Other than grease (that I am not recommending), I believe there is no underwater apliable (non-poluting) products available. Here in Florida (USA) it is common for a diver to wipe or dust off our boat bottoms, service zincs and usually clean the running gear. Not everybody uses fancy prop & shaft coatings. Regular bottom paint will not last a long time on running gear during operation. So a diver is usually used to clean the running gear during his scheduled bottom wipe off. We operate in silty water. 32 inch wheels, 2.5 inch shafts, 4 struts. It takes the diver around 15 to 20 minutes extra time to clear our hardware during the monthly bottom wipe.
thank you guys for the advise. first I can't make the yard haul it again because I've already left the yard/marina on my way to the season sailing. usually I haul it every year and service it including pressure wash and antifauling. The hull comes out after a year in the water, swept clean, the prop. and shaft need very little very fine sanding. I think I leave it at that, and watch the status under water during the season. Although probably I'll not go back to the A/M marina next winter, I'll make them pay for their fault.
We've got a dirty bottom and a bit of growth. Just relying on the quality of Merc's own paint and stainless to fend off a whole winter/spring amount of slime and snot. Cleaned up pretty well but there was nothing left of the anodes.