[Public-List] barnacles on the propeller

[via Public-List]

Gordon,  
I live off the East River on the Mobjack in what VIMS (Virginia Institute Marine Science) calls a hot zone.  The good news is we have bushels of oysters growing on our rip rap.  Unfortunately the same conditions favor heavy barnacle growth. I have to scrape my prop every few weeks to keep the little 12 hp BMW diesel up to the task.  

I have tried various products and systems and generally come up with what you saw.  They work OK for about a month and then the barnacles re-appear. I currently use multiple light coats of zinc spray which doesn't seem to stop the growth but slows it and makes it possible to rub them off the prop blades with a rubber glove. I still have to dive on the prop but it's a lot easier.  If you find the magic cure,  I would love to hear.  
Richard Hazlegrove
Quest 433


-----Original Message-----
From: gordon white via Public-List [mailto:public-list at lists.alberg30.org] 
Sent: Tuesday, September 08, 2015 9:18 AM
To: public-list at lists.alberg30.org; public-list-request at lists.alberg30.org
Subject: Re: [Public-List] barnacles on the propeller

Second question:

     Barnacles grow on my propeller at a great rate. I may put bottom paint on it when I haul out, but the stuff wears off quickly. Of late I have had a scuba diver scrape the prop early in June of years when I don't haul out, but by the end of the summer the barnacles are back, to greater or lesser degree.

     This past weekend we sailed from Fishing Bay on the Piankatank to the West Branch of the Severn River on Mobjack Bay and it is obvious the barnacles are back. On the way south, with a fair tide and decent wind, it was not as noticeable, but on our return, Monday, with an opposing tide and no wind, we were clearly struggling.

     This has to be an issue others have faced.

     Any solutions?


  - Gordon White

/Brigadoon II/
             # 275