Fishbusters
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- Apr 20, 2002
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- 921
The following is an article ran in The State paper. It happened in SC but could it be happening in your neck of the woods???<br /><br />Boat dents puzzle owners<br />Officials suspect hydrilla herbicide contributed to problem at Lake Murray<br />By TIM FLACH<br />Staff Writer<br /><br />The dents on Judy Heiting's boat are a Lake Murray mystery.<br /><br />But the hundreds of dings scattered on the bottom of her pontoon, and similar ones found on a few dozen other watercraft, led state officials to stop spraying the herbicide that kept hydrilla weed in check.<br /><br />No one is certain why a problem that looks like acne occurred in aluminum boats.<br /><br />The corrosion on Heiting's new pontoon appeared soon after she bought it in spring 2000. "We were afraid to keep it in the lake" once the problem was apparent, she said.<br /><br />State officials ended herbicide use Sept. 9 after tests suggested copper in it contributed to the boat scarring.<br /><br />That finding was a surprise.<br /><br />The herbicide had been used against the weed in the 47,500-acre lake since 1993 without a problem, state officials say.<br /><br />The link to watercraft dents baffles state officials, especially because it hasn't appeared in lakes outside South Carolina where the herbicide is used.<br /><br />"What's happening here, I don't have the answer to, but something has changed," state aquatic plants expert Steve de Kozlowski said. "We may never know what the cause is."<br /><br />One suspicion is that rain carries phosphorus from lawn fertilizer and septic tank leaks into the lake. Phosphorus-tinged lake water then reacts with copper in the herbicide to corrode the aluminum boats, the theory goes.<br /><br />Previous state checks have shown a small rise in phosphorus levels in the lake, but not enough that it's considered an environmental problem. Both the phosphorus and copper levels are not harmful to people, officials say.<br /><br />However, higher phosphorus levels could bolster the efforts of groups who say growth around the lake's 649½-mile shoreline is threatening its water quality.<br /><br />The mystery of the boat dents is one that Clemson University environmental toxicologist John Rodgers wants to solve. "We're hot after it. It's very intriguing."<br /><br />Rodgers supervised the tests this spring that suggest a connection between the dents and herbicide. Those tests were arranged by state officials and paid for by a herbicide supplier.<br /><br />State officials initially dismissed complaints about the herbicide two years ago from boaters. But they decided to investigate after damage continued.<br /><br />"We saw enough that it piqued our curiosity," de Kozlowski said. "But we were surprised at the possibility of a tie-in."<br /><br />The problem seems acute in coves, where water tends to stay, as opposed to areas flushed regularly by currents, he said. Heiting kept her boat at a marina in a cove.<br /><br />Watercraft damage so far is cosmetic, not serious, officials say.<br /><br />But scratches on a new boat are as irritating as those on a new car. And state officials don't want to risk continued use of the herbicide only to find boats sink from corrosion.<br /><br />Heiting, from Lexington, is wondering whether anyone will pay for repairs to her boat, estimated at $2,000.<br /><br />With the source of the dents inconclusive, "I don't know whose fault it is," she said.
<br />But anyhoo, a switch from one type of sacaficial anode metal to another,is all that is required.<br />Each hull will react differently, relative to hull type, size,and material.<br />Any good marina can fix this dockside, in the water the vessel will normally operate in.<br />In most cases, the only degrading that will take place after that, is the sacrificial anode, which should be routinely inspected and replaced as it is desolved.