Where my drain plugs used to be!

[Zizzou 192]

So. I go pull this boat out of the wet slip after 6 months. I throw it on the trailer and reach down go to pull the drain plugs.

Surprise!

I have never seen anything like this on a boat...let alone my boat!






I assume these to be zebra mussles. They were definitely not on there even 2 weeks ago.

Anything I can do to clean this mess up besides wait until they dry out and then break out the hot pressure washer? My season up here is done anyway.

 

[Julian]

If they are Zebra mussles be careful as those are sharp little f'rs.

Power washing will be your best bet, followed by muriatic acid wash.

 

[itsdgm]

I’d flush the engines on a hose for quite a while. But I’m not sure if that would get the exhaust hot enough to ensure that they don’t continue to grow inside the water boxes. Anyway, good luck. Those look nasty

 

[Gym]

I'm thinking several flushes with water & white viniger or water & lime away would probably kill anything in the waterboxes. I would monitor the exhaust coolant for any signs of them. If you see some I would repeat the process every few days to allow time for the solution to kill off any stubborn muscles.

 

[Zizzou 192]

I have already split the tip of my finger while trying to see how hard they are stuck on there.

I should have read before touchy

It looks like I am very fortunate to have left the boat with the reverse gate down which seems to have protected the inside of the nozzle.

The acid bath is probably going to have to happen.

I can not begin to imagine what is going on inside the water box. Lime away sounds like a neat plan.

I will probably call up the Lake George Park Comission as they have boat inspection stations on their lake and probably have a protocol to get these things off the bottom and out of the cooling system of boats. I will post if they have anything different to say than all you smarties on this great forum!

 

[swatski]

I have already split the tip of my finger while trying to see how hard they are stuck on there.

I should have read before touchy

It looks like I am very fortunate to have left the boat with the reverse gate down which seems to have protected the inside of the nozzle.

The acid bath is probably going to have to happen.

I can not begin to imagine what is going on inside the water box. Lime away sounds like a neat plan.

I will probably call up the Lake George Park Comission as they have boat inspection stations on their lake and probably have a protocol to get these things off the bottom and out of the cooling system of boats. I will post if they have anything different to say than all you smarties on this great forum!

If it was me I would use SaltAway or similar for all the internals - acidic enough and meant for the task.
The inspection stations will not have a protocol that is suitable for your boat (without doing more harm than good) - those YJB water boxes can be completely drained without removing them.

--

 

[RedBarron55]

Here is a link to a procedure to take care of the problem.
Hot water pressure wash would do or steam cleaning being careful to not stay in one place too long.

https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/92700.html

PLEASE don't spread them by not cleaning your boat before going to uninfected areas.

 

[biffdotorg]

Yup, zebra mussels on our lifts and dock only come off easily after they dry/die. Then they scrape off like the frost on our windshield this time of year.

But inside is another story. These are the visible ones, they start off super tiny, so they can and will get into your cooling system. Check and recheck your water intake, the screen should have done it's job. But the flushing with hot water and chemicals as stated above is what we have done.

We have used our boat in infested waters a number of times, but it is never left in the water, so they don't collect. But they do exist in the water that remains. So flushing is all a guy can do. Once a person sees this though, you second guess leaving your boat in that water ever again.

Good luck,

 

[zipper]

Pulled our boat yesterday after 4.5 mos. In a wet slip. Our 3rd. season at a slip on the lake. Season 16', no zebra mussels. Season 17' found one stuck in my steering fins, thought it was a fluke. Everybody at the marina said they were not in Malletts Bay yet. Fast forward to season 18', I had none on the 35' Beneteau this year, with VC-17m on the bottom. They usually accumulate around the prop shaft where it enters the hull. But the Yamaha, especially around the trim tabs and transducers, had some growth. Gonna try Starbrite Hull Cleaner and see if they still stick around.



And after some Starbright and a stiff brush

They loosen up their grip. A stronger stream of water may have blasted them loose, I used a small stick to dig the stubborn ones out.

 

[Matt Phillips]

At the inspection stations at Lake Tahoe, they use 140 degree water that's attached to their hose system. They then use the flush ports and run the engines until the water exiting the engine is 140 degrees. The thought is that it then kills the muscles from heat.

I just thought about fitting the outlet side of a home hot water tank with a hose attachment. Then temporarily turn the hot water tank up to High, and possibly flush the engines with hot water from the house tank. I know at Tahoe, they only run each engine for about 5 minutes....so it's not too long.