I'm probably going to start pulling stuff off the boat for the winter this weekend. Which means it's time to face the fact that the cold/gray/rainy season is upon us. and then the grunge will start growing.
Each of the three years I've owned the boat, I've been shocked at how grungy the boat gets over the winter. I mean, not the normal "it needs a nice bath" stuff, but thick green grunge, in all the many nooks and crevices of the deck. It takes days - literally, days - to scrub all the grunge out from around handrails, hatch frames, genoa tracks, stanchion bases, etc. Not to mention the gross black lines that stain the deck where any lines sat over the winter. Ugh.
Last winter I pulled all the halyards and un-rove everything from the deck organizers. No lines sat on the deck over the winter, so no black lines. But still plenty of green grunge.
I also asked at the local chandlery if there was anything i could spray on the boat to keep the problem at bay. The guy sorta winked and said "not here.... but if you go to Home Depot, you can get some anti-moss stuff that works great. Just don't let the marina know you're using it." So, that didn't sound like a great idea...
So this winter I'm wondering what I can do to cut down on the amount of bio-waste that grows on the boat over the winter. One option, I suppose, is to go give her a nice bath every couple of weeks, rain or shine, sunshine or snow. OK, that's an option. Or I could just deal with it next spring, like I have each year so far.
But I can't help noticing the number of boat-covers that go up around the marina this time of year, and it has me wondering... do they do any good? are they worth the hassle?
It would be relatively easy to make a cover that went across the boom and tied down to the stanchion bases on either side. The "plus" of that kind of cover is that the deck would probably stay drier and maybe that means less stuff growing on the deck. The "minus" includes the cost, plus the hassle, plus... there'll be a tent over the boat, meaning it'll be dark and gloomy inside. Plus I would have to consider the potential wear-and-tear from having a big sheet of sunbrella flapping around in winter wind-storms.
And it occurs to me that a boat-cover might actually make things worse. I mean, would more mildew happen in shade than in what passes for sunlight this time of year?
Dunno.
I guess my question is... does anyone here in the PNW cover their boat in the winter? And does it "work" to cut down on mold and mildew and algae, or ...?
Bruce
Each of the three years I've owned the boat, I've been shocked at how grungy the boat gets over the winter. I mean, not the normal "it needs a nice bath" stuff, but thick green grunge, in all the many nooks and crevices of the deck. It takes days - literally, days - to scrub all the grunge out from around handrails, hatch frames, genoa tracks, stanchion bases, etc. Not to mention the gross black lines that stain the deck where any lines sat over the winter. Ugh.
Last winter I pulled all the halyards and un-rove everything from the deck organizers. No lines sat on the deck over the winter, so no black lines. But still plenty of green grunge.
I also asked at the local chandlery if there was anything i could spray on the boat to keep the problem at bay. The guy sorta winked and said "not here.... but if you go to Home Depot, you can get some anti-moss stuff that works great. Just don't let the marina know you're using it." So, that didn't sound like a great idea...
So this winter I'm wondering what I can do to cut down on the amount of bio-waste that grows on the boat over the winter. One option, I suppose, is to go give her a nice bath every couple of weeks, rain or shine, sunshine or snow. OK, that's an option. Or I could just deal with it next spring, like I have each year so far.
But I can't help noticing the number of boat-covers that go up around the marina this time of year, and it has me wondering... do they do any good? are they worth the hassle?
It would be relatively easy to make a cover that went across the boom and tied down to the stanchion bases on either side. The "plus" of that kind of cover is that the deck would probably stay drier and maybe that means less stuff growing on the deck. The "minus" includes the cost, plus the hassle, plus... there'll be a tent over the boat, meaning it'll be dark and gloomy inside. Plus I would have to consider the potential wear-and-tear from having a big sheet of sunbrella flapping around in winter wind-storms.
And it occurs to me that a boat-cover might actually make things worse. I mean, would more mildew happen in shade than in what passes for sunlight this time of year?
Dunno.
I guess my question is... does anyone here in the PNW cover their boat in the winter? And does it "work" to cut down on mold and mildew and algae, or ...?
Bruce
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