Underwater Gardening
'Sarf & West mate, Sarf & West'
Pete Bernfeld
Fri 29 May 2009 12:28
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With departure for Trinidad almost imminent (nest
Tuesday, due to it being a holiday weekend/monday here) I decided that I really
ought to clean off the hulls so I could make a sensible speed en-route. This
unusual burst of enthusiasm for physical effort was, I must admit, partially
prompted by repeated offers from passing boatboys to clean the waterline, which
resembled a rainforest. My resolve was bolstered when I went across the bay to
top up with water and found poor old Trouters would only make about 3.5kts at
economical cruise RPMs (should have been at least 1 kt, probably 1.5kts
faster).
The first pass, using a brush from the dingy, made
no discernable difference, just annoyed most of the resident crustaceans, so I
brought a large metal paint scraper. I explained to the guy in the chandlers
that I didn't want the scraper to remove paint but to get weed off the boat. His
reply to that was if it was his boat he wouldn't want to get weed off it (OK, I
thought it was funny as a very quick, off the cuff quip).
I spent an hour diving on both hulls, removing what
must have been almost a half-inch layer of growth (!) and really pissing-off the
residents, but to finish off the job I think I'm going to have to use the scuba
gear! I know the props are down there because I've used both engines, I think
theyr'e lurking behind the growth at the bottom of the saildrive legs :) I have
also removed an amount of the previous anti-fouling, so one less job for Peakes
in Trinidad to do!
Below, a couple of 'des res' in Prickly Bay. Oh
well, as the T shirt says, 'somewhere in the world it's 5 pm', pass the Jack
iron will you?
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