Managing bottom growth and hull stains

[SilentSeven]

I had to leave my 206 moored for about 10 days in the local lake. I knew I would get some bottom growth but was surprised by how much accumulated in the short time. I also got a nice hull stain apparently from all the tannin currently in the water (so says AI). The bottom growth scrubbed off with a little elbow grease and the stain quickly came out with a little oxalic acid solution. I'm sure the white hull exacerbates the problem. :/ I also wonder if older hulls are more susceptible to water stains.

But now I'm curious as to what others do who keep their boat moored for longer periods. Are their tricks that I should know about?

[bturner]

I've only known a couple guys that have stored their inboards on a mooring buoy and one that left it tied to a dock for the summer. The guys on the buoy only did it one season and used to pull the boats out once a week and use Snobowl toilet cleaner poured into a bucket and had a long handled car wash wand that they would apply it to the hull with, no scrubbing was required but it ended up eating the carpeting off the bunks. The guy boat that tied to the dock ended up getting his boat thrashed during a storm and had to file an insurance claim to fix the dock rash.

There used to be a product that the go fast guys used that you could spray or roll on that was clear and you could remove fairly easily with acetone that worked pretty good. You applied it like bottom paint taping the boat off at the waterline. A friend of my used this on a Wellcraft 250XL, every week or two depending on how long the boat sat, he would head to a sandbar and scrub the sides and as much of the bottom as he could get to with a boat brush on a pole. It actually worked pretty good. Most times early in the season the build up would mostly come off after running the boat at speed. The down side was this was a yearly ritual. He eventually started rack storing which was as expected a much better solution and not an option for this conversation.

[GMLIII]

I had good luck with this stuff. If you use it wear chemical proof gloves and eye protection. Super strong