My dog did it!

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Pete

My dog (not really, it was me and I'm embarassed)spilled about a quart of used motor oil in the bilge of the boat. What is the best way to get it up? Thanks!
 
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Colin Wightman

Kill the bilge pump!

First off, pull the fuse on your bilge pump(s) so none of that stuff gets pumped overboard! Once that's done you can probaly scoop most of the stuff up with a small flexible cup (like a former yoghurt container. Now you're probably down to a small layer floating on whatever water was in your bilge and stuff soiling the bilge surfaces. You should be able to take care of the slick on the bige water with one of the oil absorbant products from any marine store (I think Practical Sailor did a review of these a year or so ago). Once you've done that, scrub the bilge surfaces clean with a detergent or bilge cleaner, rinse (you did disable you bilge pump, right?), and use a hand pump to pump the bilge into a bucket so that you can dispose of the liquid properly (not in a storm sewer or body of water). When you're happy that the bilge is clean, re-connect your bilge pump.
 
Dec 2, 1999
15,184
Hunter Vision-36 Rio Vista, CA.
mop it up with paper towels.

Pete: It is best to mop up everything you can with paper towels or anything else that you can use to absorb the oil. You can also put some kitty litter in there to absorb the oil. Once it is cleaned to the best of your ability, I would use a mixture of Tide Laundry Detergent and scrub the shit out of the area. This should get most of the oil to disolve. There are some other products like the Citrus Cleaners that may work well to clean out the stains. Then I would suggest that you pour in a couple of qts of bilge cleaner and let it sit. Just remember 'shit happens' (and it did).
 
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Debra B

special oil absorbing cloths/rolls

Go to West or look on-line. They are relatively inexpensive - especially when you compare to the fines you can get for discharge! The ones I keep on hand are SeaFit "Bilge Oilsorber" - which I think I got at West Marine.
 
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