2nd July: Cleaning Seatern
I had last careened Seatern in June 2021 and I managed to do some sailing that year. In March of 2022 I had started cleaning Seatern ready for the sailing season and had treated some of her teak with boracol before I caught covid at the end of March. After that I didn’t feel fit for sailing and I’m afraid Seatern became neglected. Hence her hull and uppers show the effects of just over 2 years of weather without being maintained.
I actually started cleaning Seatern on the 4th/5th June. Having cleaned the Seafly near the end of May I was amused to see what a duck had managed to do already! I started by cleaning the cabin top and most of the decks. Using the power washer on low to medium seemed to work OK for the decks and cabin top although they will need a more careful hand wash. The photos show the contrast of cleaned and not cleaned!
The teak seems to have grown a selection of lichen, or perhaps they are liverworts, and maybe even some moss? However simply wiping by hand removed the larger growths and I will use boracol on what remains when the weather looks suitable.
On 18th June I took advantage of a 3.85m tide (according to Ayetides) to careen Seatern and clean her starboard hull. The copper coating seemed to withstand using the power washer on full power which made cleaning the underside easy. I was more careful with the paintwork which needed rubbing by hand to remove all the green. There was a small amount of tube-worm growth near the keel but it scrapes off with a wallpaper scraper without damage to the coppercoat. I think that sitting on mud when the tide is out must inhibit growth. The worst green growth is definitely around the water line area.
On 2nd July I used a 4m tide to turn Seatern around and clean the port side of the hull. Starting at about 06:20 I was ready to start cleaning by 07:30 and finished at 11:20 by which time I was feeling cold. I should have used my caving wetsuit rather than the lighter weight one! I could have done with a lower tide height too.
However I was very pleased how well the hull has cleaned up. The wear to the keel and the bilge keels does not look to be much worse than before. Matt suggests just leaving it since both are hard wood and not integral parts of the hull. He says that unless I can dry them out thoroughly it would do more harm to try to repair them, for example with a grp finish. The self bailers look in a pretty poor state but I don’t use them and just have to let them leak! The worst is the one for filling the ballast tanks and that seems to be water tight, so best left alone! It would hardly matter if it did weep.
I should have taken more photos after I’d cleaned the underside of the hull but by then I was feeling cold an a northerly wind was increasing. I was keen to get Seatern back moored to the jetty while I still had enough tide.