Tips for Cleaning Your Boat
Posted by Jenn Perry on
No matter what kind of boat you run – with increasing fuel costs and optimum performance always a good thing, it literally pays to keep your bottom clean. This means not only the main hull, but your foils (rudders, keels, skegs) and running gear (props, shafts, struts). In fact the hardest parts to keep clean are the most important: propellers and rudders. Usually these are bare metal, but even if painted they are susceptible to fouling. Any significant hard growth on a propeller will have a big, bad effect on a boat’s performance. So those barnacles get top priority.
It's most important to keep rudders and running gear free of fouling. Any significant barnacle growth on a prop will seriously hurt a boat's performance.
Here are some tips that will help keep a bottom clean and a boat faster and more fuel-efficient:
Start with the running gear– the most important items.
Prevention is a lot easier than a cure. Once you’ve got barnacles, it’s very hard to get an ultra-smooth surface again – even when you scrape off the exoskeletons, much of the tenacious adhesive will remain. So don’t wait too long after launch to begin your prevention. Spend some time under the boat with a mask every couple of weeks. Again, you should be able to use your hand or a sponge to do most of the work, although a light-duty 3M pad will do a better job on dark stains above the waterline and on the boot top.
Wear work gloves. They protect your hands from barnacles and barked knuckles.
For hard growth use a thick-bladed putty knife, but be careful not to gouge or score other metals. The edges of a piece of two-by-four also work well for getting the worst of the fouling off, and unlike the putty knife, the two-by-four floats.
Be safe. Don’t go under the boat if conditions are choppy, or if there are nearby boats throwing wakes. Getting hit in the head by a plunging boat will ruin your day.
Use the conditions to your advantage. If there’s a current running, start upstream and work your way down. If you can position the boat so that you can stand on the bottom while you clean, it will save a lot of energy. If possible, also turn the boat to take advantage of the sun for extra visibility.
Clean all around the waterline. This is where slime, weedy growth, and stains accumulate the fastest. If you can just do the waterline down to an arm’s length underwater, without even putting your head under, you will have solved a lot of the problem and made the boat look better cosmetically. Then if possible work your way down from there, under the turn of the bilge, the chines, the counter, and on to the keel or skeg.
For more tips, check out this handy video we found on YouTube!