Hull cleaning in Valdez harbor showed me something about current patterns

I was working a job scrapin barnacles off a boat in Valdez last month. The current there is no joke, it shifts hard every 4 hours with the tide change. I noticed the barnacles were way thicker on the port side near the bow than anywhere else. Turns out the water flows faster on that side due to the harbor layout. Now I always check local current patterns before starting a hull job. It saved me 2 hours of work on the last boat. Has anyone else seen big barnacle buildup differences based on current direction?

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1 Comment

avery_roberts6722d ago

Whoa, hold up there. The current has a lot to do with it but barnacles settling thicker on one side is usually more about which way the boat faces the prevailing wind and wake, not just the harbor layout. You check if the port side stays in the shade longer?