What's on the bottom of your boat?

[larrysanders]

 

I've spent several hours this evening scraping all these off... not a pleasent job and rather smelly! I presume they're fresh water mussels. The bottom of the boat was totally covered!! (as you can see) My boat was moored on the Great Ouse and it's now in the East Midlands. I was wondering if this is a common across the UK and what other creatures have been found below the waterline?

 

[O'Mali]

Looks quite gross. Sure sign the water was clean though, Your boat should swim a bit better now.

[Natalie Graham]

Clicky

 

[matty40s]

so when you cooking for all of us then??

[WotEver]

Yep, we had some mussells on our bottom plate too - but nothing like that many. As O'Mali says - sure sign of clean water.

 

T

Edited July 8, 2009 by WotEver

[NB Willawaw]

Could be one case for blacking your bottom plate

 

I'm sure they like unprotected metal.

[Guest]

When our previous 32ft NB went to be blacked, the painter scraped off enoguh fresh water mussels to fill 5 one hundred weight sand bags.

[NB Willawaw]

If they smell, then they are probably dead, so don't be tempted to eat them.

 

All joking aside, it is said that they like corroding metal and there is some link between them having a need for metals to strengthen their anchoring mechanism.

 

Willawaw was drydocked today and there were a few on the bottomplate.

 

We were going to black the bottom plate this time, but now we will definitely do it.

 

We spent over a year in the fresh water of the fens including the Great Ouse.

Edited July 8, 2009 by NB Willawaw

[Guest User]

You could always try scraping them off on the gravel below Roxton lock or Castle Mill lock

[larrysanders]

i think sea food chowder is off the menu!! i was really surprised to see that many though, it was totally covered. i know she's not been out of the water since she was built in 2006. and before we bought her she was moored on the middle levels and great ouse, so obviously the water quality's pretty good there. i was thinking, do you reckon it effected fuel economy or speed as it must have been carrying alot of extra weight.. ?

[Guest]

i think sea food chowder is off the menu!! i was really surprised to see that many though, it was totally covered. i know she's not been out of the water since she was built in 2006. and before we bought her she was moored on the middle levels and great ouse, so obviously the water quality's pretty good there. i was thinking, do you reckon it effected fuel economy or speed as it must have been carrying alot of extra weight.. ?

Can't say I noticed a huge improvement on the precious boat, after they were removed. It did seem to swim a bit better, but that could have been "Placebo effect."

[churchward]

It makes you think about the reasons people give for not blacking the bottom of the boat ie "there's not point because it just gets rubbed off on the bottom" If that was so wouldn't it scrape off the wild life too? I know this was on the river but I remember a fair amount of critters being attached to the bottom of our hull when taken out of the water for survey and that was on the GU.

[O'Mali]

It makes you think about the reasons people give for not blacking the bottom of the boat ie "there's not point because it just gets rubbed off on the bottom" If that was so wouldn't it scrape off the wild life too? I know this was on the river but I remember a fair amount of critters being attached to the bottom of our hull when taken out of the water for survey and that was on the GU.

Maybe they was mushroom buffers who never took the boat any where but it sounded good to say to friends 'on our boat....'

[Liam]

I had them on my old boat when it was docked in Runcorn. I made the mistake of scraping them off on the first day... with it being warm it didn't take long to turn very smelly!

 

I would suggest that you scrape the bottom first, and then use the jet wash, after using it on the sides, to push them all into a corner so you can dispose of before they die.

[larrysanders]

i was told to keep the slipway clean... and rightly so. it started to smell like grimby dock after just an hour or so! anyway job done. i wonder how long it'll be before they're back!

[Naughty Cal]

We have a nice layer of green slime on the bottom getting ready to be jet washed off.

[mikevye]

We have a nice layer of green slime on the bottom getting ready to be jet washed off.

 

me 2 but if you squint through one eye at a certain angle you can see the face of the virgin mary!

[FadeToScarlet]

Wasn't the boat moored at Hermitage before? If so, then they'd be normal saltwater mussels, wouldn't they?

 

My engine was completely rebuilt as a result of a freshwater mussel. The owner before last came back to the boat after a long trip and started the engine to charge his batteries. However, a mussel had grown over the water intake for the engine cooling! He went to the pub, the engine carried on running.... and overheated and (apparently) got pretty wrecked.

 

Hence my nice, 2002-complete-rebuild BMC from the early 80s!

[Naughty Cal]

Wasn't the boat moored at Hermitage before? If so, then they'd be normal saltwater mussels, wouldn't they?

 

My engine was completely rebuilt as a result of a freshwater mussel. The owner before last came back to the boat after a long trip and started the engine to charge his batteries. However, a mussel had grown over the water intake for the engine cooling! He went to the pub, the engine carried on running.... and overheated and (apparently) got pretty wrecked.

 

Hence my nice, 2002-complete-rebuild BMC from the early 80s!

 

Thats not that uncommon. A chap in our marina was puzzled as to why his boat would run fine at normal river speeds but when he opened it up on the tidal trent it overheated. Did this for over a year despite changing many impellors. Turns out a mussel had got into the raw water intake and grown inside restricting the water flow. Enough was getting past to cool the engine at river speeds but not enough to cool it at higher speeds. Cost him a fortune to get the little blighter out and replace the necessary parts including lifting the boat out.

[Albion]

Thats not that uncommon. A chap in our marina was puzzled as to why his boat would run fine at normal river speeds but when he opened it up on the tidal trent it overheated. Did this for over a year despite changing many impellors. Turns out a mussel had got into the raw water intake and grown inside restricting the water flow. Enough was getting past to cool the engine at river speeds but not enough to cool it at higher speeds. Cost him a fortune to get the little blighter out and replace the necessary parts including lifting the boat out.

 

That's an interesting and unusual situation. Do you happen to know if there was a mud box fitted or was it just a pipe and skin fitting pulling the raw water through the hull?

Roger

[Naughty Cal]

That's an interesting and unusual situation. Do you happen to know if there was a mud box fitted or was it just a pipe and skin fitting pulling the raw water through the hull?

Roger

 

The water intake is through the outdrive unit it also exhausts through the centre of the props which is apparently another place the mussels like to inhabit.(We get to check that one quite often though )

[Albion]

The water intake is through the outdrive unit it also exhausts through the centre of the props which is apparently another place the mussels like to inhabit.(We get to check that one quite often though )

 

Not being an expert on your type of boat, can you tell me whether it is possible to raise the outdrive leg out of the water when stationary? If so, could this be a possible solution to the problem?

Roger

[Naughty Cal]

Not being an expert on your type of boat, can you tell me whether it is possible to raise the outdrive leg out of the water when stationary? If so, could this be a possible solution to the problem?

Roger

 

The leg lifts up but the water intake is on the front of the unit (facing the front of the boat), where it gets most water flow so without lifting the boat you cant get at the intake.

[Proper Job]

I'd be surprised if there where any on the bottom of Ocelot.

 

According to Bones, it spends its time either on the bottom or rubbing along it. Any that did cling on can stay as far as I'm concerned. They must be tough buggers and I'm not going to mess with them

 

Deep draught boats - you can't beat'em

[Naughty Cal]

They do cause drag though, although wont be that noticable on a NB doing a few miles an hour.