Hull Cleaning Information

I am currently living in the Central Coast of California and was looking for information on hull cleaning work.

Is there anybody out there that has information they would be willing to share about this kind of work (equipment, marketing, methods) or resources they could point me to?

I did some of this years ago...

Find out how much marinas in your area charge per foot for hauling a boat and base your rates on about 50% of that. You have to be significantly cheaper or the owner will simply choose to haul the boat and have it cleaned and painted.

Go to all the marinas and post a flyer for your services, most have bulletin board specifically for this purpose.

Get a suction cup device to hold onto the boat a brush and some scrapping tools. (Don't scrape all the paint off, just get the worst of it.)

There's also money to be made on side jobs as well, so don't limit yourself to cleaning. People will ask you to search for things they dropped in the water, etc. I made $400 bucks finding a diamond ring and $300 to reconnect a propeller shaft.

Recent changes in the regulations that control bottom paint in California will outlaw cupric paints. The various replacement systems that I have seen all require more frequent bottom cleaning, but the cleaning is easier. This will increase the demand for bottom cleaners. The important thing for a bottom cleaner to know is how to clean the bottom without damaging the coating; which will probably very from system to system. The boat I race on has a new Teflon bottom, but I haven't had to clean it yet. See if you can contact the manufacturers rep for these new systems and get information.

You will also need to get a hookah system, it's a lot easier & protects the boat from dings from your tank.

Check Latitude 38 or another local sailing rag for a schedule of regattas. You can usually pick up some fast bucks by wiping down the bottom of sailboats the morning of a race.

Boating supply stores like West Marine usually have a bulletin board that you can pin a card to. You can also look into advertising in the local boating magazines.

I would second the hooka rig, it is the only way to go, especially if you are lucky to get a number of boats on the same dock or near enough to each other to swim to. But you will also need to check with the marinas. Many of them have banned "non approved" divers or they have diving services of their own. Some will even not allow owners to dive on their own boats.

Other then that, be ready to do zinc changes, remove and replace props (you may need top side help and a hydraulic puller for the larger ones) as well as bottom cleaning. I found that wide dry wall knifes for heavy growth scraping and course natural brushes work well.

If you are really lucky, you might get some contracts for total boat care. This means cleaning hulls, cleaning and waxing the top side, and might involve doing "house hold" cleaning inside. Back in the early 80's I worked one summer with a friend in Newport RI on this type of system. We had 15 boats that we hull cleaned every 2 or 4 weeks and did the insides every week. We also did stocking of the fridge and bar. The owner would call a few days before and tell us what he wanted in the way of food and booze and we would make sure that everything was set, all the bottles were full, and all the food was fresh. Other things we did was to change the fresh water tanks every month to keep the water from going stale, run the engines and all other systems every week or so, and have the fuel tanks topped off if needed. If we found anything was wrong, we called in the mechanics.

These boats were in the 60+ foot range and just about never left the dock, but when the owner wanted to go out, they had to be ready. Mostly they were company owned and went out to entertain clients, sometime they never left the dock at all, they were just used for parties on the dock. After a party, we cleaned and restocked them all over again.

But the real benefit was meeting some girls at a club and inviting them back to our boat (we had all the keys after all) for a drink and …..

Greetings,
We clean about 300 hull's a month. We have found that a tank on the dock and long hose is much easier than a hooka. Also many marinas in our area don't want the noise of the hooka running in the marina. Tanks are more costly but you are better to have your own compressor and a few tanks over the long haul. The hoses on the hookas will occasionaly have green stuff growing in them becuase of the humid air. You can visit our web site and see how we price boat cleaning. All we ever use is a hand brush and a stainless 5in1 scraper and a stainless wire brush. You don't need anything to hold you to the boat, with a little practice you will be fine with just flippers. We do lot's of prop pulling and use a pro-puller for 2 1/2" shaft's, it will eaisly pull most any prop you will encounter. If you have more questions please ask, it is a good business if you provide a good service. A general liability policy will run you around $2K for $2m in liability. Also everybody will tell you about hot marina's but it is rare in salt water for a diver to be electrocuted in a field. Now if your in fresh water or grab a dock wire that is bad, that's another story. We have almost 5000 dives in the marinas and no problem's except for a few ear aches.

Chuck
Welcome to Underboats!

Gentlemen,

A couple of questions:

How long does it typically take you to clean a 40' power boat?

Do you dive dry or wet?

Are there any other notable hazards that you have to deal with?

Would the Brownie's kit ( Brownie's Third Lung Hose Kits ) be well suited for this application?

Any tips on the work/business enviroment in Southern California?

Thanks.

Steve

Steve,
A 40' twin engine power boat takes about an hour and a half to clean if you clean the hull and running gear. That's total time for an average fouled boat. If you are in salt water the hazzards would be mainly cutting your hands or getting swimmers ear. Wear work gloves and put alcohol in your ears every evening and you won't have any problem. The risk of stary current in salt water is almost non existant unless you actually grab a hot wire on the dock or a boat is wired wrong. You can tell it long before it will bother you in salt water. Fresh water is another story, I don't like to dive in fresh water marinas. Some guys around here do use a brownies third lung and they work fine. The only disadvantage is the noise and the humid air in your equipment and hoses. We are in dry suits now becasue the water temp is in the 40's but we dive all season in 3m full suits with a hood. Word of mouth is the best advertisement in this business, it will start slow and then snow ball once you get going. We went from about 50 boats a month one year to about 300 the next. Feel free to call or e-mail is you ever have any questions. 804-693-6777
Chuck, Under Boats Inc., Welcome to Underboats!

Thanks Chuck,

I have a pretty good handle on electrical hazards except for your distinction between fresh & salt. Isn't saltwater a better conductor? Being in the water you will be grounded. If the boat is wired improperly there is a chance of current flow from any bonded item (zincs, steel hull, running gear) to ground. If a diver (encased in wet neoprene) touches one of these "hot" surfaces the likelyhood of electric shock should be minimal as current will follow the path of least resistance. I would expect that to be the surrounding water not the wet neoprene.

I do see the risk of coming in contact with defective wiring or fixtures while exiting the water.
If you have one foot in the water and grab an exposed hot wire you are definitely in trouble!!

So, there is my "textbook" understanding. What is it like in the real world?

As to the marketing side. I have seen people placing doorhangers advertising services on boats in a marina down in Santa Monica. I expect that this is quite common. I think that offering something special to first time customers and showing them when you perform the service that you provide a superior service. The question would be: what to offer that will set me apart from the others (in a good way) ??

As to the Brownie's unit. It uses a tank secured to a kayak. No noise. I thought the kayak may make a good staging point for tools etc.

If I can clean a 40' boat hull & gear in two hours and charge $150 I would need to average about 40 boats a month to cover supplies, insurance, office overhead(minimal), marketing and make a reasonable wage. Maybe even throw a little into the cruising kitty.

I am currently living in NW Arizona. Not a huge amount of potential business here. Nor is the diving & sailing that great. We do have 3 lakes in the region with marinas that are anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours drive from here. I have my home for sale and when it finally sells I am headed for the ocean. Most likely either Southern California or Seattle area. Anybody want to buy a house in AZ??

I am thinking that I may try to find someone who is offering these services in my area and offer to work for free one day a week to learn the ropes.

Steve,
My mistake on the Brownies, the correct answer would be "yes", that would be better than the hooka. The best lesson I learned in the beginning was don't sell yourself short. I came into the market at a higher price than most of my competitors. Our goal was to offer a better service, organization, and a good report for the boat owner after every dive. We did some advertising in the local papers and also did a few sub-contracts to get into some of the bigger marinas. Once you get into a good marina you will start to get referals from the boat owners and the dock master at the marina. At first I tried to work in the marinas when the owners will be hanging around which is on weekends and after work hours. I also try to get customers to use our website and e-mail, otherwise you spend half of your day returning phone calls. My suggestion is keep your price the same as your competitors and keep your business simple, you can make great money from hull cleaning but never sell yourself short. Also keep in mind that boats are not necesssities, people have them becasue they want them not becasue they need them. This means they don't mind spending money for a good service..it's a hobby for them and most of the time they are willing to spend a little extra for good service. Take the time to meet the other dive companies, believe it or not they will give you business. I get call's that I just can't get to and I always refer them to new divers in the area. You are correct on the electrical part, in salt water the surrounding water is a better conductor than your body, however in fresh water your body is a better conductor becasue of the ratio of the salt in your body vs. the water. Don't forget the alcohol in your ears..it will make or break most divers. As for pricing stick with a price per foot..makes life easy. You can look at our web site to see how we charge. For heavily fouled hull's I have charged as much as $6/ft. I also charge more per foot for a boat over 75ft.
Chuck

Chuck,

Thanks for all of the info. Every point makes good sense. One question, Is the alcohol at the end of the day just for the ears or can it be taken orally as well?

I am currently in the practice of using an alcohol/vinegar mix. It dries the ears & corrects PH.

What do you think of the practice of placing doorhangers or other advertising on unattended boats?

Thanks

Steve