Barnacles on a RIB for sale

fitek · 21 July 2021, 06:43

Hi all, I've owned a 2007 12 foot RIB for about 14 months now and considering something bigger.

Today I looked at a 19 foot about the same age that looks like it sat in the water and then on land quite a while. 330hrs on the outboard.

The port side tube looked totally unremarkable, BUT the starboard side had some small chunks taken off the outer layer of rubber and lots of fouling (at least, compared to my very clean boat and the port side). I decided to pass on it based on the tube, but when I googled later I found some photos that look way worse and seemed to clean up OK.

It looks like about ~60% of the boat's tubes sat in water, because the fouling doesn't occur on the forward part of the tubes. There were also barnacles all over the outboard mounting, some unfilled holes from trim tabs (I know this because I had to replace my trim tabs and filled the old holes!), regular pump gas that had sat in the tank for 2 years (outboard did run tho), laundry list of various small things. Trailer hubs are very rusty and the fenders are rubbing on the tubes because the bunks are too low.

Any thoughts? Price is good but not amazing, certainly not low enough to cover another set of tubes. I've attached photos of the fouled portion of the starboard tube.

Limecc · 21 July 2021, 21:49

Starbrite acid (tm) is supposed to be very good at dissolving barnacles but it's very expensive. Here's a link I found how to make your own inexpensive version, it's based on Oxalic acid which also restores yellowed gelcoat back to pearly white.
https://www.maximpulse.com/oxalic/
You can get Oxalic acid cheaply from Amazon.
You can make it into a sticky gel adding wallpaper paste, it's 3000 times stronger than vinegar.

jeffstevens763@g · 21 July 2021, 21:52

They will never clean up IMO

Nos4r2 · 22 July 2021, 12:06

That doesn't look like it'll clean up to me either-it's not just barnacles, the surface of the fabric is quite damaged.

jeffstevens763@g · 22 July 2021, 12:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nos4r2

That doesn't look like it'll clean up to me either-it's not just barnacles, the surface of the fabric is quite damaged.

Barnacles secreat a glue to stick themselves down looks like it breaks down the surface too you can see the thread of the fabric in places

beamishken · 22 July 2021, 12:27

I bought a rib that sat in the water unused for 5 years it had full size mussels growing everywhere plus barnicals i used a jet wash to get the thick off then a combination of brick acid & oxcalic acid with a green scotchbright & it got rid of all those circular marks with a bit of effort back to good hypalon. Basically you need to use the high concentration brick acid to dissolve the remains of the barnicals then scrub the stains with the oxcalic acid

Limecc · 22 July 2021, 12:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by beamishken

I bought a rib that sat in the water unused for 5 years it had full size mussels growing everywhere plus barnicals i used a jet wash to get the thick off then a combination of brick acid & oxalic acid with a green scotchbright & it got rid of all those circular marks with a bit of effort back to good hypalon. Basically you need to use the high concentration brick acid to dissolve the remains of the barnicals then scrub the stains with the oxalic acid

Good to know thanks Ken.

Also not to get acid near anything galvanised if you want it to stay that way.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffstevens763@g

Barnacles secreat a glue to stick themselves down looks like it breaks down the surface too you can see the thread of the fabric in places

Maybe that was an own-goal by someone picking/scraping them off instead of dissolving them?

beamishken · 22 July 2021, 13:24

Before and after on mine its not spotless in the final picture but the rest will clean off pretty easy but you get the idea

Limecc · 22 July 2021, 14:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by beamishken

Before and after on mine its not spotless in the final picture but the rest will clean off pretty easy but you get the idea

Wow! I see what you mean

Pictures are great

fitek · 24 July 2021, 15:39

Thank you very much folks! I spoke to a boat repair place here in town and they thought it wasn't terrible, but not great. Definitely with all the work that will be needed the asking price is too high. I'll try making an offer in a few days.

Additionally, the Tuff Trailer it's on is nice because it's aluminum but the OEM end units to replace the rusted out ones are $900! I'm not even sure if I can drive it home on the current ones...

Those cleanup pictures are pretty amazing!