Surprisingly unpleasent project - spring cleaning of the bilge

Stee6043

Stee6043

Well-Known Member
Jun 1, 2015
6,755
West Michigan
Boat Info
1997 Sundancer 400
Engines
7.4L Gassers
My marina is launching boats and I'm 100% ready. I swung out yesterday with some time on my hands with the primary objective of removing the plastic covering my boat.

I got there and figured, shoot, let's clean out the bilge. This is not something I usually do indoors. I generally hose it out a bit when I get it in the slip in the spring. Yesterday I had my trusty Home Depot "bucket head" vac and went for it. Why not, getting ahead, being productive?

Good lord....that smelled nasty. I mean really bad. Pull the canvas, turn on a fan bad. I had maybe a 1/2" of water, just below the bilge pumps, maybe 2-3 gallons total. Zero smell until I forced the crap up into my bucket. Smelled like pond water that had been sitting since October.

So...note to self...don't do that again next year. Or better yet, vac it dry when it gets parked in the Fall :)
 
I have cleaned more in my bilge this year, than all previous years combined.... looks great though, my slip neighbor commented on it looking good, and his is always perfect
 
Yup, Scrubbed, cleaned, vac'ed and dried this winter. Looks like almost new.:D. Boat is an 04 with 492hrs..
clean.jpg
 
One of the most satisfying moments of owning our boat was when I finally truly scrubbed the entire ER and sealed every exterior leak for a dry bilge.

my wife thought it was nuts, but I couldn’t wait until the first rain where I opened the ER hatch while it was pouring outside and admired how no water was getting in.
 
Stee6043 said:
My marina is launching boats and I'm 100% ready. I swung out yesterday with some time on my hands with the primary objective of removing the plastic covering my boat.



I got there and figured, shoot, let's clean out the bilge. This is not something I usually do indoors. I generally hose it out a bit when I get it in the slip in the spring. Yesterday I had my trusty Home Depot "bucket head" vac and went for it. Why not, getting ahead, being productive?

Good lord....that smelled nasty. I mean really bad. Pull the canvas, turn on a fan bad. I had maybe a 1/2" of water, just below the bilge pumps, maybe 2-3 gallons total. Zero smell until I forced the crap up into my bucket. Smelled like pond water that had been sitting since October.

So...note to self...don't do that again next year. Or better yet, vac it dry when it gets parked in the Fall :)
Click to expand...

Just did ours this weekend. Took the hose to it for a couple hours.

Can’t even counts how many cuts I have on my arms from giving the Bilge a proper reach around.

however so rewarding!
 
Clamp-Aid hose clamp ends. You save more than the 6 bucks they cost on Amazon than the blood and bandages
 
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