Do I have to clean an aluminum hull that stays in fresh water?

[chuser]

I'm going to clean out my boat, really scrub it down. The inside needs it. Just soap and water, and let it drain out the plug. All well and good. But I'm wondering, should I take the engine off, turn the boat upside down, and scrub the hull as well? It is plain aluminum all the way around.

It sits in the water all the time, and appears to be taking on a coating of algae or whatever lives in the water. Is it worth it to wrestle the engine off by myself, turn the boat over, and scrub down the bottom of the hull? Or is it not a big deal because of the fresh water?

 

[southkogs]

How dirty is the hull? I clean mine on the trailer all the time.

 

[cptbill]

The simple answer is yes, even in fresh water over time things will start to attach them selves and grow

 

[Scott Danforth]

how small is your boat that you are thinking of flipping it over?

 

[JimS123]

People that own tinnys that keep them in the water, and care about the maintenance of their boat, usually pull them out and clean the hulls every 3 or 4 weeks, at MINIMUM. No real need to pull the engines, just spray cleaner and wash with fresh water from the hose. Then puterbackin.

Google proper cleaning chemicals.

As an option, paint the bottom, with anti-fouling paint, and then pull the boat every 3-4 weeks to clean the topsides with Boat9 and wax accordingly.

 

[mr 88]

A pressure washer works wonders ,especially if done immediately after boat is pulled. If I had a algae build up I would paint the transom and pretty much the bow area to the keel . Then I would do the sides to where the bottom meets the side . Do it in the same color as the hull if your concerned about how it looks. My boat only gets a small build up where the sun shines on the hull ,mostly the transom which is south facing when docked. So I rarely paint the very bottom because of that.

 

[UP HOOKER]

The only Boat we leave in the water for the season is the Pontoon, before wintering it we just wash it good and then clean the toons with Aluminum cleaner and they shine. But it may depend on the particular water it is in.

 

[chuser]

It's a twelve footer. So manhandle-able. I filled out the "your boat" information in my user profile but for some reason it's doesn't show up on the forum.

I can't get the boat out of the water on a trailer or anything - no boat ramps. :grumpy: There is one of those plastic floating docks I can drive the boat up on that will get it out of the water. It looks like this:



That's the old engine, I have a 15hp on there now.


You can see there's some blackish kind of scum or algae on the bottom.



It doesn't look serious but I figured if I was cleaning the boat anyway I might as well do it. But it is rather a bother to take the engine off as it's quite heavy and I'm doing it all myself. I just have a scrub brush on a pole and a bucket of soap and water.

I'm just wondering if it's worth it...I tend to abuse this hull anyway, scraping it over obstacles and generally reveling in the fact that aluminum is almost indestructible. Is this blackish stuff actually going to harm things? If it takes a knot off my top speed I'm OK with that, it goes fast enough already. I'm not gonna wax the hull or anything. I wish I had access to a pressure washer, that sounds like a really good idea.

 

[Texasmark]

I'm going to clean out my boat, really scrub it down. The inside needs it. Just soap and water, and let it drain out the plug. All well and good. But I'm wondering, should I take the engine off, turn the boat upside down, and scrub the hull as well? It is plain aluminum all the way around.

It sits in the water all the time, and appears to be taking on a coating of algae or whatever lives in the water. Is it worth it to wrestle the engine off by myself, turn the boat over, and scrub down the bottom of the hull? Or is it not a big deal because of the fresh water?

Salt water Barnacles are the worst thing to nullify any propulsion unit's HP's effect in propelling a boat in my opinion. Even sitting in a lake with moving water, while I was on vacation of 2 weeks, the hull (slick fiberglass) would attract algae and other marine contamination and any thing of the sort will eat into your performance. I would think an aged alum hull with self protecting corrosion outer surface would have more surface area to collect at a faster rate. Yes I would do it since you are apparently up to the task.

 

[southkogs]

Remove outboard. Flip and scrub. Boat a lot. Rinse and repeat.