Every now and again you’ll see it… a telltale blue-green color lurking close to shore in the lake where you like to go fishing. Algae can be quite the annoyance and it builds up fast, so it’s not something that you want to ignore. In time, it can badly stain your beloved pontoon but there is a little good news.
With some routine cleaning and a little preventative maintenance, you won’t have to worry about it. Today we’ll tell you how to halt algae growth on pontoon boats so that you can get the algae off of your pontoon and take measures to keep it off. We’ll discuss cleaning methods and prevention so that you’ll be ready to keep that algae at bay.
Let’s discuss algae remover for boats!!
What is algae?
While we tend to think of algae as simply the ‘green gunk’ that adds unsightly rings to the boat, it’s a little more than that. Algae is actually a term for a large number of organisms, some of them even beneficial, but it definitely includes that ‘green gunk’.
The ‘bad’ algae, aside from marking your boat hulls, lowers oxygen levels and reduces the amount of sunlight that filters into the water. Needless to say, it’s bad news for fish and fisherman alike, but with your boat it is largely a cosmetic issue.
That said, managing algae just takes a little routine cleaning and some preparation.
Cleaning the algae off of your boat
Cleaning algae off of your boat hull is actually a breeze, especially when you use a power washer such as a Sun Joe XPS3000. (Click Link to View Product) You don’t even have to buy one, as power washes may be easily rented, but if you boat owner then a power washer is a solid investment that you’ll actually use.
We’ll give you the ‘manual’ steps and the power-wash steps so that you can compare:
Cleaning your boat ’manually’:
- Remove your boat from the water and let it sit to dry out for a few hours so that the algae is no longer moist
- Get yourself a good algae remover product such as EZ On – EZ OFF (Click Link to View Product) and pour it out into a plastic bucket
- Put on your safety goggles and gloves and using a stiff-bristle scrub brush, apply the cleaner and a little elbow grease until you’ve scrubbed the algae away
- Give the surface a good drying off with soft, clean rags
Cleaning your boat with a power washer:
- Remove your boat from the water and keep it on the trailer
- At a high psi, spray your boat to remove as much algae and barnacles as you can
- Spot clean with a product like EZ On-EZ off to get the remaining algae from the hull
- Wipe down the surface with soft, clean rags
Keeping algae off of your boat in the future
Finally, once you’ve got the algae removed, consider some antifouling paint to keep it at bay even longer. Companies such as Interlux offer antifouling paint in a number of colors and this protective paint can keep that algae off of your boat quite effectively.
It’s well worth the time it takes to repaint your boat, trust us on this!
In closing: Algae is easy to deal with… just don’t wait for it to stain your boat
Algae isn’t much of an issue as long as you keep your boat clean and consider antifouling paint. While it’s just an annoyance now, it can cause some serious staining on your boat if you ignore it. Take care of the problem now and keep your pontoon looking it’s best.
When summer arrives, you’ll be happy that you took care of your pontoon’s good looks!