Best way to clean hull?

[outdoorsman37]

Hello, I just bought a 21 sailboat and pulled it out of the water. the hull is pretty dirty with tough cr*p on it. There are some shell type clinging on. maybe it was from some shells that were previously scraped off. the whole bottom is pretty caked with growth. I broomed it down to just what is stuck on there. So, what is the best way to clean it without damaging the hull? I would like to eventually paint it but may not want to do it now unless that would be best. It is on a trailer. Pressure wash, sand blast, some cleaners, rotary sander, I really don't want to scrap the whole hull with a small scraper. That would take forever and a lot of work. Anyone have a suggestion for the easiest and best way to clean it up? Something that saves time and doesn't damage the hull?

Thanks!

[mike dryver]

check with some one that does soda blasting it sounds like you have calcium build up from shell fish or barnacles you could try vinegar soaking with rags it might dissolve the calcium.

[zz4gta]

Small scraper. What kind of paint do you have? If there's paint left, you shouldn't need to scrape that hard. Otherwise, it's attached to the barrier coat or gelcoat. In which case, strip and repaint the entire hull.

I used an orbital sander and probably 80 discs to take mine to gelcoat after a bad season of barnacles. The new bottom is almost a full knot faster.