Green Stuff

[Jerry Blake]

What would you suggest for putting on the floor? Seems like a lot of stuff would be slick if wet.

Hey Carl:

My current boat is all fiberglass on the inside. It's lightly textured on the main floor and more heavily textured on the front and back casting decks so it's not slippery when wet. My previous boat was similar except it had carpet on the front deck, which I removed and then painted with a floor enamel with a no-slip additive (silica sand) and that worked out real well.

Some of the aluminum boat manufacturers are spraying truck bed liner type material in their boats and it looks like it would be easy to clean and fairly slip resistant but I've not been in a boat that had it.

Carpet is real nice when a boat is brand new but it's a pain in the rear from then on.

[Wiskers]

Crappiequeennc is right. Go to Wal Mart in the pool supply section & buy a gallon of algecide and mix it about 1 cup per gallon of water. Take a garden sprayer and spray down your carpet. Let it set for about 2 hours & then pressure wash it out. It will not come back for a good while.

[Carl Palmer]

Thanks Jerry Blake. I have heard (don't know how true) that some ole boy had the Rhino lining sprayed inside and the outside of his boat which was aluminum. Don't know if he had leaks or for soundproofing or what. Wonder if that outside coating helped out on speed? probably depends on how smooth it was I guess.


Mr. Dr. Pepper has the black spots stayed away from your carpet? Not sure if the bleach and pressure washing was the final solution or not and didn't want to file the info away for future use if you don't like the results.

[DRPEPPER]

Mr. Dr. Pepper has the black spots stayed away from your carpet? Not sure if the bleach and pressure washing was the final solution or not and didn't want to file the info away for future use if you don't like the results.

I used the heck out of that boat last weekend then I cleaned it up with a vacume. If lake water sets it off as Jerry suggested, this will be the ultimate test. About 40 kids used it as a swim platform (I don't know what was wrong with the dock). I put the tarp on it for the week and I have been peeking at it. So far it has not returned. I am going to use it again this weekend. I'll pull the tarp off to see if I need the power washer again.

I will be off line until next Tuesday. I will give you another report then.

DP

[DRPEPPER]

Mr. Dr. Pepper has the black spots stayed away from your carpet? Not sure if the bleach and pressure washing was the final solution or not and didn't want to file the info away for future use if you don't like the results.

I don't intend to keep this one alive forever, but, I feel I owe it to the ones that gave advice to report the progress. I think the green mildew was actually coming from sand embedded in the carpet. My last couple of times out with this boat on the river, I noticed the same green color on top of sand on the bar. Apparantly (so far), it is not returning since my last scrubbing and power washing. Remember, I used a solution of one bottle of boat wash and about 6" of bleach in a five gallon bucket. After rinsing, I wet vacumed and was amazed at how much sand I am still got out of the carpet. I repeated this step again after the grandkids loaded it up again with sand this weekend.

Being a "used to be race car driver" I don't like to toot any product's horn with out getting paid. But, I found a couple of other products that helped me with this project and are worth sharing with my buddies here. The bimini had black mildew in it. A few applications of ZEP mildew remover made it look brand new. Read the instructions for the applications. I don't know what you are really suposed to use this stuff on since it is not recomended to use on absolutely anything like vinal, metal, carpets, porceleans, plastics, to fabrics. But, I didn't have anything to loose. I did remove it from the boat and did it flat on the drive way (think I killed some flowers). You apply this stuff strait, so I used a bug sprayer.
SIMPLE GREEN worked well on some dirt I couldn't get off of the painted panels before. I took Jerry's advice and didn't let it get on my sheild. Here's some more advice. Use a brush and rub it in. But, don't do too much at one time. I had to use the power washer to rinse it off.

Thanks to all for your advice. I am ready for this project to be stored for the winter so I can get bact to fishing.
DP

[Carl Palmer]

Appreciate your sharing all you have learned and your techniques.