of the season when some boats would sit idle for a week, there would be a pretty good build up of slime, but a quick haul and pressure wash had the boats looking good has new. Here again, the water was relatively unpolluted compared to many places, so this experience doesn’t necessarily mean your 4 day prediction is off base for those places.

What are relative unpolluted waters?
Why would there be more grows in 'polluted waters'?

[Icarus]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

You sure like to use the term “naked bottom” a lot. It’s kinda weird, dude. And I’m also unclear why you are fixated on polluted water as being the cause of fouling growth. It may be a factor (in some cases) but it certainly isn’t the primary one.

I agree..

[Icarus]

Originally Posted by CaptainPete222

True enough, but down here in the Bahamas the water is very warm and, as I said, weekly cleaning of a naked bottom is more than adequate. If there is a variable that would promote faster growth, it’s that the water is already polluted, likely with fertilizer runoff. It would be nice to hear from someone who has kept a boat with a naked bottom in an area with warm, relatively polluted water, to see what the cleaning interval needs to be. There have to be thousands of people with unpainted dinghies in such areas, so the data is definitely available.

Naked bottom?
Nonsense

[Atcowboy]

Originally Posted by CaptainPete222

Well, there are a host of reasons that some racers with naked bottoms may clean their bottoms 2-3 times per week, none of which have anything to do with whether that’s actually necessary. As a former racer myself, I can say with certainty that the fever to win makes you do some pretty irrational things. Now that I’m retired from that world of boating and am only focused on how much time and money I need to put into keeping growth from my boat’s bottom, I can confidently say that a weekly cleaning is sufficient in the relatively unpolluted waters where I’ve owned boats with naked bottoms (Bahamas and Maine) to keep them pristine. I have a good bit more experience than most having boats with naked bottoms in relatively unpolluted waters.

I thought RI was the only NE state left where you can scrub in the water? I moore in Mass. Since I don't want to get caught scrubbing wildlife into wildlife, I felt like I had to go with ablative where a hard bottom paint cleaned off every so often might have been more environmentally friendly (ie- catch 22).

- AT

[MicHughV]

Do naked bottoms get a tanline ?...enquiring minds want to know....

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by Atcowboy

I thought RI was the only NE state left where you can scrub in the water?

There are no states in the U.S. where in-water hull cleaning is forbidden.

[senormechanico]

As long as Mister Potatohead is handing out freebies to everyone, how about we all ask for free boat lifts for every yacht at every dock so nobody needs that horrible, polluting toxic bottom paint?
For mother earf and the children, of course...

[Atcowboy]

Originally Posted by fstbttms

There are no states in the U.S. where in-water hull cleaning is forbidden.

https://ecology.wa.gov/DOE/files/9f/...16cf5bba49.pdf

This is a Washington State link that clearly states it is illegal. It doesn't cite a statute, unfortunately. BUT being .gov makes me think it's not just someone trying to make a baseless rule.

It's easy to find "boaters guide books" that are stern enough to make it sound like it's illegal in a state, but try finding a statue. Hard to prove a negative.

I think in some states the responsibility is somehow ambiguously pointed at marinas. At least my understanding reading endless pamphlets over the years. Meaning, if my marina allows me or someone I or the marina hired to clean my boat in the water the marina has committed the crime.

I can't find the PDF/websites that made me think MA and Maine have laws (specifically laws, not good practice recommendations) against it. But there you have it, a lot of heresay from someone who doesn't know nothing.

-AT

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by Atcowboy

https://ecology.wa.gov/DOE/files/9f/...16cf5bba49.pdf

This is a Washington State link that clearly states it is illegal.

Umm… No it doesn’t. Please read more carefully. What it says is that the cleaning of ABLATIVE paints is prohibited. Certain localities or regions have restrictions on what coatings can be cleaned in the water. Washington state is one of them. No restrictions there regarding hard paints however.