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I have the same problem on my canoe stern. Unfortunately its on the side away from the finger pier. Soap and long handled brush works pretty well but although I back in it can still be a bear to reach.
I've read that Woody Wax does a pretty good job of preventing stuff from sticking to surfaces treated with it. I think the best preventative would be to wash the area after each use. I know that's a pain, but that's what powerboaters do.
Try Easy-Off oven cleaner - it won't hurt the gelcoat, but if you boat name is painted on, be careful, it will remove the paint. Years ago, I used Easy-Off to take the painted name off Paloma's stern, to replace it with a custom decal and it not only removed the paint, it also removed all the diesel soot.
The 'wax' you put on your boat is a hydrocarbon compound, in most cases. The soot is also a hydrocarbon, and has an affinity for sticking to other hydrocarbons, so it binds itself to the wax.
Getting it off means using something that will take off not only the black **** on your hull, but the wax, as well, and that leaves the hull unprotected, so you have to apply more wax.
I watched the pros down in Miami fighting this battle on the big battlewagon sport fishers, and one of my buddies found that using a 'natural' carnuba wax helped a bit. The boats still had black exhaust stains, but they washed off using Orpine Boat Soap with wax.
I've tried a dozen different waxes to cure the problem, with no luck. I've also tried some of the whiz-bang polymer polishes that supposedly would stay clean no matter what got on them. So far, I haven't found anything that really works. As for being afraid of polishing your hull because you're wearing the gelcoat out, you're better off polishing with a light polish than scrubbing it down with something strong. Use something like 3M Finesse-it polish, and then follow up with a coat of good wax. My two favorites are Collinite and 3M Marine wax. They're both expensive, but they work in the marine environment. I've tried the other 'name brands', and found that McGuire's, Mothers, Turtle Wax and a couple of others just don't last worth beans.
I've used the Simple Green as well. It works but I can still see some staining. I have heard of some people inserting a bit of rubber tubing--even a small length of pipe--to move the exhaust outlet about three inches out from the stern, which they claimed helped the problem.
I don't know how to tie into another post yet ,but you might want to read my reply to "cleaning 30 year old gunk off..." in this forum , about 4 threads previous to this one..Rick, SV ARTEMIS
My friend Don had a sooty behind on his Aloha 28.He fastened a 12" piece of hose to the Exhaust exit fitting(some of them stick out about an inch so you can clamp a hose on)He had a lot less soot after that.
In the Med.we used a product that was a degreaser that worked great.Just spray on and wipe off.Can't remember the name.
We use a standard bathroom cleaner I think it is Scrubby Bubbles. Fiberglass safe, but I think you may want to rewax regularly. Quick, simple and cheap.
Funny thing....I had a black soot problem until I did something drastic -- I left the country and started buying diesel in the Eastern Caribbean. I now have about 10% of what I had before.
So, if you want to solve the problem: Go south! In the Caribbean the diesel is expensive, but the rum is cheap.
Funny thing....I had a black soot problem until I did something drastic -- I left the country and started buying diesel in the Eastern Caribbean. I now have about 10% of what I had before.
So, if you want to solve the problem: Go south! In the Caribbean the diesel is expensive, but the rum is cheap.
To make soot easy to remove, quit using traditional boat wax. I use Poly Glow instead. It shines better and lasts longer than traditional wax, and Sun & Earth All Purpose Spray Cleaner makes it ridiculously easy to remove all traces of soot -- better than Simple Green does.
I've become a fan of soft scrub. Just a bit on a wet sponge and it removes the soot nicely. From anything more than 3 feet away it looks white! I do this maybe two or three times a year, when I have dinghied back to the boat I just grab the stuff and it takes 5 minutes. I don't polish after, as it hasn't seem to matter.
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