Salinity and Barnacle Kill
I purchased an $18 refractometer to experiment with and determine water
salinity on my travels. In prior years, the Columbia River and Lake
Union have been my friends. Water color and water maker output have been
good indications of being in brackish and fresh. Now cruising on the
east coast, I'm more concerned with marine growth.
To what low point does salinity have to reach to kill barnacles,
mussels, and other marine growth? And how long must a boat be in such
brackish/fresh water to achieve a kill? I may find some fresh water in
the ICW and would like to know how long to dally.
Rich Losch
OCEAN LIBERTY KKY 52-01
Lying Fort Pierce FL
I don't think it matters. Zebra mussels grow in fresh water, so I think
you'll have shell growth regardless. Paint the bottom. Drink beer
instead of experimenting with salinity of your local water, it will
probably be just as instructive. <G>
Steve Sipe
MTOA #3962
Solo 4303 /Maerin/
Ortega, JAX
On 4/14/2017 10:19 AM, RICH LOSCH via Trawlers-and-Trawlering wrote:
I purchased an $18 refractometer to experiment with and determine
water salinity on my travels. In prior years, the Columbia River and
Lake Union have been my friends. Water color and water maker output
have been good indications of being in brackish and fresh. Now
cruising on the east coast, I'm more concerned with marine growth.
To what low point does salinity have to reach to kill barnacles,
mussels, and other marine growth? And how long must a boat be in such
brackish/fresh water to achieve a kill? I may find some fresh water
in the ICW and would like to know how long to dally.
Rich Losch
OCEAN LIBERTY KKY 52-01
Lying Fort Pierce FL
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Rich, unfortunately you can't escape growth hard or soft be it in salt or fresh except via anti fouling paint. In fresh there are small river mussels that attach and in salt your best friend barnacle. In the Great Lakes and others there are Zebra mussels. Good luck in your pursuit and may all your mussels be on your plate!
Joe Pica
M/V Carolyn Ann GH N-37
http://carolynann-n37.blogspot.com/
MTOA#3813, AGLCA #5485 Platinum
Rich,
I think your question is a good one. I have often wondered the same thing.
While there may be fouling organisms in both fresh and salt water, it seems
likely that the salt water organisms could be killed by a dose of fresh
water. And the fresh water organisms wouldn't take hold in the short time
that it took to kill the salt water growth. And then the boat would likely
be back in salt water.
I can say from my own and others' experience that there is much less bottom
and sea strainer fouling up the Caloosahatchee River a few miles compared to
the higher salinity waters closer to the Gulf.
Dick Allen
Bristol 42 "Sunshine Girl"
Cape Coral
-----Original Message-----
Subject: T&T: Salinity and Barnacle Kill
To what low point does salinity have to reach to kill barnacles, mussels,
and
other marine growth? And how long must a boat be in such
brackish/fresh water to achieve a kill?
Rich Losch
OCEAN LIBERTY KKY 52-01
Lying Fort Pierce FL
Any river-fed waters I enjoyed in southwest Florida gave me plenty of
growth in my strainers and piping, mostly barnacles supposedly brought down
from the north and mosses. The more brackish or nitrogen infused the
better. That plus suspended soils made regular cleaning and maintenance
absolutely necessary. I tried a copper slug sort of thing in my strainer
and it seemed to make a difference but I still acid-flushed the piping,
beat the in and out hoses to loosen the barnacle crusts and dig the
barnacles out of the through hulls every so often.
Then the Keys. Fifteen months and light brushing. No brackish waters.
--
Tom & Wilda Theobald
Lying Marathon
And even further up the Caloosahatchee, above 2 locks at Ortona, there is no hard growth at all, just a slight scum or slime, that easily scrubs off with a brush or coarse cloth.
Mark Richter,
Lying Palm City
Sent from my iPhone
On Apr 14, 2017, at 1:25 PM, Dick Allen via Trawlers-and-Trawlering trawlers@lists.trawlering.com wrote:
Rich,
I think your question is a good one. I have often wondered the same thing.
While there may be fouling organisms in both fresh and salt water, it seems
likely that the salt water organisms could be killed by a dose of fresh
water. And the fresh water organisms wouldn't take hold in the short time
that it took to kill the salt water growth. And then the boat would likely
be back in salt water.
I can say from my own and others' experience that there is much less bottom
and sea strainer fouling up the Caloosahatchee River a few miles compared to
the higher salinity waters closer to the Gulf.
Dick Allen
Bristol 42 "Sunshine Girl"
Cape Coral
-----Original Message-----
Subject: T&T: Salinity and Barnacle Kill
To what low point does salinity have to reach to kill barnacles, mussels,
and
other marine growth? And how long must a boat be in such
brackish/fresh water to achieve a kill?
Rich Losch
OCEAN LIBERTY KKY 52-01
Lying Fort Pierce FL
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Dick,
When I was on the west coast, I was either in Portland Oregon or Lake
Union-Seattle where I accumulated only a slight slime that washed off
after a few hours underway, so I'm kind of spoiled when it comes to
bottom growth. I never had to clean critters from my strainers. In
salt in the summer, I'd grow barnacles on my unpainted skiff bottom if
it was in the salt water for just a few days.
I've also heard that a cruise just a few miles up the St Lucie River
from Stuart FL will kill the marine growth. I know that a lobster will
die after a minute in fresh (cold, not boiling hot) water, so how long
to kill a barnacle or mussel? Might be a good question for a marine
aquarium.
Rich Losch
OCEAN LIBERTY KKY 52-01
Lying Fort Pierce FL
On 4/14/2017 1:25 PM, Dick Allen wrote:
Rich,
I think your question is a good one. I have often wondered the same thing.
While there may be fouling organisms in both fresh and salt water, it seems
likely that the salt water organisms could be killed by a dose of fresh
water. And the fresh water organisms wouldn't take hold in the short time
that it took to kill the salt water growth. And then the boat would likely
be back in salt water.
I can say from my own and others' experience that there is much less bottom
and sea strainer fouling up the Caloosahatchee River a few miles compared to
the higher salinity waters closer to the Gulf.
Dick Allen
Bristol 42 "Sunshine Girl"
Cape Coral
Where did you get the refractometer?
Peter Denton
When they relocated the battleship USS Missouri from Bremerton to Hawaii
they made a stop in Astoria Oregon on the Columbia river for a month for the
specific purpose of giving her a fresh-water bath, to kill growth on the
hull. Not sure what the salinity level would be, but in May the river can
run fast so there might not have been much, if any, salt content even on a
hard flood.
-al-
Viking Star
45' Monk Sr. / McQueen
mvVikingStar.blogspot.com
I have been through the Panama Canal five time, four of them in US Navy
ships. About an hour or so after we got into the fresh water, all fire
hydrants were opened in sequence to blow the years of accumulated crud out
of the 125 PSI fire main. A lot of "stuff" ended up on the decks. Being
generated by rainfall, that was pretty unsalted water.
Rich Gano
FROLIC 2005 Mainship 30 Pilot II
Panama City, FL