As spring arrives and we all get ready for boating season here in the Colorado Front Range, most of us give the hulls of our boats a once-over, a scrub, and maybe a power wash or at least a rinse—because keeping your boat’s hull clean is one of the most important steps in getting water-ready.
Everyone understands that when a boat is submerged in water for any length of time, it becomes vulnerable to marine-life build-up, or fouling. That’s the accumulation of micro-organisms, plants, algae or small marine animals that can adhere to your boat’s hull. Also known as ‘yucky stuff.’
Most boats sold today usually have the hulls treated or painted with anti-fouling chemicals to help prevent and keep fouling to a minimum. But even the best stuff can’t keep everything from attaching to your hull – especially over time. That’s why keeping your boat’s hull clean is such an important part of routine maintenance.
And if a hull gets coated with all those yucky things in the water and it builds up, it can affect the performance of your boat: Hydrodynamic drag will affect the ease at which your boat moves through the water. It can be harder to get up on plane, and it can really affect your fuel efficiency, which will cost you money.
So it is common practice, even here in freshwater Colorado, for boat owners to check and clean their boat’s hulls on a regular basis. The industry’s best practices recommendation is for a hull cleaning every 4-12 weeks. Keeping your boat’s hull clean ensures you’re not sacrificing performance, fuel efficiency, or longevity.
This is especially important if you keep your boat in a slip at a marina during the boating season. A boat that spends a lot of time tied up at the dock is more susceptible to fouling problems.
But even trailered boats need attention from time to time. It’s good practice to hose your boat down after every use, paying extra attention to hosing off the bottom hull, and even swiping it with a towel or plastic brush. It doesn’t take that long to give your boat a bath after every use, and it will go a long way to keeping your boat’s hull clean and performing at its best.
If you do notice a build-up of gunk on the hull, you may need to spend a little time and elbow grease to wash it down. There are chemical hull cleaners formulated to dissolve and remove marine growth. And special hull brushes and scrapers to get the crusty stuff off.
We recommend you check with our Service Department before beginning a major hull cleaning. We know the best cleaning products for this part of the world, and the most environmentally sound. And if it looks like a major hull cleaning is needed, we can do it for you, safely and quickly.
Keep that hull clean and you’ll notice the better performance and better gas mileage this summer. Happy boating!
