Keep it clean

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C

comfortzone

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Nov 17, 2008
32
oday 22 Buckeye Lake
I'm sure I'm not the only on who spends more time cleaning the boat then I do sailing the boat. It's probably the norm and not the exception. But heck, a good scrubbing takes about 1.5 hours and on a hot day I'm too spent to even pull the cord on the outboard so I head straight for the cooler.

So, while I know owning a sailboat will never be low maintenance, does anybody have some tricks or practices or products that help keep the work to a minimum? I just don't enjoy sailing a dirty boat but I'm not fanatical about cleaning either. Being in Ohio, home of coal burning power plants, doesn't help. I don't have a lot of time to spend with the boat and want to make the most of it.
 
Tim R.

Tim R.

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May 27, 2004
3,626
Caliber 40 Long Range Cruiser Portland, Maine
Keeping a good coat of wax on the fiberglass and stainless helps. A good product for cleanig is the "Magic Eraser". We use lint rollers all over the interior for cleaning cushions, countertops and sole.
 
Ross

Ross

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Jun 15, 2004
14,693
Islander/Wayfairer 30 sail number 25 Perryville,Md.
Blinders help. If you can find a really dirty boat in your marina park next to that and yours will look great.
 
Warren Milberg

Warren Milberg

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Dec 1, 1999
2,391
Hunter 28.5 Chesapeake Bay
Some years ago, I had a slip near some mullberry trees. When the berries appeared, the blackbirds ate them and lightened their take off load -- mostly on my boat. After spending a lot of time cleaning the purple goo off the boat each time I went for a sail, I started laying out 3 blue poly tarps over the cockpit, coach roof, and fordeck. It only took a few minutes to lay them out once the ties were measured. I hosed off the tarps each time I went to the boat. I threw them away at the end of the season. Not wanting this to happen the next season, I asked for, and got, a slip in an area in the marina far away from the berries... Can you get a better slip? If not, can you cover your boat?

Another possibility is to buy a 1700 psi electric power washer. These devices clean up dirty fiberglass quite well (and are handy for an number of other boat chores). But practice with the wand first to make sure you will do no harm -- and stay away from all caulked seams as the power washer will remove them. I like a clean boat, too.
 
sailingdog

sailingdog

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Oct 22, 2008
3,502
- Telstar 28 Buzzards Bay
The pressure washer is a good idea...and a bit faster than scrubbing by hand, not to mention, friendlier to the environment.
 
BobM

BobM

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Jun 10, 2004
3,269
S2 9.2A Winthrop, MA
Put on a pair of dark sunglasses and go sailing. Otherwise, I think you could deploy a boom tent winter cover on a 22 footer in about 30 minutes. If I cleaning and wasn't sailiing it would be worth the money to me.

The only other option is perhaps some therapy because 1.5 hours to clean the decks of a 22 footer prior to sailing seem excessive. What are you doing...going up the mast and scrubbing the anchor light lens with your toothbrush? ;-)
 
Scott B

Scott B

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Sep 20, 2006
2,953
Hunter 33 Georgian Bay, Ontario, Canada
sailingdog said:
The pressure washer is a good idea...and a bit faster than scrubbing by hand, not to mention, friendlier to the environment.
Click to expand
You're refering to the language from the user while hand scrubbing the shpoop off the deck ???? :cussing: Otherwise how could using electricity be friendlier to the environment than brute strength ?????

BTW, be carefull with a pressure washer, you'll blow through the seals on hatches etc. if you hit them wrong ( or right ) :doh:
 
sailingdog

sailingdog

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Oct 22, 2008
3,502
- Telstar 28 Buzzards Bay
Most people who have to hand scrub guano off the deck are using some sort of cleaning solution to do so. With a pressure sprayer, you can use just water.
Scott B said:
You're refering to the language from the user while hand scrubbing the shpoop off the deck ???? :cussing: Otherwise how could using electricity be friendlier to the environment than brute strength ?????

BTW, be carefull with a pressure washer, you'll blow through the seals on hatches etc. if you hit them wrong ( or right ) :doh:
Click to expand
 
Ross

Ross

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Jun 15, 2004
14,693
Islander/Wayfairer 30 sail number 25 Perryville,Md.
For boat scrubbing I have found that copious use of water is very effective. In my marina we are surrounded by it and a rope on a bucket supplies it at deck level. A brush works the soil loose and another bucketfull washes it away.
 
J

Jim Kolstoe

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Jun 5, 2004
209
- - Eugene, OR
Another vote for Ross's solutions - the idea is to sail, not become a slave to your boat. When it gets to the point my wife just has to clean, a bucket on a rope supplies water from the lake (its handy to my marina too), a quick scrub and another bucket of water makes short work of it. I guess I can sort of sympatize with your coal plant problem, in that we get ash from field buring in the grass seed farms north of us in the Willamette Valley for a few weeks each summer. However, that normally just rinses off with a splash of water. Consider the sunglasses. They're good for your eyes.
Jim Kolstoe, h23 Kara's Boo
 
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