Emptying the bilge - a worthy read

[Captain Caveman]

I just finished reading the sticky for beginners and thought that there was one important piece missing from the article: clearing out the bilge. Most states have water infested with some sort of foreign plant or marine life (Eurasian milfoil, zebra mussels, etc. up here). When I'm at the boat ramp, I rarely see people doing everything that needs to be done to clear these exotic elements out of their boats. I see the occasional removal of plants from trailers but not the full clean. Depending on the element, some plants and animals can live for many days out of water. If you've still got water hidden in the bottom of your boat, they'll live for a long time.

My boat has a bilge pump in the back next to the drain plug. However, the deepest part of my boat is in the bow. Therefore even when I've cleared all of the water out of the back of my boat, there is still water in the front. In fact, the only way for me to get all of the water out of my boat is to raise the trailer tongue up to chest height (I've only got a 16 footer) and let the water drain out. Even parking my truck on a hill with the drain plug out won't remove all of the water. I mention all of this as an example, so that everyone thinks about what they are personally doing to ensure that they are taking every precaution.

I'd like to hear what other folks are doing to make sure that they aren't spreading exotic things into new waters. If anything, this thread will just be a good reminder to everyone.

 

[erikgreen]

Re: Emptying the bilge - a worthy read

Personally, I've been thinking about this stuff a little. There are a lot of little hitchhikers too small to see that can cause problems if moved from lake to lake.

I have to remove all the milfoil from my boat and trailer, and I do drain the water out before I drive off, but to clean everything out you almost need to ensure the boat dries completely before use elsewhere, or else you have to run a chemical cleaner through it.

I was thinking I could maybe pour a gallon of household vinegar through the bilge and let it drain out.. that's not guaranteed to get everywhere though. I also would have to arrange a flushing attachment for my engine that I do the same thing to.

At the very least, moving invasive species around is irresponsible, and at the worst it can get you a hefty fine from the local authorities.

Erik

 

[ovrrdrive]

Re: Emptying the bilge - a worthy read

I clear the trailer and make sure the boat doesn't have anything on it and that's about it. I really don't think anything else needs to be done.

On the way home the boat goes to a car wash and gets cleaned with soap. I think that does pretty good job of getting everything off of it...

 

[Captain Caveman]

Re: Emptying the bilge - a worthy read

I'm not assuming that others aren't doing enough, I'm just stating that I don't see it at the boat landings. I do my water purge at home using a garbage can to tilt the trailer. In the end, I'm not interested in hearing excuses for why exotic organisms can't be purged but solutions for how all of us can.

This is meant to be a positive thread.