But if you want your boat to look like anything other than the wreck of the Hesperus, eventually you have got to clean it up. I know, I know, a patina of sardine scales, snook slime and mackerel blood gives a boat a certain authenticity lacking in those spotless, shiny rigs that practically scream “dilettante,” or at the very least, “anal retentive boat owner.”
Appearance suffers in the sun and rain over time, as well. Gel coats turn to crusted chalk. Stainless steel, you soon discover, isn’t stainless, and seats develop mildew colonies that could readily populate Mars from pole to pole. It’s time for a cleanup.
You start with the obvious, of course; a simple bath of soapy fresh water. One good way to get this part quickly behind you is to visit the local self-serve car wash. Pull in the booth, soap her down, scrub where necessary, and pressure-blast all the residue off both boat and trailer. If you want to do this at home, get a soft-bristle car wash brush for the job. Use a good boat soap, biodegradable if your boat hangs on davits and the runoff will go into the river or bay. Star brite Boat Wash, about $11.50 per quart, is one good choice, as is concentrated Ultra-Pine Wash-N-Wax Soap by Woody Wax.
For many of us, this is about as close as it ever gets to a true cleanup. But once a year, you owe your trusty steed more. Not only does a clean boat look better, but the cleaning process preserves your resale value and gives you a chance to toss out the detritus of melting jerkbaits, discarded Gulps! and Vienna sausages dried into little black mummies
Take it From the Top
Start at the top and work down. Your Bimini is probably nylon cloth. Give it a few shots of something like West Marine’s Fabric Cleaner—16 ounces in a spray bottle for about $8. Spray it on, let it set a few minutes then scrub with a soft bristle brush and hose it clear. When it’s dry, you may want to add a spray coat of Star brite Waterproofing & Fabric Treatment; it’s sort of like Scotchguard, causing water to bead and roll off—around $18 for a 22-ounce bottle.
Next, wipe down the supports with stainless steel or aluminum cleaner, such as Woody Wax Metal Sealant. Give the hinge points and fasteners a drop of corrosion-stopping oil like Corrosion-X.
Your console probably has all sorts of dirt crusted on and around the switches and instruments. Resist the temptation to blast this off with the pressure washer—you will almost certainly drive water inside the switches, resulting in their malfunctioning before long. It’s better to work the dirt off with a cleaner/polish like Meguiar’s #45 on a soft rag, using a toothbrush to get in the narrow crevices around the rockers and the bezels. Wipe away the haze with a clean cloth and then clean up the dial faces with a bit of ammonia-free cleaner.
The walking surfaces are often in tough shape because of the non-slip, which captures all sorts of sand, fish residue and mold. This is the spot for a good non-skid deck cleaner and a stiff bristle brush, much more coarse than the one you’ll use on the smooth finishes of the exterior gel coat. Note that most designated deck cleaners have a non-slip formula—very important to your well-being. Scrub until all the little valleys in the non-slip come clean, then hose it all thoroughly. Specialized non-skid cleaners are offered by Star brite, Meguiar’s, Woody Wax, Supreme Marine, Nautical Ease and others. It should be noted that Woody Wax makes a non-skid product that not only waxes and seals your deck, but serves as a corrosion-blocker for metal and electrical connections as well.
This is also the time to clean out your drain scuppers. Often, a strong stream from the hose, shot first in the intake end, then the outlet end, will get rid of any debris that makes for slow draining. If not, take off the grates and push the hose down inside. If this doesn’t work, take off the drain hoses and clean them out by pushing a wood dowel through them.
The skin of the boat usually shows the worst evidence of aging in coastal sunshine. The outer gel coat turns to a chalky residue that ends the shine, and this dull surface also collects oil and dirt from the air and water. Cleaners that get rid of the chalk have a very light rubbing compound in them to cut through the chalking, plus a solvent to dissolve some of the dirt. With most, you wipe it on, work it in, let it dry to a haze, then buff off. On severely chalked hulls, you may want to rent an orbital polisher to make things go faster—but use it VERY lightly and keep it moving or you may burn a hole right through the gel coat.
Once you have the shine restored, follow up with a sealer wax, which will help keep stains from getting hold of the surface again.
The yellowish stains that result from spending a lot of time in tannin-stained water can be tough to get rid of without damaging the gel coat. Interlux Heavy Duty Stain Remover is a good bet for this duty; it’s a gel, so it stays on vertical surfaces long enough to dissolve the yellowing.
When it comes to cleaning the livewell, the temptation is to fill ’er up with a gallon of bleach and let it melt the stink out of the plastic. This is great at getting rid of the smell. The only problem is that it’s also great at getting rid of any bait you put in the tank for weeks afterward. Even the slightest remnant of chlorine in the system will whack your bait almost instantly. Best bet is simply to wash it down with a light soap and then rinse until the rinse water comes out completely soap-free; better you should have a little smell left than have your live well becomes a “deadwell.”
Castrol Super Clean is an outstanding degreaser and general cleaner, but it will mar aluminum if used full strength; keep it away from aluminum hulls, top supports and fishing reels.
While you’re at it, this is a good time to get the crud out of your bilge—usually a mix of spilled oil (if you’re running a two-stroke) along with assorted grunge. Plain soapy water helps, but an actual bilge cleaner will cut the oil better. Basically, you just pour the stuff down into the bilge, add a little water and let it slop around for a day or two while you run the boat. Then, you put the rig on the trailer, get it well away from the water, and drain into a container that you can deposit at your local waste disposal center.
Don’t forget the powerhead on your outboard. Give the whole thing, including the rubber hoses, a light spray with a protectant like Blaster’s Corrosion Stop or Star brite’s Protector; this keeps rust from getting started, prevents electrolysis, and helps preserve hoses and electrical wiring, too.
When it comes to seats and coaming pads, avoid using straight bleach, which is the best of all mildew killers. The problem, says Bill Lindsey, spokesman for Star brite, is that the bleach is likely to severely weaken the threads that hold your seat cover vinyl together; in a few months, the seams start to pop open. Better to use a cleaner designated for vinyl cleanup, but without the bleach; spray it on, let it set, and then scrub it away with a soft bristle brush.
Boat Care Products
The following manufacturers offer a wide array of boat-care products. Visit their Web sites for further information.
