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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

Barnicles on inflatable. how to get'm off??

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Scooter
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USA
228 Posts

Initially Posted - 05/01/2011 : 15:03:39

Anybody have any ideas how to get barnacles off of a PVC inflatable?

That is without (of course) damaging it.

My friend has an inflatable that I might get (almost free) which is covered with small "remnants" of barnacles. It's very tedious manually scraping them off with a delicate touch.

Anybody out there go through this pain? Chemicals/solvents that won't hurt the PVC??

So far I've just tried soaking them in water and it's a little easier but still time consuming. The price to pay for a cheap (and otherwise very good) dinghy. It's about a year old but it sat in the water just long enough to get them started. They are all small but many, many, of them covering the bottom.

Scooter
C25 '89 SR/WK #5878 "Square Knot"
Vandemere NC.

Edited by - on

britinusa
Web Editor

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USA
5404 Posts

Response Posted - 05/01/2011 : 16:13:48

We looked at the restoring dinks info on the web. They recommend 'sanding' the surface down and then applying a restoring paint. But your situation may not be that bad.
[url="http://www.tuff-coat.com/"]tuff cote[/url]

Paul

Edited by - britinusa on 05/01/2011 16:14:49

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9082 Posts

Response Posted - 05/01/2011 : 20:35:01

Here's some possible good news... If you plan to keep this inflatable in the water, you'll need to put some "inflatable" antifouling paint on it... But how to make it stick! Well, the remnants of barnacles after you've scraped off the little volcanoes (and maybe sanded a little) make probably a more tenacious primer than man has ever devised. "Inflatable" (flexible) bottom paint will adhere to that extremely well--almost certainly better than to the original material. The resulting surface might not be as smooth, but you're not using it in a sailboat race.

Edited by - Stinkpotter on 05/01/2011 20:36:07

Scooter
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USA
228 Posts

Response Posted - 05/02/2011 : 04:15:50

Thanks all.

The issue, though, isn't re-surfacing the bottom. The bottom is fine if you get the barnacles off. It's less than 2 years old. I CAN get them off but it's slow and tedious and almost one barnacle at a time. I'm looking to get them all off without damaging the bottom. Sanding the PVC bottom (to me) does damage and repainting will look bad.

I guess I'm going with time and patience. If you soak them long enough they get "somewhat" easier. I'm using little wooden sticks that are firm but get soft from being in the water. "So far" it seems to be the best combination of rigid enough to "pop" them off while soft enough to NOT scratch the bottom. I've found that if you roll the material between your fingers, most of the barnacle flakes off. This leaves you with only the center (and most tenacious) part to actually scrape off.

I'm going to contact the Mfg and see if they have any ideas besides sanding. I'm not going there yet.

Thanks for letting me know about the dinghy paint though. Didn't know about it. We have another dinghy that we intend to sell and that may be an option for some spots it has. I would paint the whole bottom just so it looks better.

NOTE: We don't intend to leave it in the water. It was left in by the PO. He didn't take care of anything. He had his Catalina 30 moored and he lived aboard for a while. He used the dinghy to/from shore so he just left it in the water (too long). He's selling his Catalina 30 and it looks "rode hard and put up wet". What a shame. He's going through the big "D" and I don't mean Dallas.

Thanks again.

Edited by - Scooter on 05/02/2011 04:20:37

Davy J
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1511 Posts

Response Posted - 05/02/2011 : 06:36:50

I haven't tried it, but I think soaking in vinegar would help. I don't think the vinegar would cause any damage. You might want to try a small area first though.

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islander
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4024 Posts

Response Posted - 05/03/2011 : 11:22:30

Muriatic acid dissolves the little buggers. Buy it at any hardware or big box store and it won't harm the inflatable or fiberglass but it will dissolve Calcium (Calsite) which is what the shells are made of. It's the main ingredient in most hull cleaners.

Edited by - islander on 05/03/2011 11:30:01

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 05/03/2011 : 15:25:05

I'd try soaking in vinegar or muriatic acid as others have pointed out. You could also try soda blasting, it's very good at getting stuff off of a surface w/o doing much damage to the surface itself. I'd think that PVC might not hold up well to it though.

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Dave5041
Former Mainsheet Editor

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USA
3758 Posts

Response Posted - 05/03/2011 : 16:16:08

Muriatic acid (hydrochloric acid) is very corrosive, hydrogen chloride was the original "mustard gas"; I would be very careful and start with a very dilute solution. I did use 10% hydrochloric acid once to clean a fiberglass boat boat bottom that was completely encrusted with calcified growth and managed to kill two downwind bushes with just the fumes. Vinegar (3 - 5 % acetic acid) is slower but much more benign. Keep a giant box of baking soda and a baking soda/water solution handy to neutralize either one.

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 05/03/2011 : 18:24:35

Toilet bowl cleaner

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