Zebra Mussels
- Thread starter JohnVTX
- Start date
Use a good bottom paint. Last year I used a hard ablative copper free paint with no zebra mussels after 3 months, it was Blue Water Marine Paint, Shelter Island.
Zebra mussels scrape off easily, so diving and scraping is also an option.
Zebra mussels scrape off easily, so diving and scraping is also an option.
Maybe this is a little off-topic and controversial, but I had a conversation with a friend / sailor in Chicago and his position on Zebra mussels is that he is all for them. He claimed that they cause no problems with his boats and the water in the harbors is much clearer now than ever before. They are a filter organism and have made the lakes clearer. The sunlight has also allowed aquatic growth to improve, creating a better balanced environment. Fisheries seem to do well. After the initial infestation, the mussel population appears to decline and stabilize. Others say that the filtered plankton concentrates heavy metal contaminants in the flesh of predator fish that we eat. Pros and cons abound.
Scott,
Zebra mussels have been a mixed blessing or curse.
Yes water is clearer, but that allows weed growth in deeper waters. On Lake Ontario, before the zebra mussel infestation water deeper than 10' or so didn't support weed growth. Now it is more like 15'. Changes anchoring practices. Also changes fish habitats.
Intake pipes for drinking water and cooling water for nuke plants also gets clogged up, requiring more maintenance and cleaning.
Zebra mussel shells are sharp. On rocky beaches the shells will slice and dice your feet or your water shoes.
Zebra mussels will grow inside of through hulls and in places that are difficult to clean or paint, like the tops of rudders.
When Zebra mussels first showed up they blossomed and had a rapid growth rate. Like most bubbles eventually the growth rate tapered off and are now at a more manageable level.
Given a choice, I'd rather they stayed in their native waters.
Dave
Zebra mussels have been a mixed blessing or curse.
Yes water is clearer, but that allows weed growth in deeper waters. On Lake Ontario, before the zebra mussel infestation water deeper than 10' or so didn't support weed growth. Now it is more like 15'. Changes anchoring practices. Also changes fish habitats.
Intake pipes for drinking water and cooling water for nuke plants also gets clogged up, requiring more maintenance and cleaning.
Zebra mussel shells are sharp. On rocky beaches the shells will slice and dice your feet or your water shoes.
Zebra mussels will grow inside of through hulls and in places that are difficult to clean or paint, like the tops of rudders.
When Zebra mussels first showed up they blossomed and had a rapid growth rate. Like most bubbles eventually the growth rate tapered off and are now at a more manageable level.
Given a choice, I'd rather they stayed in their native waters.
Dave
No, for a couple of reasons. First, they are too small, about ⅜" and second they accumulate all the toxins in the water which makes them toxic waste when brought ashore attached to boat bottoms.
We have them in our lake. Toward the end of the season, I started hearing and feeling what I thought was a steering mechanism problem. Shortly thereafter, we pulled for the season and I found the space between the top of the rudder and the hull was loaded with them. Scratched off the bottom paint as well. Seems I am going to have to get in the water during the season and drag a 3/8 inch line through that gap to keep it cleaned out.
Howdy @JohnVTX, I lived in Georgetown while attending Southwestern University four decades ago, but spent most of my sailing opportunities on Canyon Lake with a 16' Scorpion. Good times back then. I was totally unaware that zebra mussels had "invaded" Texas lakes until I read this after you posted.
http://texasinvasives.org/zebramussels/
Yuk is right! We have them here on Cayuga Lake and have found the best defense is a fresh coating of Interlux VC17M on the hull. Our boat comes out on the hard annually and painting that copper additive formulation does a fine job keeping the crusty critters off the hull. As stated earlier, we do collect a moderate concentration in the space between rudder leading edge and skeg trailing edge.
http://texasinvasives.org/zebramussels/
Yuk is right! We have them here on Cayuga Lake and have found the best defense is a fresh coating of Interlux VC17M on the hull. Our boat comes out on the hard annually and painting that copper additive formulation does a fine job keeping the crusty critters off the hull. As stated earlier, we do collect a moderate concentration in the space between rudder leading edge and skeg trailing edge.
I have the hull covered. I am more concerned with the thru hulls going to my inboard diesel. So far no issues. Do people keep them closed, or open when at the marina? How do you flush them out?
In order to survive Zebra mussels need flowing water. Typically diesels do not run enough to keep the critters alive and healthy. Also the heat generated by the diesel kills the larvae that might get into the system.
When the boat is hauled, take the external strainer off and use a screw driver to scrape out any that are there. If they are present, they will be very close to the opening. If the water flow is compromised, close the seacock and remove the hose. Open the seacock (yes you'll get a stream of water) and use a long screwdriver to scrape the critters off and let them flush up into the boat. Close the seacock and put everything back together. If you work quickly you'll only get a gallon or two of water in the boat, the bilge pump should handle that easily.
In the meantime, just keep an eye on engine heat and water flow out of the exhaust.
Some Great Lakes diving buddies were showing me pics of wreck visibility that were phenomenal...and encrusted with zebras. Maybe 100 ft plus visibility. Seems to me the only way to stop the spread is to end boat trailering...or develop a good recipe. They are not unlike any other mollusk - you would have to harvest them from clean water, not the intake pipes in the Flint River. 
We have the zebras in our lake in Eastern Kansas. They will get encrusted into the paddle wheel transducer of the knot meter - so keep an eye on that.
And, as mentioned above, they'll get into the raw water strainer. I pull the boat about every 3-5 years and about five years ago we had tons of the little critters - when I pulled it last year, there weren't near as many - maybe the population has leveled off?
And, like the previous poster, I use VC-17 - and have never had one on the hull when I pulled the boat.
Happy New Year to all!
And, as mentioned above, they'll get into the raw water strainer. I pull the boat about every 3-5 years and about five years ago we had tons of the little critters - when I pulled it last year, there weren't near as many - maybe the population has leveled off?
And, like the previous poster, I use VC-17 - and have never had one on the hull when I pulled the boat.
Happy New Year to all!
When I bought Dalliance in 2006 there were a few Zebra Mussels behind the slotted strainer cover on the engine raw water through-hull and a lot of them on the concave aft face of the skeg that the rudder blocks easy access to; sheltered places that don't get hit with anti-fouling paint. I cleaned them out with a flexible blade and that was sort of an annual thing for a few years.
Since then, I have gotten a coat of VC onto that skeg face when it was off for other maintenance work, I now have the bottom dived about three or four times per season, and I installed a raw water strainer a few years ago. So far it has intercepted exactly one Zebra Mussel and some smaller, mostly organic debris that gets through the slotted strainer on the outside. BTW, the raw water seacock is closed if the engine is not running.
Up here of course, our boats are on the hard almost half the year, so hull growth of any kind doesn't have long to accumulate. I have not seen any Zebra Mussels at haul out the last few years, but I don't know how much of that is do to the steps I have taken or if perhaps they have reached some kind of an equilibrium in our end of Lake Michigan.
Since then, I have gotten a coat of VC onto that skeg face when it was off for other maintenance work, I now have the bottom dived about three or four times per season, and I installed a raw water strainer a few years ago. So far it has intercepted exactly one Zebra Mussel and some smaller, mostly organic debris that gets through the slotted strainer on the outside. BTW, the raw water seacock is closed if the engine is not running.
Up here of course, our boats are on the hard almost half the year, so hull growth of any kind doesn't have long to accumulate. I have not seen any Zebra Mussels at haul out the last few years, but I don't know how much of that is do to the steps I have taken or if perhaps they have reached some kind of an equilibrium in our end of Lake Michigan.
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[QUOTE="Dalliance,...I have not seen any Zebra Mussels at haul out the last few years, but I don't know how much of that is do to the steps I have taken or if perhaps they have reached some kind of an equilibrium in our end of Lake Michigan.[/QUOTE]
I think Trump built a wall to keep them Aliens out.
I think Trump built a wall to keep them Aliens out.
zebras are vicious little sharp edge inedible creatures that infest our prop shaft, rudder mount and Cutless bearings. each year we go after them at haul out to scrape them off metal surfaces with a dull screwdriver. they did get into our ra water strainer and fortunately the wire basket trapped them before they got into our heat exchanger. if you've got zebras, you don't want them in your raw water system where they can mess up your impeller and ht exchanger. look into installing a very good $$$ raw water strainer with a filter basket between your inlet raw water seacock and your raw water pump....