How does everyone wash the hull in their slips

[280 SeaRay]

11 days in wet slip and I have been down at the boat 10 of 11 days. I am really enjoying having the boat in the water :grin:. I have been figuring "stuff" out that changes in the water versus on the trailer. Stuff I have observed:

- No more ladders to wash the boat :smt001
- I am making "boat shower curtains" to protect the boats (my slip neighbors) on either side of me from spray when I wash. I will also be asking my neighbors to use the "shower curtain when they wash (neither have washed yet :huh: ). I am using 6 mil clear plastic sheeting attached with velcro to the slip posts.
- Covered slip is cutting down on dust. Woohooo!!
- I am going to have a hard time not taking the boat out daily

So to my question. How does everyone clean the hull at the bow of the boat.... I have purchased extension wands (Shurhold) and modified my Meguiars wash mitts to fit the Shurhold pad holder. It is pretty tough to get a good washing on the bow below the rub rail and impossible to dry. I ended up sitting on the very edge of the dock with a line tied around my waist so I could lean out alot. I am thinking of purchasing a tube so I am float out and get up close and personal with the hull like I could on the trailer. I am thinking about tying the tube to either side of the slip and using it as a washing platform. The hull below the rub rail on the rear 2/3 of the boat is no problem from the slip fingers.

Not thoroughly washing and drying is not an option. I know some of the folks here must have some tricks..... let em rip.

Pictures to give you an idea of the setup:

Thanks for sharing your ideas and experiences.

 

[skolbe]

Shower curtains are over kill. You should be able to clean your boat while keeping your neighbors dry

 

[280 SeaRay]

Shower curtains are over kill. You should be able to clean your boat while keeping your neighbors dry

Shower curtains may be overkill but I respect my neighbors boats very much and would rather be sure that I prevent splashing (the concrete docks tend to splash the water nicely).

Anyone with in water hull cleaning secrets?

 

[Dave S]

I don't use curtains either for multiple reasons. If the wind is blowing I would not want to deal with it. Next, on one side of me is a Canbote and on the other side is a Cruiser the owner doesn't take very good care. I still try and avoid overspray on their boats but beleive me they would never notice.:smt043 And yes when they wash their boats they care nothing about mine and it's always messed up when they are finished.:smt013 Luckily they don't wash their boats very often,:thumbsup: Here is my dock set up.

Anyways this is how I wash my boat.The first thing I do is hose down all the walkways to clean them off. I spray towards my boat so as not to spray the other boats. . I keep a ladder at my dock and use it stand on to clean the bimini and I use an extendable wand and very soft brush to clean the whole boat. I clean the canvas strictly with water because most dirt comes out merely by hosing. Then I use the Mr Clean Auto Dry system to wash the boat. Spray on the soap using the Mr Clean system and scrub thoroughly with the wand brush. I can reach every part of my boat from the finger docks including the bow. It's a bit of a stretch to reach the bow but my wand extends a good 8 feet. Then rinse the soap off and the water will basically slide right off without beading up. You can use the filtration system on the Mr Clean device to avoid water spotting as well but I don't use it. Then it's a simple matter of hand drying just a few spots with a towel or chamois to finish up. I don't use the Mr Clean on the canvas though. So I have to hand dry that. Sometimes I wrap towels around the brush on my wand so I can reach places on the canvas and the bimini that are impossible to get to otherwise.

Before I started using the Mr Clean system I was never able to develop a satisfactory method to clean my boat and beleive me I tried all kinds of things. I may not be quite as anal as you are, but my boat is always clean and I have the reputation of having the cleanest shiniest boat at the docks. :grin:

 

[JAFI]

The slip were in doesn't have much of a finger pier on one side and nothing on the other.

I just tie the boat up along the walkway to the floating dock and I can adjust my lines to pull the bow in close and let the stern hang out. I just let the boat pivot off the fenders while I scrub and rinse.

 

[fwebster]

Jeremy,

Just run the boat into the slip bow first and wash what you are comfortable reaching with an extended handle brush, then reverse the boat in the slip.

And, dude, if your neighbors haven't washed their boats in 10 days, trust me, they don't care about a little water spray. In fact, they will probably appreciate your hosing down their boats for them. So get over it and make 'em wet.

Also, get in the habit of rinsing off the concrete docks every chance you get. that stuff holds grime and grit like nothing else and the cleaner you keep it the easier it will be to maintain your boat.

 

[Presentation]

Hi Jeremy,

On washing:
We often anchor in shallow sand bottom areas. When we do I clean the hull from the rub rail down. Standing in the water it’s an easy reach. Hope that helps.

Keeping a boat in a slip has a major advantage of convenience. With everything in life, there are trade off’s. Keeping a boat in a slip is simply not conducive to keeping the boat as clean when compared to bringing the boat home on a trailer and washing.

On slip neighbors:
Please don’t be too hard on your slip neighbors. It’s likely they are in the majority and you are in the minority. Two different marinas and 4 years of slipping our boat I have never seen anyone using a curtain between boats.

From my experience, here are the types of issues that have resulted in slip neighbors not getting along. Loud music during quite times, or yelling / swearing, dogs that bark at quite times or leave messes and the owners don’t pick the waste up, poor docking skills, bumping other boats as they come and go, kids that come on your boat uninvited, unravel your water hose, power cord, coiled dock lines, keeping the dock cart just for them, leaving their boat at the spot in front of the pump out or fuel pump, think “no-wake” does not apply to them, keep the dock area by their boat cluttered making it difficult to get past them.

Fortunately I have never had an argument with a fellow marina slip renter. I chalk it up to forbearance.

My advice:
Do you remember Cousin Eddie from the movie Vacation? Go into this with the forbearance Chevy Chase had with Cousin Eddie. Eddie has a lot of relatives and they have a lot of boats in slips.

Best wishes Jeremy.

 

[Presentation]

PS: Resist your urge to inflate your slip neighbor’s fender. He’s testing you.

 

[First Born]

There goes your fitness program :smt043....didn't you try this once when you first bought the boat and decided it would not work for you. Looks good in the water and I am sure you will come up with a plan to keep in top shape.

Wesley

 

[Chris R]

Your slip set up looks similar to mine. I also have a black hull which means when your boat is dirty, it really drives you nuts. Anyway, Dave S is right, the Mr Clean is the way to go. I do use one of the Home Depot "homer buckets" for boat soap - it's stable if you are using a long wash pole. Agree with everyone else, don't bother with plastic sheeting. Just spray carefully- it's doable.

Finally- this may sound really elementary, but loosen your lines and pull the boat towards the side of the slip you are washing from, then tie that side tighter. You can reach the bow easier. You may already do this, but I didn't notice a comment on it. I've actually quick waxed (Maguiers) my entire black hull doing it like this (from the slip sides)

 

[douglee25]

Invest in some fenders for your boat just in case the lines aren't secured properly. You hull will thank you.

Doug

 

[Hoo'sdave]

From my experience, here are the types of issues that have resulted in slip neighbors not getting along. Loud music during quite times, or yelling / swearing, dogs that bark at quite times or leave messes and the owners don’t pick the waste up, poor docking skills, bumping other boats as they come and go, kids that come on your boat uninvited, unravel your water hose, power cord, coiled dock lines, keeping the dock cart just for them, leaving their boat at the spot in front of the pump out or fuel pump, think “no-wake” does not apply to them, keep the dock area by their boat cluttered making it difficult to get past them.
You hit the nail on the head with this comment!!!!!!!!!:smt021Presentation

 

[jg300da]

Ha, shower curtains...too funny. Enjoy the time in the slip and realize for this convinience you give up some accessibility to certain areas of the boat. Also looks like you are using lines to keep the boat centered in the slip without fenders. You might want to rethink that. The wind or passing wakes will cause a constant push/pull on the hull cleats. Over time might cause spider cracks. Add some slack to the lines and add fenders.

 

[280 SeaRay]

Thanks everyone for their feedback I appreciate it. I am very close to being able to maintain the boat in the water equal to that when I am on the trailer. I am able to wash with the extension pole... just a little tough not being able to get right up next to the gel to ensure it is clean. Drying was the bigger problem as I could not get everywhere (i.e. bow under the rail). I donated a couple of my drying magnets to the bottom while trying :smt009 I think Frank's suggestion will resolve this.

Unfortunately my fresh water tank does not have sufficient capacity to wash the boat while out and about. Additionally the boat would be spotted on the way back to the marina (yes I am over the top.... but that is the way I like it)

The good news Doug is that the marina has excellent policies concerning many of the items you mention. We have not had any problems at all thus far, marina is super quiet. The marina staff are always on the docks and seem to resolve issues others have raised very quickly.

Wesley washing the boat is still a good 4-5 hour workout. The stairs portion just have changed from ladders to wash the boat to stairs from the parking lot down to the boat :lol:

douglee25..... fenders what are those..... is that something I can get at West Marine? I am completely kidding of course. Marina mooring policy is that a patrons boat should not rest against or have the ability to touch the dock or fingers. Boat is properly tied and does not come with 1 foot of anything. I spent just over 3 hours securing the boat and testing to ensure no force from any direction would allow the boat to contact anything. :smt001

Frank... yes sir... I wash down the dock and fingers every week prior to washing the boat. The marina also washes the dock regularly. I take it a step further with a little soap and stiff bristled brush. The concrete holds an amazing amount of dust.

Thanks again to everyone for their feedback.

 

[tobnpr]

Wow.
They're only boats.
Not Enzo Ferrari's.

 

[Brian 59]

Jeremy, Congratulations on being in a slip. It gives a whole new dimension to your boat. We clean the hull best we can during our short season. The covered slip, I am envious

 

[dsteele1]

11 days in wet slip and I have been down at the boat 10 of 11 days. I am really enjoying having the boat in the water :grin:. I have been figuring "stuff" out that changes in the water versus on the trailer. Stuff I have observed:

- No more ladders to wash the boat :smt001
- I am making "boat shower curtains" to protect the boats (my slip neighbors) on either side of me from spray when I wash. I will also be asking my neighbors to use the "shower curtain when they wash (neither have washed yet :huh: ). I am using 6 mil clear plastic sheeting attached with velcro to the slip posts.
- Covered slip is cutting down on dust. Woohooo!!
- I am going to have a hard time not taking the boat out daily

So to my question. How does everyone clean the hull at the bow of the boat....

Thanks for sharing your ideas and experiences.

I don't see any spiders. Where are your spiders? :huh: We have to put up spider nets above our boat slips to keep the spider poop off the boat. We have millions of spiders! :wow:

We loosen the lines on one side then another so we can get to the hull. We've been very lax in our cleaning due to the 105 degree summers here with 95% humidity. :wow:

 

[tmhudson2]

Jeremy,

I was interested to see that your dock has a fire sprinkler system -- is this the norm where you live? Only one marina here has installed them, and it was during its construction last year. None of the older marinas have retrofitted fire sprinklers, and we seem to have a marina fire almost every winter from some boat's (usually cheapest thing available at Home Depot) heater. Sorry to hijack the topic.

Tom

 

[skolbe]

I give you trouble and now I just got a new dock neighbor this week, that I am concerned is not going to be the most respectful of my boat nor quiet. He is in a band ans says he will be coming in at 4AM...

He already has stuff on my finger of the dock. In our marina everyone is suppose to put their stuff on the left finger. The new neighbor is a houseboat and he backs in which places his door on my side and therefore has some giant wooden steps on my finger. Great I get to make friends the first week with a complaint...

Jeremy - I would tie your dock lines to the poles instead of the cleats on the dock. I would be concerned with the lines chaffing the fiberglass.

 

[Moose]

As everyone has said "shower curtains" are overkill. Take the boat out and anchor, get yourself equipped with a good scrub brush, wear a life preserver, and the ultimate tool, a small plunger. Yes a plunger as in trying to unstop your ------. use the plunger to hold yourself next to the hull and scrub away! My boat is in the water all year long and this method only keeps the water line and slightly below, clean all year long. If you want to really get serious, use a snorkel and get down even lower.