Bottom scrub and scrape

[Rhapsode]

The marine growth in Brazil is prolific and seems to take no notice of anti fouling coatings. Within four months of fresh AF the growth was phenomenal. On my last visit to Salvador I dived under the boat and scraped off the weed and accompanying barnacles.

There is a sand bank at a nearby island and so I am wondering whether it would be easier to beach the boat over a couple of tides to deal with the growth.

Has anyone beached their Nic 38 and if so any tips, dos and don’ts would be most welcome.

Peter

[Ronar M]

Hi Peter,

I’m lucky with Ronar M. I can put her against a scrubbing wall at my sailing club and scrub her off at low tide. I just attach the main halyard to a strong point on the dock and make sure she leans a little towrds the wall. She sits nicely on the keel.
However, recently I put her over on her side and she came back up ok. We had unusually high pressure and this pushed the tide down a metre below predictions. I was woken in the middle of the night when I fell out of my bunk as she canted over. It was a dark foggy night so I couldn’t see if she was high and dry but she was certainly lying way over. In fact the previous owner told me Nic 38s come back up with no downflooding but I’m not sure I have proved this. Ronar had a muddy line on one side about half way between the water and the toerail so she may not have dried out completely. If you are going to give it a try, put an inflatable under her to protect the side that goes down. Clearly you will need two tides, one to do each side. Best of luck, Trevor

[Moderator]

Hi Peter –

The CD that Jeremy offers includes a drawing for how to make brackets and telescoping stands that allow the boat to be beached without tipping. It’s not trivial – requires some glassing – but the point is the boat is designed to sit nicely on her keel.
Cheers – marilyn

[Rhapsode]

Thanks Trevor & Marilyn,

If I feel brave enough to give it a go when I next go out to Brazil I’ll let you know how I get on.

Peter

[Author]

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