Bottom cleaning and protection
A slimy, barnacled bottom doesn’t run well — we are very aware of this after years of owning and racing a wooden Lacustre.
Schooner Emma has even more area for sea-dwellers to colonize ….. ugh! What to do? One needs to pull out on the slip, scrape and power-spray until the hull feels like a baby’s bottom, and then coat it with primer and antifouling paint, so that there is nothing for those evil barnacles to grip onto.
It’s a big, messy job … but can be tackled in a day (or two) if you’re well prepared and have a couple of helpers.
All the “gunkus” and living stuff gets blasted off. Period. And then we scrape the rest to blissful smoothness.
Rolling on the primer …
That’s all for now. We’ll slap on the antifouling in the Spring before she goes back in the water.
