River Scum

eedwards · Jan 15, 2008

I would like to keep my boat in the water for weekends during the season instead of pulling it out from my dock every night, but if i leave it in just fro a day i get i nasty scum line on the up river side.
Is there anything i can put on to make this easier to clean off when i do pull it out?
I'm new to boating but I'm sure just like automotive allot of the stuff out there for sale is garbage.

TilliamWe · Jan 15, 2008

Re: River Scum

There is a product called Super Slick that you can apply that will help. It's a wax like product that you apply very thick, then leave it on. The stuff will grow to it and you can brush it off in the water and even reapply it in the water. But it will wear off the bottom of you boat and that's gonna be the most important part to keep clean.
The real solution to your problem is anti-fouling bottom paint. Trust me, it's the best thing if you want to keep your boat in a river in Illinois.

eedwards · Jan 15, 2008

Re: River Scum

TilliamWe said:
There is a product called Super Slick that you can apply that will help. It's a wax like product that you apply very thick, then leave it on. The stuff will grow to it and you can brush it off in the water and even reapply it in the water. But it will wear off the bottom of you boat and that's gonna be the most important part to keep clean.
The real solution to your problem is anti-fouling bottom paint. Trust me, it's the best thing if you want to keep your boat in a river in Illinois.

I will have to remember that paint when i redo the boat next winter.
my neighbor has a problem that he gets a white kind of film on his out drive that wont come off so he repaints all the time.
I blame it on all the boats on the chain of lakes up river from us.
I say with as many boats running up there allot of stuff must be coming down river.

ziggy · Jan 15, 2008

Re: River Scum

my neighbor has a problem that he gets a white kind of film on his out drive that wont come off

i could be wrong. but maybe their mineral deposits. water evapoateing on a warm drive, leaveing the minerals behind. if it's that. lime away will remove it....... just a thought.....

as for the river scum. i do the missouri and get nasty scum on my boat too. even if i go for the weekend it still comes off with soap and water, and a brush.... i just keep the hull waxed pretty good...... and it's certainly best to get it off as soon as ya can after removing it from the river. the longer i wait, the harder it is to get off.....

oops! · Jan 16, 2008

Re: River Scum

man thats nasty......gives me the willies......

i agree anti fouling paint....and a good bath every time you take it out.

but here in some parts of canada...the lakes are so clean you can drink right out of them...

see down thirty feet......(its cool you can see the fish biting your hook)

good luck....

oops

SgtMaj · Jan 16, 2008

Re: River Scum

The best stuff is sharkooth (or at least that's what it USED to be called, I don't know anymore, and they've renamed it). IT's a film that you put over your hull that mimicks shark skin's physical characteristics which make it difficult for anything to attach to it. Several years ago, the University of Florida was developing it, and they expected it to hit the market in just a couple years. I would expect it to be somewhere on the market by now. Supposed to be pretty good stuff, and much better for the water than the toxic anti-fouling paints. Cheaper in the long-run, too, as it only needs to be applied once every 8-14 years instead of every other year (in a marine environment).

arboldt · Jan 16, 2008

Re: River Scum

We leave our boat in the lake all summer, and it gets a yucky scum, too. May not be the same type as from your river, but...

Ours is a small fiberglass boat, gelcoat and not painted.

1) Use a stiff brush to get it off while the boat is still in the water. Once it's dry, it's extremely difficult to get off. For raft pontoons, we grab a handful of sand from the river bottom to scour it off. Both work fine.

2) I'm probably going to try using a power washer as soon as I pull the boat. That would be even easier, I think.

3) Once the scum is off, there's still a bit of a stain. We use Starbright Hull Cleaner and the hull is like new. Just remember that stuff is acidic, so be sure to wear rubber gloves that go up your forearms a ways.

eedwards · Jan 16, 2008

Re: River Scum

arboldt said:
We leave our boat in the lake all summer, and it gets a yucky scum, too. May not be the same type as from your river, but...

Ours is a small fiberglass boat, gelcoat and not painted.

1) Use a stiff brush to get it off while the boat is still in the water. Once it's dry, it's extremely difficult to get off. For raft pontoons, we grab a handful of sand from the river bottom to scour it off. Both work fine.

2) I'm probably going to try using a power washer as soon as I pull the boat. That would be even easier, I think.

3) Once the scum is off, there's still a bit of a stain. We use Starbright Hull Cleaner and the hull is like new. Just remember that stuff is acidic, so be sure to wear rubber gloves that go up your forearms a ways.

The scum is easy to get off its that stain that is a pain.
My dock is just a couple hundred yards from my house so its getting washed about five minutes from being pulled from the water.
It always seem to come off eventually, but i noticed the other day there is a slight stain there now.

tashasdaddy · Jan 16, 2008

Re: River Scum

the scum is just pure pollution, good wax, immediate wash off. i found that taking some Cascade/w Dawn, dishwasher soap, in a bucket of water works very well. comes in a little packet.

scoutabout · Jan 16, 2008

Re: River Scum

Sounds crazy but I've often wondered if you could rig up some kind of water proof tarp under the boat, pull it taut above the waterline all around, then pump the remaining water out of it. Then your boat would be sitting there with a second skin so to speak and the scum would accumulate on the tarp, not the boat. Probably an incredible pita, but like many others, our boats sit in the water all summer and look damn scary by season's end. I'd haul it every day but the family would mutiny if I devoted that much time to it. They just want to ride and tube and don't care what kind of horror show the hull is.

Now, we recently moved to a lake that's more out of the way, relatively deserted and much cleaner, so the staining isn't nearly the problem it was in the previous over-crowded lake. But still, there's enough staining to notice after a month or so in the water.

mikey.himself · Jan 16, 2008

Re: River Scum

We have trouble getting the sludge off our rinker after an afternoon on lake ontario! Bugs the heck out of me.

ziggy · Jan 16, 2008

Re: River Scum

the scum is just pure pollution,

yep, nasty ol pollution

good wax, immediate wash off.

yep, i think that's the answer in a nutshell......

i found that taking some Cascade/w Dawn, dishwasher soap, in a bucket of water works very well.

i believe that.... dawn alone is a very good degreaser. however, be aware that it will also help unwax yer boat for ya faster than a marine boat soap.... i just use whatever marine soap that the boat store sells.... not as good a degreaser. but helps the wax last a bit longer..... just takes a little more elbow grease (no pun intended) to get the pollution off....

It always seem to come off eventually, but i noticed the other day there is a slight stain there now.

if the stains givein ya a hard time. mix up a little muratic acid with some water in a mist bottle(a 1 use bottle as the acid will eat up the pump in short order). wear rubber gloves, face mask of some kind and mist on, little bristle brushin and wash off right away. maybe 20% acid, 80% waters what i've used (maybe even less than 20%)..... be real carefull with the acid....it is some very nasty stuff, but it will clean that stain right off..... oh, that'll take the wax off too, so ya'll need to rewax after useing anything like that......

Greer · Jan 17, 2008

Re: River Scum

Starbrite hull cleaner sold at Walmart squirt it on hose it off cheap.

Andrew Leigh · Jan 17, 2008

Re: River Scum

When I saw the title of this post I thought it was addressed to me!!! But then I realise I am worse than that.

Tee hee hee

Andrew

steelespike · Jan 17, 2008

Re: River Scum

eedwards said:
I would like to keep my boat in the water for weekends during the season instead of pulling it out from my dock every night, but if i leave it in just fro a day i get i nasty scum line on the up river side.
Is there anything i can put on to make this easier to clean off when i do pull it out?
I'm new to boating but I'm sure just like automotive allot of the stuff out there for sale is garbage.

If its just on the upstream side it must be on the surface.Perhaps a simple curtain in the water. Maybe just on the upstream side perhaps just dropped from the dock.
Maybe some sort of soap and water solution dripped on the water on the upstream side might be enough to break up the scum before it can cling.
Might just take a few drops an hour.

QC · Jan 17, 2008

Re: River Scum

Andrew Leigh said:
When I saw the title of this post I thought it was addressed to me!!!

Me too

m&m252 · Jan 17, 2008

Re: River Scum

this sounds like trying to place splash guards on a car and hoping mud etc. doesnt find its way to the back ...hey my boat went from bright white to dull on the bottom due to gasoline,oil,diesel fuel,bilge pump scum, in canal where water runs in and out constantly...i just wash and wax bottom on dull days and have fun on the rest regardless of the slime attached to it...

njlarry · Jan 19, 2008

Re: River Scum

On our river Spray Nine does the trick. It rinses away the water line scum almost without any brushing. I would not recommend bottom paint unless you will be in the water most of the season. Bottom paint will have to be maintained and will lower the resale value significantly. Also there will still be staining of your gelcoat just above the paint.

scoutabout · Jan 19, 2008

Re: River Scum

Ever notice how many of these fancy, expensive acid-based cleaners smell a lot like good ol-fashoned, cheap toilet bowl cleaner?

River Scum

Petty Officer 2nd Class

Banned

Petty Officer 2nd Class

Admiral

Supreme Mariner

Lieutenant Commander

Chief Petty Officer

Petty Officer 2nd Class

Honorary Moderator Emeritus

Lieutenant Commander

Petty Officer 2nd Class

Admiral

Cadet

Chief Petty Officer

Supreme Mariner

Supreme Mariner

Petty Officer 2nd Class

Petty Officer 1st Class

Lieutenant Commander