Save-A-Boat - The Forum for Plastic Classic Rebuilds!

For the last 7 years I've been working towards a PhD in biological oceanography. Today (Wednesday) I finally defended my dissertation and I passed! Still have some revisions to do but now the major anxiety is over...and it's almost time to start working on the boat!

Sweet! Congratulations! Your field sounds really interesting, too.

Rachel

I've been working towards a PhD in biological oceanography.

Congratulations!

Does this now mean that when you haul your boat you are fully qualified to analyze the critters stuck to the bottom?

That is a major accomplishment, congratulations. When it was schooling time I lacked the interest and the motivation, never got past a BS and AS. Now I'm pushing two kids through school, and it will probably never happen. Then again, you never know.

Does this now mean that when you haul your boat you are fully qualified to analyze the critters stuck to the bottom?

haha...sort of. My dissertation was on fish populations in Narragansett Bay but I do know a bit about fouling communities.

Brodie wrote:

Does this now mean that when you haul your boat you are fully qualified to analyze the critters stuck to the bottom?

haha...sort of. My dissertation was on fish populations in Narragansett Bay but I do know a bit about fouling communities.

Congratulations on your academic success.

... now ... How do I keep Zebra mussels from growing in my cockpit drains? I sail in fresh water at the extreme western end of Lake Ontario. I've heard that bleach will kill them but I'd rather not have them there in the first place. Besides, the bleach isn't going to remove the shells etc. Zebra mussels are a MAJOR problem in the Great Lakes.

In order to keep them from settling you need some sort of coating in the drain that they don't like. Antifouling paint with copper would be my first thought, another idea is using Desitin (the diaper rash stuff), my boyfriend's dad puts it on the depth transducer of his IP32 to keep it clean and it works for a good chunk of the summer (in saltwater). not sure how it would do against the invincible zebra mussel but copper is very toxic to nearly all invertebrates, which is why it's in antifouling.

Desitin (the diaper rash stuff)

Interesting! And guess what, sitting in salt water for extended periods I have that on board anyways........ But, will it booger up the readings?

Well, I'm not sure if he's done any serious testing, but it appears to work fine. Now I'm not sure if it's on the depthsounder transducer, the speedo or both. If it's the speedo, the GPS would be a good check, but honestly, it's an IP32, you're either not moving (if it's not windy) or moving (if it is windy). It's one of those boats with two speeds: stop and go.

Congratulations Dr. Brodie

Hope to see you sometime this summer sailing on the bay

Pete

Brodie wrote:In order to keep them from settling you need some sort of coating in the drain that they don't like. Antifouling paint with copper would be my first thought, another idea is using Desitin (the diaper rash stuff), my boyfriend's dad puts it on the depth transducer of his IP32 to keep it clean and it works for a good chunk of the summer (in saltwater). not sure how it would do against the invincible zebra mussel but copper is very toxic to nearly all invertebrates, which is why it's in antifouling.

I presume Desitin is a zinc oxide paste, so any similar product like Penaten should work as well.

Thanks for the tip. I'll give it a try this spring.

I presume Desitin is a zinc oxide paste

It is.