Ben's Boat Repair

Invasive Species- Why you should care

 

Teresa Porter, Shop Manager 

    Many Texans have seen the billboards and magazine ads and heard the catchy jingle on the radio. Maybe you’ve even seen it painted on your favorite boat ramp. Three simple words: Clean. Drain. Dry. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) is spending some serious dough trying to make you aware of a serious ecological problem that affects Texans from the Red River to the Rio Grande.
    In the interest of keeping it short, I’m going to skip over the part about the catastrophic environmental consequences of apathy, nonchalance, and downright laziness and talk about the one thing the TPWD ads don’t seem to really talk about: Your wallet.
    Zebra mussels are bad news for boats. One zebra mussel can produce one million microscopic larvae a year. These free-swimming larvae can drift for weeks and settle on any hard surface. They love to hide in tiny crevices on your boat, and look a bit like sand when they first come aboard. They can survive for several days out of the water and grow to about an inch. They can survive on ropes, life jackets, anchors, in live wells, and inside your engine, heat exchanger, oil cooler, ballasts, even onboard plumbing. They can severely clog the passages of the cooling system, starving your engine for water and severely overheating your engine. Anyone that’s ever forgotten the annual impeller change knows very well that it only takes a few seconds to need a new engine.
    Zebra mussels can also accumulate on your steering cables and jam up your equipment. Invasive plants such as Hydrilla and Salvinia can tangle in steering cables and props. A severely tangled prop can cost you a prop hub or your entire drive unit.
    According to Monica McGarrity, an Aquatic Invasive Species Biologist with TPWD, most lakes are checked every four years. If an invasive species is found, the lake is checked annually. There is currently not an interactive list or map showing what bodies of water have been checked or when they were last checked. If you visit texasinvasives.org, there is a citizen scientist map that includes data from TPWD. We are located in the Blackland Prairie Region, a narrow strip that stretches from the Red River to San Antonio. Zebra mussels have been found in the following locations: Lake Texoma, the Red River below Lake Texoma, Lake Lewisville, Lavon, Ray Roberts, the Elm Fork of the Trinity River below Ray Roberts, Sister Grove Creek, Bridgeport, Ray Hubbard, Belton, and Waco. That’s right. Waco.
    I’ve read a lot of conflicting misinformation on the internet, so I asked McGarrity what TPWD’s recommendations are for stopping the spread. She says the best ways is to clean, drain, and dry your boat. If you visit texasinvasives.org, you can click on the section that says, “Hello Zebra Mussels, Goodbye Texas Lakes”. There is a youtube video on the page that will show you how to clean it.
The best way to stop the spread is to treat every lake and river as if it is infested. Establish a new post-boating routine. After a day on the water, load up the boat and pull up the ramp a little. Check your trailer for plants. Pull your drain plug. Drain your live wells. If you’re mechanically inclined, pull your manifold and engine drain plugs. Drive straight to the nearest car wash. Pull everything out of your boat and open all compartments. Blast everything with hot water. Everything includes the carpet, seats, bilge, life jackets, ropes and drive unit. We recommend putting a plastic shopping bag over your carburetor, distributor, and anything else that doesn’t need to get wet. Don’t directly spray your engine or gimbal. Stick the nozzle into the drain holes/spit tubes and backflush them. Bag everything up or stick it in your truck. When you get home, hang everything up, open everything up, and let it sit in the sun. The recommended drying time is seven days. If your boat is out of the water for more than a month, they should be dead, but still must be removed.
I know, I know. The thought of drenching your boat and leaving it in the sun to bake for a week is heartbreaking for some boat owners. According to information at the TPWD website, you can thoroughly decontaminate or leave it out in the sun. If you’re really worried about your interior, then perform a proper decontamination, and leave it out of the garage long enough to fully dry to prevent mold and mildew. We recommend leaving the life jackets, ropes and towables out of the boat until it’s time to go boating again. That will allow everything to fully dry out, just in case you missed a spot.
    I just want to clarify: Blast it with hot water doesn’t mean the sprayer hooked up to your garden hose. In order to properly decontaminate your boat, you will need a hot water pressure washer capable of 180 degrees and at least 3000 psi and 5 gallons per minute. The water needs to be at least 140 degrees when it hits the boat. Make sure you hit each area for at least 10 seconds. Pay special attention to crevices around trim tabs, swim platforms, “whale tails”, hydraulic rams, jack plates, and bolts. Don’t hit your bellows with the pressure, they will rip. Use muffs to flush your engine with the pressure washer. The water coming out of the prop should be 140 degrees. A slightly cooler temperature of 120 degrees is recommended for live wells, ballast tanks, and storage tanks. The cooler temperature is to prevent damage to the pumps operating in those units.
    Oh yeah, one more way invasive species can affect your wallet: fines. It is illegal to transport any invasive species, dead or alive. The first offense is a Class C misdemeanor that carries a fine up to $500. Repeat offenses are a Class B misdemeanor that can carry fines up to $2000, six months in jail, or both. So, protect your wallet while protecting the environment. Clean. Drain. Dry.

(Published June 2015, West News, West, TX (no website))