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On off boat cleaner4/10/2023 ![]() ![]() I’ll continue to use it as is and will also work on ways to improve it. Recognizing that this hull-cleaning device is a prototype, I’m satisfied with how it works. Note: For lakes high in iron or heavy stains, multiple. I could have reduced that significantly by fabricating them myself. Cleans safely and effectively without the hazards of acids or scrubbing - just spray on and rinse off. The most expensive parts are the two sweepers at $17 each. I simply remove the locking pin and switch out the head and its shaft.įurther improvements included the addition of two screwed connections to make shorter pieces that can be stored easily and a steering stick to provide better leverage for guiding the device. To solve this, I fabricated another head with just one float located on one side to hold it vertically to match the vertical surfaces. The underwater appendages were a different matter, as the buoyant cleaning head resisted being pushed down far enough to reach the bottom halves of the keel and rudder. To make his hull cleaner easier to transport and store, Ferman cut the PVC pipe handle into short lengths which he joins together with screwed connections. (I pinned the connections so they wouldn’t unscrew at the wrong time.) ![]() This was accomplished with a 45-degree PVC fitting with screwed connections that disassemble for storage and transporting. One special need was an angle in the long handle to permit reaching under the boat’s bottom. I found a floor sweeper with a flat swivel-head and terrycloth cover. I knew PVC pipe would work well as it’s easy to cut, configure, and join - and it’s rustproof. It had to be easy to use, effective, durable, readily storable, and inexpensive. While researching available bottom cleaning devices, I thought, “Why not have some fun designing my own?” I started out by listing criteria I wanted such a device to meet. My son gives me a cleaning by diver for Father’s Day each year but, as I race several times a year, I like to have a slick hull all the time. Plus, when the boat heels, I like it to show a nice blue, not brown, underside. One nice thing about my location in freshwater Lake Norman, just north of Charlotte, North Carolina, is that there are no barnacles, just fuzzy scum. Residing in a slip, Wind-Borne, my Hunter 28.5, is subject to all those nasty little organisms that are attracted to the hull. Lucky are those who trailer their boats and can clean them at any time or place. Give slime and scum the brush-off on the cheapĭoesn’t every sailor yearn for another tenth of a knot? Especially when racing? I do. ![]() Ferman demonstrates how he can clean his boat’s bottom while she’s in her slip. ![]()
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