Fresh or salt in the bilges

[grumpydog]

There was a suggestion by Roach1948 that we flush our bilges out with fresh water before laying up. Some disagreed with him. At the risk of sparking another debate - please believe Roach. I have spent some time phoning around my most trusted sources, and for once they all agree - at least on one aspect: do NOT flush your bilges with salt water. It will leave salt desposits that attract moisture and start rot. As for buckets of salt which stand in the cabin acting as desiccating crystals, they sound like a good idea logically, sucking moisture out of the air and keeping it safe in the bucket. But leave any part of the boat itself fresh and dry, and free of salt deposits.

Steffan Meyric Hughes, news editor

 

[sarabande]

Fresh water is more biologically active than salt, which is basically a preservative.

Fresh water left in a bilge will breed more kinds an dquantity of bugs than salt, with increased smell and chance of rotting exposed wood. It's rain water that rots the decks, not salt.

If you have to leave any water in there at all, it's best to leave sea water; otherwise flush and dry it out.

 

[ValleyForge]

Fresh - but dry dry dry. Get those rags out. If not for woodrot then just to keep the mould & mildew down etc.. Splash a good dollop of preservative about in the bilge if you think fit. Wouldn't worry about planks drying out, not for the next 3 months at least (for the UK & up't North anyway). Good cover worth weight in gold - at least for the more modest size of craft. Heavily built types dunno, probably best kept sodden in salt ? Anyway, thats what I do & its worked for me over the years.

 

[grumpydog]

Yes - perhaps I should have made that clearer - fresh but dry.

 

[Searush]

I'm with Sarabande, but my boat is GRP & I'm not an expert. But I do remember having a berth in Conway under the trees of Bodlondeb Point. The locals called it Rot Corner for wooden boats as the bits of twigs & leaves lying on rainwater puddles in the scuppers were an ideal breeding ground for wet and dry rot.

I also know that my teak rubbing strake soon goes green when the boat is stored ashore - and it's only wet with fresh rainwater. But it stays lovely and clean when sailing & it regularly gets wet with salt water.

Finally, any salt residue left on internal surfaces (wood or GRP) tends to attract moisture & encourage mould. So I would be happy with a bilge washed with fresh water & dried or if left with some seawater in it. I would be VERY worried about fresh water lying either on decks or below - as Sarabande says, the smell is the first indicator something is not right.

 

[2nd_apprentice]

We're talking about different things here. Yes salt water will prevent rot to some extent but remember why you rinse of your dishes etc with fresh water: it'll stay damp due to the hygroscopic nature of salt. If you want to do something against rot, use glycol (anti-freeze). Much cheaper than commercial wood preservatives and usually more effective.

 

[Roach1948]

Well actually this tip I got from two sources and should acknowledge them; The first a well respected owner of a East Coast Gaff Cutter who no longer posts on here, and the second a well known East coast boautbuilder that is also a Dallimore owner.

 

[FAITIRA]

The last thing you need lying in a wooden boat is fresh water.

 

[Boatmik]

[ QUOTE ]
Fresh - but dry dry dry. Get those rags out. If not for woodrot then just to keep the mould & mildew down etc.. Splash a good dollop of preservative about in the bilge if you think fit. Wouldn't worry about planks drying out, not for the next 3 months at least (for the UK & up't North anyway). Good cover worth weight in gold - at least for the more modest size of craft. Heavily built types dunno, probably best kept sodden in salt ? Anyway, thats what I do & its worked for me over the years.

[/ QUOTE ]

All good advice.

Francis Herreshoff used to rail against salting the insides of boats. He made the point that the one way to deal with a boat is to keep the inside dry and ventilated.

Salty certainly means never dry as it will hold water inside the boat and be released when the boat gets a bit hotter then condense somwhere else as pure fresh water. So your bilge may not rot out, but you might get problems up in the ends of the boat as fresh water condenses in inaccessible and poorly ventilated places.

So dry and ventilated.

MIK