BARNACALES ON BOAT

[On a mission]

Two things happen when your boat is in the water on the Alsea for six weeks. Alot less fish are now in the river and the bottom of the Aluminum boat has lots of stuff on it. So how do you 1> get it off and 2> is there something we can put on the boat to make cleanup easier next year. Any help would sure be apperciated. Thanks

[Miss B Haven]

Lots of things to use on glass (tupperware :grin: ) boats but they all contain acids. Most are oxalic (an organic) acid based. Not sure any of them would be good on Alum (beer can) boats. Most work well on soft growth but none work very well on Barnacle rings.

First thing is to clean off the boat immediatley upon pulling. If you let that stuff (algae/soft growth) dry on it's like super glue (at least on glass). Even the acids will have a tough time removing it.

The only thing I know you can do to prevent growth is put bottom paint on it. You gotta use a special paint on alum boats (most bottom paint is copper based and will corrode the alum). Micron has a new paint out to replace the old alum boat standby which was tin based and is now outlawed because of toxicity to marine life (it worked way to good I guess). Micron 66 is the new paint.
Barnacle shells will dry up, crust and almost fall off once you pull the boat and let it set. The ring of calcium (calcium carbonate?) where the were attached to the boat however won't fall off. The only way I know to get those rings off is mechanical action (scrub and scrape).
Good luck!

[justasillyolgirl]

It might sound crazy, but usually a good old base solution of vinegar and elbow grease will take positively charged calcium/mineral deposites off almost anything without leaving a mark or doing damage. I'd probably try the least expensive, least aggressive approach first for fear that anything more might damage my boat. :shrug:
But then again I'm not a boat owner :depressed: , just happen to like chemistry. graemlins/dork.gif