No bottom paint vs hull slime
 

Because this is where everyone is, I thought I would get a quick response here.

I have a slip available to me in Kent Narrows. The bottom is not painted and I am not going to paint it. (I trailer my 24' bay boat.)
How long can I keep the boat in the water before I need to be concerned about growth on the hull. This time of the year I would think it could be longer then in the summer.
Will a week or two be ok?
Don't laugh, I've never kept a boat in a slip.

Thanks,
Jeff

It doesn't take long in the summer to have barnacles grow on the bottom. In a few weeks you will notice your RPM's drop. The winter months are not as bad.........Gary

I kept my boat in a slip for a month this spring in colder water below 60.

I 1 month I had small tiny barnacles growing on unpainted surfaces. The small growth didn’t damaged the gel coat or metal just annoying little ba&*^#*. Used On and Off cleaner to remove the scum line and hard stains. A little elbow grease on everything else and it was back to looking like new.


Go for it.

This time of year you will be OK for a few weeks to a month, water temps are dropping and growth is retarded......may end up with some scum but I would doubt any barnacles......a power wash followed by any good cleaner will take care of the scum.
Running the boat frequently will also keep growth down.

Kinda what I thought but wanted to be sure.
Thank you,
Jeff

Fresh wax before you dump her will also help!

Jeff,
Josh beat me to it but a fresh coat of wax will help keep some growth down
anything that does grow will come off much easier with the fresh wax
but it won't be a problem this time of year.

we take our boat to OC for a week every September and keep it in a slip.(no bottom paint)
we wax it before we go and all i need to do is hit the self serve carwash on the way out of town to clean the bottom