Offshore Log: A Crude Problem

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A week before we reached Singapore, a tanker ran aground while transiting the strait, dumping 7,000 tons of light crude oil. This oil coated Indonesian and Malaysian fishing areas near Singapore, as well as fouling the shore for miles around. 

Offshore Log: A Crude Problem

Approaching Singapore, we spotted a debris-coated slick about a mile long and 50 yards wide. Had we known about the oil spill, we would have immediately realized what we were looking at. Concerned about sucking debris into the engine raw water intake, we gingerly picked our way through a narrow gap in the spill. When we arrived at Raffles Marina in Singapore there was a big black splatter of crude oil gracing our stem at the waterline. Too tired to deal with it in the darkness, we left it for the following morning—a potentially bad mistake.

The next morning we scraped as much of the thick, gooey oil—almost the consistency of liquid tar—from the fiberglass as we could, using a flexible plastic spreader. This was followed by a hard scrubbing with undiluted Simple Green, which is one powerful degreaser.

The oil had penetrated the gelcoat, leaving brownish-yellow stains. Two treatments with Davis FSR acid gel cleaner got rid of about 95% of the staining. The rest will have to wait until our next haulout.

These are two cleaners we would not do without. Simple Green in various concentrations can be used for anything from degreasing to general purpose cleaning. We use FSR for oil, rust, and water stain removal from gelcoat and white polyurethane painted surfaces. Simple Green is available in most grocery and hardware stores in the US.

 

Contact- Davis Instruments, 3465 Diablo Ave., Hayward, CA 94545; 510/732-9229.

Darrell Nicholson
Practical Sailor has been independently testing and reporting on sailboats and sailing gear for more than 50 years. Supported entirely by subscribers, Practical Sailor accepts no advertising. Its independent tests are carried out by experienced sailors and marine industry professionals dedicated to providing objective evaluation and reporting about boats, gear, and the skills required to cross oceans. Practical Sailor is edited by Darrell Nicholson, a long-time liveaboard sailor and trans-Pacific cruiser who has been director of Belvoir Media Group's marine division since 2005. He holds a U.S. Coast Guard 100-ton Master license, has logged tens of thousands of miles in three oceans, and has skippered everything from pilot boats to day charter cats. His weekly blog Inside Practical Sailor offers an inside look at current research and gear tests at Practical Sailor, while his award-winning column,"Rhumb Lines," tracks boating trends and reflects upon the sailing life. He sails a Sparkman & Stephens-designed Yankee 30 out of St. Petersburg, Florida. You can reach him by email at practicalsailor@belvoir.com.