Saving money for our clients and providing quality dive services is what Sound Divers is all about. Cutting fuel consumption and increasing efficiency improves your bottom line, not the oil companies.

Hull Cleaning Improves Fuel Consumption

As your boat sits in the water marine fouling occurs, especially in salt water. It’s a well documented fact that a clean slick surface maximizes the efficiency of any vessel. Owners who regularly use our service can testify to this, but here’s the research:

The U.S. Navy which arguably consumes the most fuel of any fleet on the water has done extensive studies. The navy found that on the average fuel consumption went up 10 to 15 percent if the hull of the ship had just a coat of slime! According to OMC Stern Drive these same figures can be transferred to smaller pleasure boats. In documents outlining ways to increase performance and save fuel, they claimed that just removing hull slime would increase fuel consumption by 10 to 15 percent. This testing was done in fresh water where fouling is much less extreme than saltwater environments. Other Navy studies showed that the kind of moderate or heavy fouling seen in saltwater can cause fuel consumption to more than double.

According to their research the Navy decided that ships needed to be cleaned at least every four to seven months to maintain performance. After three months performance loss is near 5 percent and after seven it’s topping 10 percent. Just imagine the fuel savings you could enjoy by cutting your fuel consumption. That’s money in your pocket not the gas company’s.

Imagine keeping your boat at peak performance and getting up on plane faster! Now imagine all that extra weight with barnacles and mussels hanging from your keel. That picture of speed and performance suddenly disappears.

Why You Should Clean Your Propellers

Let’s not forget our props. While a dirty hull can cut performance by 15 percent, a fouled prop can cut it by another 10 to 15 percent — the two combined can be nearly 30 percent!— and the U.S. Navy found that “cleaning propellers only, will result in a recovery of 50 percent of the recoverable fuel penalty due to fouling” since your last cleaning.

We find that Propspeed coating tends to work the best for keeping props and shafts clean in Squalicum, Blaine and Semiahmoo harbors. Similar to bottom antifouling paint this coating keeps barnacles and mussels from adhering strongly to your underwater metals. In waters with less growth this means your prop will stay clean year round, and in harbors with intense growth, whatever does manage to attach to your prop will be easily wiped off during a cleaning or flung off leaving a smooth, efficient surface underneath.