Bottom cover possibility instead of bottom painting???

[mccdvm]

I was wondering if it is possible or even feasible to insert a plastic liner (blue tarp or black liners for ponds) to the entire bottom half of the boat while it is docked on a slip?
Two persons start to insert the liner to the bottom part of the stern end and slide it all the way to the bow end then secure the ends of the liner to the railings or boat cleats.
The water inside the liner can then be pumped out using a fenestrated hose or tubing connected to a bilge pump?
This will prevent barnacles attaching to the hull. Anybody have tried this yet?
Thanks.[/list]

 

[Bryan 2530]

Sounds like alot of work to me, better off with a lift or lift type bag if you want to go that route.

 

[pmeggers]

Never seen it done but in my opinion does not sound like a good idea.

 

[CapeCodFrank]

There is a product for that...

http://www.bottomliner.com/

 

[mccdvm]

There is a product for that...

http://www.bottomliner.com/

Thanks for the info, I will give them a call.

 

[GaryM]

My boss has a place on the water in Oriental, NC and he has several neighbors with small racing sailboats who use the Bottom Liner or something similar to it, so they do not have to paint their bottoms. When I asked him how it helps keep the growth off he said his neighbors go out at night, when no one is looking, and they pour a bunch of chemicals into the liner to prevent growth, possibly bleach. It sucks, but that's the only way I see how the liner can work otherwise the boat is still sitting in saltwater.

I also noticed the website says "Bottom Liner controls marine growth by letting you control the environment that your boat sits in", but it doesn't say how you control the environment. Maybe I'm cynical, but it comes across to me as "read between the lines, you need to add chemicals to change the environment but we're not going to openly say that on our website".

At a minimum, I'd figure out how the liner works before I ordered one.

Gary

 

[mccdvm]

I was wondering how about putting a bilge pump to pump most of the water out of the liner? Would that possibly work instead of the bleach/ chemicals?

 

[CapeCodFrank]

I haven't tried the bottom liner and have no connection with the company. Seems like the chemicals would be similar to what one adds to a swimming pool to control algae, etc. Adding a little each time you used the boat, or weekly, might do the trick. I agree that contacting the company and getting some customers to talk with seems prudent.