The Much Needed Haulout

When the Ripple first came into my life last spring, the previous owner had informed me that she was in need of a haul-out for new bottom paint. As he was getting older, he hadn't been able to sail her much for a number of years before I bought her. So we negotiated a drop in the asking price to cover the expected costs, and I put it on the top of my list of "To-Do's".

For those that don't know, boats have what's called "anti-fouling paint" that you put on the hull below the waterline. The paint is called ablative paint, and it's designed to slowly come off as the boat is used. The idea is that any algae/mussel growth that starts accumulating on the hull will then fall off as the paint sheds away. Then every two years or so, you haul the boat out and refresh the paint.

Trouble is, the paint only really works if the boat is used (i.e. moves), as it relies on the friction of moving water to rub off. So, if your boat sits at a dock unused for awhile (4 years for mine...), the bottom can get pretty covered. I recall when I took the boat to Keats Island last August, I got a chance to see the bottom while swimming around the boat. That was the first time I fully realized how "dirty" the bottom really was... I basically had a small underwater biome growing down there.

Dramatic depiction of the bottom of my boat last summer

That said, for this reason or that, I never got around to hauling the Ripple out last year. I think it was a combination of being anxious about doing the work myself (having never done it before) and just not picking a time to do it. I think I built the job up in my head, and it ended up being one of those "Maybe next weekend will work... no, maybe the following..." sort of deals. Before I knew it, summer was over, and it didn't make sense to get the bottom all nice and clean just to have the boat sit all winter and green itself back up.

Therefore, come spring time when I drafted up the 2017 Season To-Do's, bottom paint was at the very top of the list... underlined, bold printed and with a few stars around it. So on a Friday in mid-May, I had her hauled out in a boat yard next to my marina.

The process is pretty entertaining. Basically you motor under a giant crane, which has two big slings that go under your boat. The slings lift, and voila, flying boat.

Once it's most of the way up, you hop off. This was my first opportunity to fully see the bottom of my boat. She was... pretty green.

The lift operator asked me how long it had been since she was hauled out. When I told him 4 to 5 years, he said "Ya, that seems about right."

First step after she's out is to take garden tools and scrape off the mussels. This turns out to be amazingly satisfying work, as they come off quite easily. I was lucky enough to recruit a few buddies to help out.

That's a lot of mussels...

After scraping, the yard guys go at the hull with a high-powered pressure washer to blast away as much of the algae as they can.

Before and after of pressure washing.

After they clean it as best they can, the boat is put onto a holding rack. The rack is then picked up and carried by a giant fork lift to be placed into a parking spot in the yard. The yard manager was a super friendly guy named Yoni, who kindly asked us "...not to watch this part (the fork lift moving)" as it "makes owners a bit nervous". So I turned by back and hoped I didn't hear anything catastrophic. When she was about landed, I snuck a quick photo.

Nerve-racking...

Landed

The game plan for the work comprised of two parts: 1) the topsides (sides of the hull above the waterline) and 2) the bottom. With the topsides, the steps were to wash it down, buff the fiberglass to get it shiny and remove stratches, and then put a polish coating on to protect it.

Nish helping out with the buffing

Weapon of choice for the job

Buffing and polishing involved using a 10-inch electric polisher. As someone that spends most of their work days in an office setting, this work was a bit of a harsh reminder that my shoulders are not in that great of shape! Exhausting stuff trying to hold onto the thing while it's vibrating all over the place. The difference in the hull was very noticeable though!

Before and after

Going over the whole boat with buff paste and polish ended up taking a few days. It's a slippery slope of "well it pretty shiny, BUT IT COULD BE SHINIER!"

Eventually we had to move on to the more daunting work that was the bottom...

I asked the yard workers what they thought needed to be done regarding my hull. I was told the paint that was on there was pretty cheap and had been coated on too thick. So I was told there were two possible approaches for my work:

• "Good Enough" - Sand down the existing bottom paint, fill any gaps, and then paint over it with 2 coats of anti-fouling paint. This was the "do enough to get it back in the water" approach. 

• "The Right Way" - Scrape off as much of the old paint as possible, then sand the remaining paint off until you're down to clean fiberglass. From there, 4 coats of barrier paint, and then 2 coats of anti-fouling paint. This would basically reset the bottom (no old anti-fouling paint) and then add a protective layer of barrier paint to the fiberglass that would last for years and years. 

So, me being me, of course I had to do it the right way. Just the way I am.

First step: Scraping...

Nasty nasty work. The paint isn't really something you want on your skin, or on the ground, so giant tarps and bunny suits were needed. Much more shoulder agony was also involved.

Making progress...

One evening, the wind kicked up to nearly 70 kph/40 mph, which isn't ideal when you're trying to capture as much of the scraped paint as possible. We managed to get a good amount of work done by constructing a "tarp tent". Eventually the wind blew an eyelet out of the tarp, and we had to call it. 

Scraping a boat in a wind storm

Next step: Sanding... 

Once the bulk of the loose paint was removed, it was on to sanding. The yard rented a "dustless" hand sander that was hooked up to a shop-vac. Very handy tool. 

Before and after sanding

Post day of sanding BBQ

Almost ready for paint

More exhausting work. Huge thanks again to Nish for helping with this. It would have been a very tall order to tackle single-handed.

Next step: Barrier Paint. 

Barrier paint is an epoxy based paint that creates a protective layer on the fiberglass. I ended up putting 5 coats on (2 gallons); first a white coat, then a grey coat. Painting isn't really much easier than sanding, but it sure is more satisfying!

First she was a white boat...

And then she was a grey boat...

Last step: Anti-fouling paint...

After the barrier paint, the final steps were 2 more coats of anti-fouling paint. By this time, I was figuring out the efficiencies for painting, so they went pretty quickly. It was nice to see the hull back to it's original blue as well (although the grey looked pretty slick). 

All done!

Last few little details were to replace the pinstripe along the side, as well as the license numbering. Turns out a hair dryer is the secret weapon for getting old decals off. 

New pinstriping

And last but not least, I FINALLY got to put the name on the back of the boat. I'd spent the last year calling her the Ripple, without any proper decals to show it. My friend Jen did any amazing job designing a logo, which makes it even more special for me. I think it looks pretty damn sweet.

Then she went back in the water!

Nish and I immediately took her out for a quick motor to see how the handling had changed. In all honestly, she feels like and entirely new boat. She's faster. She's smoother through the water. She's more responsive in steering. It's a night and day improvement. We were both floored.

Quick sea trial. What an improvement!

My original "guess" was for 4 days of work, which ended up being closer to 12, but I guess that's the cost of doing things "the right way". In the end, it was a ton of work, but was absolutely worth it. A number of people who were around the boat yard while I was doing my work came up to me on launch day to tell me how beautiful my boat looked. Felt really good to hear after putting so many hours into it. I'm really proud of it.

Now, to plan some trips!