Looking after those wheels

[betty boop]

interesting article thanks Ian, saved me money on buying the duck or Gt products as I probably would have done.

2 comments though on the test.
1st is Betty was covered the first 2 years in Quicksilver CG. whilst it may have done some good at the time it has created an unholy mess on the engine as a whole. That film getting covered in muck and drying to a crust or sticky oily mess. Whilst I don't mind I do wonder if prospective purchasers will be put off as most of you guys have gleaming shiny engine blocks.
2nd is WD40 and I assume the others like it, I assume its the organic content of these products but one year of WD40 as CG ended in a film of mould growth over the winter period. Damp and ventilation mat have added to that but Im careful not to repeat the mess and much cleaning that protection via WD40 caused.

[annageek]

Anna spent a long time stripping last year!!!!!!!!

I see I have a bit of a reputation around here!!

But yes, probably took about 100 person hours to strip it, wet sand it back and cut/polish/wax it. There's something about lying on your back, in freezing conditions, on a cold, wet drive, under a boat's trailer, doing arm aching work that tells me I will NEVER be doing that again! We do have a beautifully shiny hull now, though, which is ideal as we dry stack.

I expect if we just wanted to remove enough to have a 'fresh' surface to paint the AF back on, then this would have been more like 8-10 hours work with a scraper - still a horrid job, but just about manageable. It'd possibly take a little less time with a decent AF stripper, but we tried many different types, all with limited success.

[SpiD]

WD40 is (claimed) goodfor many things, but the lubing and protective properties are close to nothing.

Check their homepage and select what you want it for

[NickT]

Hi Anna,

I didn't really mean to cast asp, asprc, aspersion - suggest you stripped for a living!!!

Thanks for the info on how you did it anyway....

The hardest bit will be going round the rollers on the trailer and getting them all messy with the gunge created.

I had thought I may pull the boat off the trailer and support on sleepers (very securely + a backup in case I get it wrong).

I was looking at the caustic remover which you leave for 24hrs then pressure wash off. I am not sure if the hull has been sanded so will do a test first and clean just the transom..

Did you notice an increase in speed or decrease in fuel consumption when you did it?

It may all be a waste of time as I would rather be out boating with a slightly dirty bottom rather than a clean one sitting on the drive.

Have you bought a new boat by the way??

[Ianfs]

WD40 is (claimed) good for many things, but the lubing and protective properties are close to nothing.

Agreed, it has all round capabilities and isn't a long term lubricant or rust inhibitor and I'm sure we'll all agree, its better than nothing at all.

Nick, if you want to take the boat off the trailer without a crane, I would be happy to assist. It takes a while, its a slow process, but done correctly its simple, as long as it's not a bunk trailer.

[NickT]

Hi Ian,

Thanks for your kind offer to help with the lift off. I am frantic at work at the moment but hope it calms down next year in time for a bit of pre season maintenance.

I will ponder the bits that I will require and make a list.

[annageek]

I didn't really mean to cast asp, asprc, aspersion - suggest you stripped for a living!!!

Haha... yeah yeah!

Ours was on a bunked trailer, but it does have 4 pairs of rollers to help load her on. I ended up making temporary supports out of fence post and dropped the rollers/bunks down one by one as we worked. The only part we couldn't get to this way was the 3 bits of the hull where the sort of keel rollers are. As they were only hand-print sized areas, the plan was to do these when the boat was on the cradle at the dry stack... but other than scraping the bulk off, we never got around to cleaning/polishing it properly in these spots! I think it's one of those things - if you've got time to scrub/clean/polish... you've got time to go boating... and there's always only one winner!

Did you notice an increase in speed or decrease in fuel consumption when you did it?

Only in so far as that's what I kept trying to convince myself, in an attempt to justify the 50 or so hours of my life that I'll never get back, that were spent laid under the boat on a freezing cold drive every weekend from November until March!

In truth, we never benchmarked the fuel usage before, but as we averaged (in my opinion, very impressive) 0.92l/mile this season, I think it's fair to say a completely slick bottom has contributed. How much, I've no idea!

For argument's sake, lets say it makes 0.1l/mile difference. Then if you do 500 miles in a season, even over 3 seasons, that's only around £150 saving. In other words, between us, we spent all those miserable weekends under the boat for just £1.50 an hour! Is it possible to have elective slave labour? Perhaps I should have spent the winter stripping my clothes off for money after all!!

Have you bought a new boat by the way??

What on earth gave you that idea??

[Gazjen]

To remove anti foul I used a product called peel away its a paint stripper but safe on for use on GRP and makes the job a lot quicker but it's still not fun! I still had to give it all a light sand and lots of polishing as the hull had been keyed for the paint.

[Bigplumbs]

Not much to do with this thread but I thought I would comment that on the same day I put up my Christmas Tree (Today) I also mowed my grass now something is not quite right there

Dennis

[BruceK]

Removing old AF is imo best done with slurry blasting by pros. £400 for a 36ft boat. I tried the hard way. Some things simply aren't worth it. Plus the AF made me feel ill for weeks and that was in spite of PPE kit. Mind you it was the pukka original stuff, now banned, hardly surprising