T&T: Bilge cleaners

[LA Licata]

Mr. JHWard Jr.,

Her name is Peggy Hall. She is a wonderful lady, smart, bright, full  
of experience, and willing to share without pushing.

Learning from her experience so as not to have to experience myself  
is one of the smartest decisions I ever made.

First, dirty bilges, in my opinion, show a marked lack of respect for  
the "holy" place.

If I inherited a boat from someone with that disrespect, then I have  
my work cut out for me.

I did so here is what I did when I had to clean the bilges on a 5  
year old 36' express cruiser

While on the hard, I recent a hot water high pressure washer with  
soap dispenser.
Purchased a bunch of different scrub brush heads also.
Got some TSP.
Mixed it at 2x the concentration per the label.
Plastic covered all the important stuff that if it got wet, would  
raise hell that could not be removed or moved. Moved the rest  
(including batteries, and anything else that could easily be removed,  
or that I wanted to remove and relocate, or just rewire...)
Disabled bilge pumps.
Was able to get from the yard some used 55 gal drums they were going  
to throw.
Using the washer, sprayed every nook and cranny, using the high  
pressure water to open all clogged bilge drainage holes.
Used the brushes to loosen the grime.
Used a neighbor's kid to get into spots I could not. (He was  
expensive... at least 10 ice cream bars)
High pressure wash with TSP a second time.
Collected all water into the drums. Paid the yard to dispose when  
they did theirs.
Rinsed with hot water.
Left a fan on and let it dry.
All of the above took one long 3 day weekend.
Went to work to rest and recharge my batteries
Bought some diapers.
Following weekend was launch weekend. Friday, reinstalled the stuff  
that needed to be reinstalled for launch on Sat.
Conducted electrical verification, engine start, enabled bilge pumps  
etc etc in prep for launch.
Installed diapers.
Launch and get to my slip.
using the diapers as a guide, located every drip and leak.
Fixed what I could in this order: Fuel, oil, antifreeze, salt water,  
fresh water.
What I could not fix (fuel, oil, antifreeze only) I had the yard do  
that week. (They were on standby.)
Came back and installed new diapers, took a test run, and verified  
yard's work.
Over that summer, fixed the water leaks.
Had electrical problem, unrelated to the wash down.
Electrician came down and refused to work.
Said he needed the manufacturer's authorization to do the warranty work.
Asked why as the boat is way past warranty.
He said: I only see clean bilges like those on new boats!
As a result of this work, it was easy to keep the bilges clean with  
just soap and water.
Leaks were easy to spot and now had an incentive to fix.
Could eat off of them bilges.
Other boaters came buy and wanted the "tour."
Asked if I would do theirs. Politely declined all.
Yard was so impressed that the following winter, helped clean up a  
Sea ray's bilge for a boat they wanted to sell. They did sell it and  
I got a great break on that winter's storage.

The bottom line: Per Peggy, others on this list, and experience,  
there are NO MAGIC CLEANERS out there except elbow grease and sweat.
Do it right the first time, and pay the piper, and the rest is easy  
street.
Cut corners, try to go easy first, and you will pay the piper a long  
long time.
You choice.
YMMV. No warranties actual or implied. No fiduciary relationship with  
Peggy or with most anyone else on this list.
And, of course, can always ignore free advice with no financial penalty.
Lee
Ankara





On Jul 7, 2008, at 1501, JHWardJr at aol.com wrote:

I have become frustrated with the 'old boat smell' in my relatively
new-to-me 1984 trawler. ...

I know the 'stinky bilge lady' has a book, but I have heard mixed  
reports  on
her and that she seems to have her way (i.e. products which she will   
sell to
you) and nothing else works.  Can...

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