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Barnacle Brothers Dive Service is a family owned and operated dive service in New Smyrna Beach. Our cleaning program is based on years of experience & the simple premise that if you have to scrape a considerable amount of marine growth from a regularly maintained boat bottom, then too much time has elapsed between cleanings. Boat bottoms need to be scheduled & cleaned more often to avoid excessive marine growth & the subsequent loss of the boat's performance. We tailor our underwater maintenance program to the needs of each individual boat bottom with respect to the season & the condition of the anti-fouling paint. Barnacle Brothers implemented 3 changes in our prior cleaning program, giving us the best maintained boats in Volusia County. First, Barnacle Brothers started cleaning all the boats it maintains, that have anti-fouling paint in good & fair condition, every 3 weeks during the summer months from March to October & keeping the previous 4 week cleaning schedule only for the winter months of November through Febuary. The previous practice of cleaning the boat bottoms every 4 weeks in the summer did not keep the boat bottoms clean enough, as the summer marine growth accumulates 2-3 times as fast as in the winter due to warmer water temperatures & more sunlight, so the boat's performance suffered. Did you know that during the summer as much marine growth can accumulate during the 4th week as the 3 previous weeks combined? Second, boat bottoms that have poor or no anti-fouling paint* that are cleaned every 14 days in the winter, are now cleaned every 10-11 days in the summer. Why? Because at 14 days in the summer, the marine growth that accumulates on a boat bottom with poor or no anti-fouling paint* is so large that it requires scraping to be removed & the boat's performance is compromised due to marine growth fouling of the hull, propellers & engine water intakes; causing overheating engines, slower speed & poor fuel economy. Also, by going to a 10-11 day schedule, the marine growth can be scrubbed off with steel wool in 1/3 of the time it would take to remove the marine growth 3 days later with a scraper. Third, as the unpainted metal surfaces on powerboats, such as props, shafts, trim tabs, struts, rudders, engine intakes, outdrives, etc., accumulate so much coral marine growth during the summer, a 10 -11 day cleaning program was implemented, for the same reasons previously described for boat bottoms with poor or no anti-fouling paint*. This "Metal Cleaning" program is performed between each regular 3 week complete cleaning & allows powerboats to perform as well in the summer as in the winter. |
