Diesel in the bilges

[FinesseChris]

Due to an, err, incompetence with the diesel filter a quantity of diesel escaped into the bilges of my clinker-built Finesse. A certain amount seems to have seeped through the planking and is visible on the bottom.

Have I done any damage? What can I do to remedy it?

The offending diesel has ben mopped up as best I can....

Yours hamfistedly
Chris

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[Peterduck]

I wouldn't go getting too bothered about it. When I bought my boat "Swallow", the bilges were full of a stinking black oily sludge which had also seeped through the planking seams. It makes it difficult for the antifouling paint to stick to the boat, but then barnacles and such like have the same problem. Similarly, the little buggers who would chew my boat for breakfast [given the chance] seem to be put off by oil in the planking. By all means clean it up as much as you can with degreasing solution, etc., but don't lose sleep over it.

Peter.

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[MapisM]

My boat suffered a similar problem with her previous owner, 6 or 7 years ago.
Some iroko planks (wich are nearly 2" thick !) still show signs of diesel nowadays.
Apparently, the only problem so far is that antifouling paint quickly detach from those "wet" planks.
Which, on the other hand, seem to reject any growth!
I even thought to treat the bildge to a deep diesel bath, and leave the hull with no antifoul at all...
Jokes apart, I'd also like to read about damages (even potential ones) and remedies (if any).

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[MapisM]

Apparently, I wrote my previous post while you were writing yours.
Nice to hear about similar experiences, though I still doubt if any (and which type of) damage might pop up in the long run...

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[Mirelle]

Give it 20 years and you will hardly notice...

It will fade away of its own accord in the end, but you will have an ugly looking stain visible through the a/f when the boat is hauled out each winter for the next few years.

I once spilled three gallons of petrol into the bilges of my last boat - that WAS serious!

<hr width=100% size=1>Que scais-je?

 

[MapisM]

Re: Give it 20 years and you will hardly notice...

Why is petrol worse than diesel?
Isn't it quicker to evaporate and fade away?
Or maybe the quantity was the real problem...

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[Mirelle]

Re: Give it 20 years and you will hardly notice...

It faded away fast... the owner nearly did too, baling it out, on a very hot, quite windless day and hoping no spark would come anywhere near...if one had, I would not be writing this!

<hr width=100% size=1>Que scais-je?

 

[MapisM]

Re: Give it 20 years and you will hardly notice...

Oops! OK, now, that WAS serious indeed.
Might have been a glorious apology for a boat enthusiast, though....../forums/images/icons/wink.gif


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[FinesseChris]

Thanks everyone, I will rest easier. but prepare myself for the embarassment of a stained bottom at crane lift time next week. Everyone else in the club thinks i am cracked to have a wooden boat anyway. But at least I don't spend £10 a little tin on stuff to polish my topsides like the GRP boys!
Chris

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[Mirelle]

That was the last day that I had a petrol engine

It literally was the last day that I was shipmates with a petrol engine, after 12 years with a Stuart Turner. I have taken this so seriously that we have never had an outboard motor - we row or sail the dinghy.

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[MapisM]

Understandable!

I'm fully with you on that.
Even with cars, I am a diesel fan. The latest engines are by far better than petrol ones, from most viewpoints.
BTW, since you mention, I've seen once a diesel outboard.
Can't remember the manufacturer - not one of the famous ones anyway.
But it wasn't small enough for the dinghy.
Seemed similar to a 25 hp two strokes petrol (don't know its actual power though).

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[Mirelle]

Re: Understandable!

Like you, I'm also converted to diesel cars. I drive 160 miles a day to work and back; not only does the diesel use less fuel, but its torque curve is much nicer, and it does 2,700 rpm at 70 mph, which is almost soothing.

<hr width=100% size=1>Que scais-je?

 

[philae44]

I have read these posts with interest and some relief as during an engine change I have managed to spill some very old and sticky engine oil. I assume that oil is oil, be it diesel or lubricating and no harm will come of it. Not very pleasant though. One other question though, if antifouling has a problem sticking then presumably so will ordinary paint, ie red lead?

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[Peterduck]

Yes, that's right; nothing sticks until you can get rid of the oil coming through the seams. I have tried all sorts of methods of egtting oil out of the bilges,and none of them is hugely successful straight away. Persistence is the key. Also check the cotton in whichever seam is leaking, to make sure that it isn't rotting. Caulking cotton doesn't seem to like oil. This is not something that needs to be done immediately; it can wait until the next haulout. The pressure of the water outside will prevent the oil from leaking out while afloat. Howevwer, the fact that a part of one seam is leaking suggests that that spot needs checking and perhaps firming up.
Peter.

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[philae44]

Thanks for the reply but I think we have our wires crossed as the engine change has happened quite recently as part of a major restoration. The old girl has been out of the water for nearly five years and is completely dry. All the seems are open and a full recaulking session is planned. However this does mean that the oil has got well and truly into the seems. Although I have spilt some oil myself with the engine change, which was to a degree unavoidable, there was an amount of oily debree in the bilges anyway and surley this will have soaked into the planks and seems already. Please tell me some good news, that everything will be fine. its been a bit of a marathon slog to get this far and feeling a bit tired of all work and no play. She will be worth it though.

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[Evadne]

Re: Understandable!

Yanmar made a diesel a few years ago, and I think they still do. One of the water taxis in the Solent (Bembridge?) had one fitted, the first I'd seen. It wasn't just a 1GM on a stick.
Diesel cars are definitely the best sort: I used to run ancient cortinas but the problem was always the points and electrics. Diesels are just so more reliable. Mind you, I draw the line at the motorbike. There was a diesel bike, the Robin (French, of course), adapted from the Enfield. Apparently it ran like a snail on a pogo stick. I was never tempted to try one.


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[Richard_Blake]

A hesitant suggestion from successful experience ten years ago, which may have been down to luck:
clean viciously with wire brush/coarse wet&dry sandpaper and thinner (usual precautions) until the worst is off and the wood's surface is a bit roughed up. Then several coats of ridiculously thinned bilge paint (on the theory at the time that it was supposed to stick to anything). I thinned with 60% Cuprinol to 40% traditional bilge paint, reducing thinner to about 30% on 4th/5th coats. I pretty much sloshed it on wet-on-wet.
Then sand it properly and continue with read lead primer and so on.

Of course, we had the advantages of bare wood, space under the engine, and ridiculously wide seams to get folded sandpaper into. She's in the shed now again for major work (as some of you know) and there's no sign of the old oil. Only one small patch of peeling where oil must have seeped under the edge of some old paint.
I rely on the more experienced to shoot me down if there are serious pitfalls in the above!

Good luck
Richard


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[Peterduck]

After working on "Swallow" for the last 12 years and still not finished, I can well empathise with the "all work and no play" syndrome. It gets very depressing at times. You may try to find some non-volatile degreasing solution and clean out your bilges with that and an assortment of digging implements. It takes an awful lot of effort, but it is nice when you don't have the disgusting smell of oily bilges any more. The degreasing solution I use is readily obtainable in our supermarket here in Melbourne, so it should not be too hard to find some.

Peter.


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