After going spearfishing last week and seeing what our dinghy looked like underneath, I knew it was time for a very overdue trip to Sombrero beach to give the dinghy a good cleaning. Now environmentalists will swear that our reefs are disappearing and in decline, but after flipping over our dink I'd have to argue the reef is alive and well!
Normally we wouldn't go so long between cleanings and it should be done every few weeks to a month, but due to unfortunate circumstances it's been about 10 weeks since we have cleaned the bottom. Hey it wasn't our fault, ok well maybe it was but it was unavoidable,,,, well it wasn't entirely but that's beside the point. *head hung in shame* we forgot the combination to the lock on the outboard and couldn't find it.. Combination in hand the kids and I set off down Sisters Creek to our little dinghy cleaning beach. Now anyone that's ever kept a boat in Boot Key knows where this is, and it's a great little spot. We began by emptying the boat of life jackets, fuel tank, bilge pump, dry pack, phone, radio etc and put it on shore. Then it was time to crack the lock off the outboard /cue Mission Impossible Music
The marine environment is harsh. Between the salt, humidity, sand and rust things take a beating, which is why you should never use a conventional padlock to lock up your outboard. The combo lock would turn left but no dice on turning to the right which posed a slight problem. If you've ever opened a school locker you know exactly what I'm talking about. After some finagling, a little cussing, and a whack or two with cave man type tools (a rock) I was able to free up whatever was stuck inside and get the lock to turn right. Mission accomplished and the outboard was promptly taken off and placed up against a palm tree.
The kids and I scraped, brushed, pried, banged and tore at the colony of sea creatures that had made a home for the past couple months on the bottom of our dinghy. We would go at it with a putty knife and we would hit something that would squirt water (God I really hope it was water) all over us and then just keep going. Peyton and Colby were troopers about it and gave it their all as well. It wasn't long before fish started to show up for the free meal and there was a particularly inquisitive cowfish that was getting awfully close. There were also some crabs sneaking in on the action, they don't like being stepped on btw.
Well after two hours of scraping, scrubbing and brushing the dinghy is much cleaner, however not completely done. Some of it will have to wait a week or two and then we will go at it again. We finished and then placed the motor back on the transom, bolted it down and because I'm obviously a glutton for punishment we placed the same lock back on. We motored back through Sisters Creek a whole lot faster, lighter and cleaner!
Remember to always clean your dinghy, oh and your boat too! ;-)
Do you have dinghy davits or some way to lift your dinghy to get the bottom clear of the water's surface at night? Our first winter south (we boat in southern Florida winters, northern Great Lakes in summers--yes, we have 2 [cheap] boats...) we were shocked--SHOCKED!--at the growth on our dinghy's bottom after just one month moored in Boot Key Harbor. The past two seasons we have religiously lifted our dingy to just clear the surface of the water each night. It was amazing: dinghy bottom was clean, not a scrub required, when we hauled out for the summer early this past month.
ReplyDeleteNo we don't! It's on the list of things we are putting on the boat soon, plus they will make a great place to mount the solar panels. Sounds like it will save us a ton of work in the long run, plus free up a lot of deckspace while underway.
ReplyDelete