green Algae on wooden decks

[davehu]

Due to the continual wet and warm weather my yacht's teak decks have developed a covering of green algae. What is the best way to remove it. The decks are kept untreated, no oils or varnishes as I have never found any reliable treatment that lasts more than a few weeks. I have heard that a strong solution of salt in water works to remove the algae. All ideas gratefully recieved

 

[LORDNELSON]

I scrub the decks regularly with a SOFT broom using water from alongside or from a hose if I am in a marina and about twice/three times a year "paint" the deck with a WEAK solution of bleach (leave it on for about an hour and then wash/brush it off using a hose). The algae comes back but this treatment seems to keep it under control. Good Luck!

 

[martinschulz]

The best way to treat un-varnished wooden deck is to just swab it with sea-water. Take care not to scrub with the grain but against it.

 

[tillergirl]

Could try some Oxalid Acid. Mix 25grms in 500cc water. I got mine from a small chemist shop. Oxalid Acid is usually the actie ingredient in prop. teak cleaners.

 

[ccscott49]

Go to a garden centre, get some moss and algae killer for wooden garden furniture and paths, spray it on, leaver for a while, says how long on bottle, light scrub, across the grain, gone! When it's gone spray some more on, it will stop it growing, just keep spraying every week or so. Worked for me in Dartmouth and Holland for three years, close to trees.

 

[Mirelle]

It\'s entirely your fault

You have not invested in a winter cover. You are ruining your boat, doing thousands of pounds worth of damage - not because of the green slime, which will brush off with a bucket of seawater and a good scrub, but because of all the other places that the water is getting to, unseen, and causing corrosion, rot and decay.

Now be a good boy and go and get one made right away. Only costs a few hundred and should last a decade.

 

[Mirelle]

Sorry, that was harsh. Let me try again

The green slime is appearing on your decks because the wood is saturated with fresh water, and the wind, and no doubt the crew's feet, are bringing enough in the way of nutrients to allow green plant life to grow.

You will very seldom get this in the sailing season, with the boat on her mooring or even in marina, because there is less wet about. But in the winter months the wood has less chance to dry.

It is embarrassing and ugly, but not actually harmful. It will scrub off easily, and so long as the salt from the scrub off is present (until the next time it rains!) the slime will not grow back. But as soon as the deck is wet again it wil start to come back.

The answer, which is much better for the decks, the varnished bits and the boat as a whole, is a fitted winter cover with allowance for ventilation.