Spring Boat Work

[wwilson]

Warm & Sunny: tarp removed and folded till fall, deck washed, canvas installed propeller cleaned and re-zinced - all on only 3 Coronas.

Before:



After:

[PalmettoSailor]

Nice. What did you do to get your prop looking so good? I never get mine that clean.

[wwilson]

mid,

Vinegar sprayed from a Windex bottle and a Scotch Bright pad on a drill. I like to use an ac powered drill. Keep the pad and prop wet with vinegar or the pad clogs and builds up a sludge. I've given up on paints of any kind afterward: they seem to peel off or just make the cleaning job that much harder in the spring.

[pdqaltair]

Originally Posted by wwilson

Warm & Sunny: tarp removed and folded till fall, deck washed, canvas installed propeller cleaned and re-zinced - all on only 3 Coronas.

Before:



After:

I posted a semi-tounge in cheek alternative view:

Sail Delmarva: Seven Sins I Will NOT Commit This Spring

I guess I felt nervy, since this will be one of my lighter spring work years.

Enjoy!

[christyleigh]

Originally Posted by wwilson

This is a perfect example of why I suggested painting - NOT Bottom Paint - the area around the screws (the thinnest part of the zinc) in another thread. This zinc will fall off soon even though it has much protection left in it. Even if a few minutes and a few pennies worth of paint only gains a couple weeks or months it could make the difference in losing a zinc before season end.

[lancelot9898]

Originally Posted by wwilson

mid,

Vinegar sprayed from a Windex bottle and a Scotch Bright pad on a drill. I like to use an ac powered drill. Keep the pad and prop wet with vinegar or the pad clogs and builds up a sludge. I've given up on paints of any kind afterward: they seem to peel off or just make the cleaning job that much harder in the spring.

It takes me a full day to get my max prop looking like that. Maybe I'll try the vinegar route the next time. FWIW, I do apply bottom paint to the Max Prop even though the PYI people do not reccomend it. I use interlux products to prep the metal prior to the application and that is why it takes me so long to clean that stuff off the prop. (It adheres very well.) As long as I don't put too many coats of either the primcon or the hard bottom paint on the prop, it seems to hold up well over the 3 years that I'm in the water between haul outs.