Cleaning the bilge

[BobM]

I have been tempted to do the same.

I added a bilge drain hole on my Catalina 30 at the lowest drain point with a pipe threaded plug on the outside. At the end of each season I add a detergent to the bilge a few weeks before haulout. When its high and dry, I totally drain the bilge and pressure wash it a few times. The winter cold dry's the bilge nicely. Any rainwater/ snow melt that gets into the boat finds its way down to the bilge and the exit hole. However, you must remember to put the pipe plug back in the hole before launching in the spring.

A drain hole solves the problem nicely for those of us who haul every winter. Any photos or descriptions of this addition? I am a bit worried about the potential for leakage, but as long as it is installed properly it shouldn't be a big deal.

 

[ladyl]

The bilge is a water collector, rain water, salt water, gray water and condensation from a couple of appliances. Add a couple of ounces of diesel , motor oil and some body oils and curly hairs and you got a great recipe. Let it sit for a couple of weeks and you get mildew and bacteria growth which exahels a salty beautiful aroma. Now you want to wash it, next you are going to want to dry it. Come on is boat, let the bilge do its work. The smell will help mask those permeated head hoses in your rig. If I wanted the smells of a sanitized enironment I would hang out at a hospital.

Hey Benny- What crawled up your bilge and died?

 

[ladyl]

I have areas in my bilge that are not even reachable by a power washer so I have to use a bilge cleaner. I am still getting residue out from a diesel tank leak that happened before I bought the boat. I get my bilge cleaner at wholesale pricing so no need to use cheap HW store equivalents.

Our boat does not smell at all(except for slight varnish smell) but we do have some odor in the bilges that is getting better every time I clean and re-add the bilge cleaner.

I just came from my Hunter 36. Typicaily when I wash the boat with Boat soap I throw any left over bucket water in the bilge. A real difference in the aroma when I openned her up! Try it! I love the smell of boat soap in the morning! LOL

 

[Pat]

Over 1800 hours my Westerbeke has dripped a little oil and sometimes when I change the oil filter, I lose some. It all ends up in the pan under the engine. I want to do a really good cleaning of the entire bilge, including the under engine pan.

What's the best bilge cleaner/emulsifier to use? Certainly at least some of this will probably end up in the bilge and going out with the cleaner from the rest of the bilge. I don't want to pump out anything that's really a disaster for the environment. There's really not much oil, I've cleaned it up as thoroughly as possible. So, is this okay and what should I use?

-Smitty

Are you wanting to know what works well to clean the engine drip pan or the bilge? As I read the posts it seems we lost track of the original question. I've use little fountain pumps (very small) under the engine...using a little dawn detergent and add some water....remove w/the pump to a drain pan and don't drop....repeat several times and walla....a clean drip pan. I bought the little pump at what is the place....somethings Country Kitchen...they have gift shops in the entrance...they sell everything...Pat
The bilge is a different animal.

 

[Cary Ann]

The engine oil on our Catalina 400 does not drain into the main bilge. Since the boat is relatively new we do not have any engine oil leakage around or under the engine. However, our A/C condensate is plumbed to the bilge plus some seepage. Unfortunately the bilge pump does not pump all of the water out. Last weekend we sucked over 7 quarts of dirty water out using a manually operated engine oil extraction pump. Works great and gets all of the liquids out of the bilge. After all fluids are extracted it is much easier to scrub the bilge surfaces. Remaining water can be sponged out of the bilge.

 

[Ctskip]

I slosh powdered Tide laundry detergent around the bilge once every six months, leave it for several days, It really depends on how good the sailing is as to how much sloshing it gets. Use a water hose to agitate and then suck it out with a wet/dry vacume.

Keep it up,
Ctskip

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

[FONT=&quot]Most people’s approach to bilge cleaning consists only of throwing some bilge cleaner/and or bleach into that soup when it starts to stink and calling it done. I’ve never understood why they think that’s all there is to it. They wouldn’t just add some detergent and bleach to a bathtub full of dirty bath water, drain it and call the bathtub clean. No one would ever just pour some detergent into a sinkful of dirty dishwater, swish it around and pull the plug and expect the sink to be clean... .So why would anyone think it’s possible to have a clean bilge without rinsing all the dirty water out of it?
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[Ctskip]

Are you telling me that those scrubbing bubbles aren't working? Even if we just rinse them away?

Keep it up,
Ctskip

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

They're working...

Are you telling me that those scrubbing bubbles aren't working? Even if we just rinse them away?

They only work for a few minutes...after that they just contribute to the new life forms in your bilge.

 

[zeehag]

all my ericson has ever needed was to have some bilge cleaner poured into her bilge and sloshed around for a couple of hours then pumped out--never had any yukky stuff in her bilges...LOL ... the formosa, however, is another story--LOL---her engine blew up in a most spectacular manner prior to my purchasing her and she requires a repainting to black so the oil and bilges match LOL the oil isnt coming out--we scrubbed her to bits and she wont comply with color--no white in the bilges of a formosa --they are deeep and black lol....