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Hull Cleaning
Hull cleaning accounts for more of our business than all other services combined. Over 170 customers in the Beaufort area regularly depend on Deep South Divers and it’s affiliates to keep marine growth off the bottom of their boats. We also do a great deal of work for people traveling up and down the Intracoastal Waterway (“ICW”) who know us as a sponsor of the AGLCA, from word-of-mouth, and from prior experience.

Keeping the bottom of your boat clean is essential to it's performance and fuel efficiency. The next time you’re down on the dock, look along the waterline at the oyster, barnacle, and sponge growth on the pilings and floats. Boats left in the water for extended periods of time look the same way underneath, leading to a boat that won’t plane, has very poor performance, and very poor fuel efficiency. Ultimately, fouling marine growth clogs inlet and exhaust ports on the boat (called “thru-hulls”) and causes engine overheating issues, non-working air conditioners and heat pumps, and toilets that won't flush. Boats with full inboard engines can have their propellers fouled as well, leading to horrible vibrations and very poor efficiency when the boat is in gear.

To prevent marine fouling, most people paint the bottom of their boats with a retardant paint, which uses toxic chemicals or ablative (“flaking off”) surfaces to keep marine growth from attaching itself to the bottom of the boat. While an excellent first line of defense, paints alone are not entirely effective, especially in areas of heavy marine fouling like the tidal rivers of the Carolinas and Georgia. Depending largely on water temperature, boats left in the water (not on a trailer or boat lift) need to be cleaned every 2-8 weeks in order to maintain an acceptable level of performance, fuel efficiency, and functional thru-hulls. The warmer the water, the faster the growth, the more often we recommend cleaning the bottom of your boat. We may recommend a 2-week cleaning schedule in August, but an 8-week cleaning schedule in February… It depends on the growth rate, which is in direct correlation with water temperature.

Our normal charge of $2.99/foot of LOA (a 30-foot boat would cost $89.70, for example) is for a boat that’s cleaned regularly. That rate applies to all kinds of boats, including sailboats, monohulls, catamarans, and both inboards and outboards. Boats that have been left for a long period of time that are excessively fouled (which, by definition means, “Has not been regularly cleaned,”) can cost more, depending on the level of fouling.

Clients on private docks (not at a marina such as Downtown Marina, Dataw Marina, Port Royal Landing Marina, or Lady’s Island Marina) will be charged an additional $25 per cleaning. This fee helps to compensate for the fact that while multiple boats in a marina can be cleaned in one tide (we work on slack tides), a private dock means that only one boat can be done at a time.

Some of our marina-based clients (this option is not available on private docks) prefer to pay a flat monthly rate of $3.99/ft LOA, and receive an unlimited number of cleanings. There are three big advantages to this:

  1. The client is not charged for individual cleanings, so during the summer months when other clients receive bills as often as every one or two weeks, the client paying a flat rate only sees only one, predictable bill per month – not one that changes with the season.

  2. Since the client doesn’t pay per cleaning we are free to clean the boat as often as is necessary, without prior permission for each individual job. This allows us to simply wipe the boat down once every week or two rather than wait until the boat is fouled, and then have to remove all of the barnacles and oysters. This creates a situation where the boat is always clean and ready to go - which can be vital to your enjoyment, especially during the summer months.

  3. Cleaning more often means gentler cleanings. While some will argue to the contrary, wiping the bottom of the boat with a Scotchbrite pad or gloved hand frequently has proven to be less damaging to both ablative and non-ablative paints than the less frequent “chipping off” of hard barnacles and oysters from a badly fouled hull. It's also more effective - when barnacles or oysters are removed, they often leave a "base" or "ringlet" behind, etched into the paint. Frequent wiping prevents growth altogether, thus preventing ringlets and bases altogether.

Contact us today and let us take a look at your boat. We'll give you an estimate free of charge. We're confident that you'll be impressed and want us to do the job for you - there's simply nobody better in the business!