Owing to unusually kind weather during the fitting-out ashore period, our boat is back in the water, ahead of schedule. This weekend, the weather was extremely windy, so there was no temptation to skip the spring cleaning and go sailing. We rolled up our sleeves and got on with it.
We had taken absolutely everything home, and we decided that before we put anything back on board, we would take the floorboards up and give the bilge a birthday. This is not the most glamorous job in the world. But it's a good investment. Keeping the bilge sweet will keep the whole boat smelling cleaner and fresher.
If it's never done, the boat will always smell dank and diesely, and it's amazing how often people who complain of sea-sickness have boats with a persistent pong that would make anybody sick!
One problem with today's wide, flat hull shapes is that a little bilge-water goes an awful long way. It doesn't drain into a deep sump, as it does with the traditional, long-keel shape, which can be easily pumped. Instead it will spread over a huge area, remaining far too shallow to pump. And it tends to get caught up in the strengthening grid, and stay there.
In fact, we were pleasantly surprised how little water there was in the bilge (we were feeling a bit guilty, because we knew this was a job we should have done before the boat came out of the water.) And it was soon got rid of with a bucket and sponge. Then I wiped all through with a Bilgex-soaked cloth, to leave a nice, anti-septic smell.
And it was while I was doing this that I put my hand under the strum boxes of the two bilge pumps. And here I found a nasty shock. Trapped under them was a layer of putty-like sludge that I hadn't found anywhere else.
It's not altogether surprising, when you think about it. They are, of course, in the deepest part of the bilge, so anything solid is likely to gravitate there. I didn't investigate too closely, but the sludge seemed to be largely made up of sawdust and salt crystals.
Presumably it was sawdust that has gradually washed out of all the nooks and crannies where it has been hiding ever since the boat was built, and salt crystals from running the dehumidifier, which we did for the last couple of months the boat was afloat, which naturally increases the salinity of any water left in the bilge.
In fact we have never used either of the bilge pumps. We rarely take water on board, and because the bilge is so flat it is easier to clear any there is with a sponge: there would have to be quite a lot before the bilge pumps would work efficiently.
But what if we had needed to use them in an emergency? Would this nasty gunge have been washed out of the way before pumping started - or would it have been sucked straight in, blocking both pumps at the outset? It was a scary thought.
So my recommendation is that, if you haven't looked in your bilge lately, it might be a good idea to get the floorboards up and find out what, if anything, is lurking in the sump, under the strum box.
It's a disgusting job. But it might just save your boat - and your life!
