So you want to live on a boat ?

We had been postponing this moment for a few days........hoping against hope that they'd go away.......or at least stop growing. It wasn't to be. So, our least favorite chore needed to be repeated. Barnacle busting.

Every couple of weeks, these disgusting slug-like things start growing on the red hull stripe of our boat. The bottom paint of a boat generally protects against this type of growth. Problem is, the waterline and the bottom paint are not always level. Water splashes above the bottom paint, onto our beautiful red hull stripe. Water containing these alien-like crustaceans. 

They grow like fingers off the boat, and have a light brown coloration...........totally gross. The only way to get them off is with a scrub-brush. The worst part is that you have to be in the water to do it. Why? Because of the shape of the boat, their favorite habitat is in a place that's more underneath the boat than on the side.

So, armed with a scrub-brush, dobie pad and sponge..........and with a life vest on.........we take turns doing battle with these little bastards. The disconcerting thing is that fish love to eat these things as they fall off the boat. We see these 6 - 12 inch fish scarfing the barnacles up as they plunge to the bottom. We're hoping that's where it ends............because we're conscious of the way the food chain works. A 12 inch fish is food for a much larger fish, all the way up to sharks. It doesn't help that we read about the guy in South Africa who was eaten by a great white shark last week.

After an hour, the job is done. No dorsal fins sighted. Barnacles busted. Until about 2 weeks............when we do this all over again. Ah, boatwork in paradise...

Bequia, Grenadines