If snow is so clean and lovely, how come....

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CalicoJack

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Went to the boat earlier in the week, as the snow had melted, only to find that it looked filthy. I found, actually that’s a lie, the good lady wife found, that spraying white vinegar diluted with water was an excellent way of removing the stains. I have used International Boat Cleaner before, which is a strong detergent, which had similar results, but white vinegar is so much cheaper. The down side is that it does make you want fish and chips.
 
"The down side is that it does make you want fish and chips."

Errr, how is that a downside? 1. Clean the boat. 2. Treat yourself to fish and chips.
 
Snow actually picks up all of the dirt and particles in the air as it falls, so the first fall of snow will be 'contaminated'. The air quality will always be much better after the first snowfall.
This is one of the reasons the air is so clear in places like the alps.
 
I was due to be lifted this week, so I had gone down and taken the cockpit tent off to make it possible for the lads. Result: one filthy cockpit. I am so glad the chaps buzzing round in light aircraft were breathing clean air.
 
My boat was similarly sooty.
But so were the windows at home which had been cleaned just before the snow arrived.
 
oldharry said:
I have heard that snowflakes form only when there is dust and dirt in the air, and each flake starts round a particle. Heavy snow - loads of dirt from the sky. Paradox!
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Most of our precipitation starts as snow - water vapour condensing on to small particles in the atmosphere. These can be salt particles over the oceans or dust in air that has been over the land for a long time - or, of course, a combination of both. In maritime air, I would expect salt particles to act as condensation nuclei more readily than dust. However, air from the east with a long history over industrial areas, such as the Ruhr, will have much “industrial dirt” mixed in with other nuclei. Like salt particles, these are likely to be hygroscopic and more readily form condensation nuclei that natural dry dust.

An alternative reason for “dirty snow” could simply be falling snow sweeping up industrial pollution. Maybe a combination of these processes. Little is straightforward in the atmosphere.
 
mlines said:
I reckon its the current trend for log burners that is fueling the problem. Our boat was covered in soot following the snow (inland marina in populated area, but no liveaboards)
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Currently the boat is parked beside a restaurant that smokes all of its products and very tasty they are too. They have offered to spent the day cleaning the hull, but I have polity refused to take them up on the offer.
 
> If snow is so clean and lovely,

It's not though - it's mostly a way of accumulating all the dirt over a period, and then releasing it all at once so it's more obvious.

When my parents lived in Moscow, my mum used to come back to the UK to visit friends etc during the snow-melt period - as four months' worth of accumulated fag-ends, litter, dog-shit, and industrial dirt that had been stored up in the snowdrifts was all deposited onto the pavements in one continuous grotty smear.

Once it was all melted the legion of city street-maintenance men would have a grand cleanup and she would go back; it wasn't worth them trying to keep up with the melt on a daily basis.

Pete
 
I would like to know more about the white vinegar please.
Where did you get it? Internet or a DIY retailer?
I have heard of it being used for cleaning the heads but not for cleaning decks. Does it do the job OK or does it involve a lot of scrubbing?
What else does one use it for on the boat? ( except for fish & chips)
Any tips welcome
 
That’s so infuriating! Went to the boat today, on the way to see my mother in law in Lowestoft, so it may have coloured my out look, and it was filthy! Apparently there was a shallow coating of snow on Sunday morning which had covered the boats. I can only say that I was reminded of the Mae West line which went something like, I’m as pure as the driven slush, I can only say in this case the driven slush was driven through something through a very dirty place.
 
CalicoJack said:
That’s so infuriating! Went to the boat today, on the way to see my mother in law in Lowestoft, so it may have coloured my out look, and it was filthy! Apparently there was a shallow coating of snow on Sunday morning which had covered the boats. I can only say that I was reminded of the Mae West line which went something like, I’m as pure as the driven slush, I can only say in this case the driven slush was driven through something through a very dirty place.
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Twice mine has been covered in snow, and twice she hasn't been dirty... or maybe my standards are low??? :nonchalance:
 
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