Grunge no more, saving my boat from neglect
I am the kind of guy that likes to work on my boat, especially for projects that I know I can accomplish myself. Unfortunately, that sometimes leads to delays in getting things done around my busy schedule. In January of 2025 along with our team, I launched Best4Boats, and it is going great, thanks in part to you, our readers, but as a start-up there is a lot of work involved. Amongst other things, these stories don’t write themselves and while the best4boats team occasionally dabbles with AI as an organizational tool when researching and formatting articles, we pride ourselves in having actual humans writing content for you. This means I work a lot of weekends and after-hours times that I formerly would have been focused on boat projects. In fact, I am sitting in the office on a Saturday morning right now writing this.
Don’t get me wrong, I still make time to use and work on my boat and even sit on her and write when I can, but life is a balance, and sometimes the scales tip in ways you prefer they didn’t. This winter, schedules, excuses, and perhaps some procrastination got the better of me, and several boat projects got pushed back further than they should have. In an act of self-deprecation and pity for my beloved boat a Sabreline 36 cruiser named Loona, I started referring to her as my “Neglected Mistress.” At first, that seemed funny in an ironic way, but soon I realized that the humor was a thin veil for a serious dose of guilt. I pride myself on being a boater who cherishes the time I have aboard. Clearly something needed to change.
Seattle grunge is not just music
In Puget Sound where we keep Loona, it does not freeze hard in the winter, and we leave her in the water year-round. Our slip is not covered and during the winter the boat tends to accumulate a layer of dirt which I try to occasionally clean off with a small electric pressure washer. If left too long during the misty winters, a green grunge of algae can also appear particularly on the port side that faces north where little light shines here at 48° N. On my and my son’s birthday in mid-April (we share a birthday), I vowed not to do office work and instead headed down to the boat to start cleaning off the winter grunge. The scrubbing and pressure washing proved difficult as repeated cleaning had depleted the wax which made the dirt cling to the boat and I only got part of it done. What the boat really needed was a thorough compounding and waxing. With only residual wax left on her, after repetitive cleaning, the surfaces not only got dirtier faster, but was becoming increasingly difficult to get clean.
Loona before she was cleaned
Help for my boat that helps young entrepreneurs
A few weeks later, I headed back to the boat to finish getting the grunge off. As I walked down the dock to the boat headed for a day of cleaning, I noticed a crew of workers waxing the hull of another boat. Admiring the work, I asked the foreman, who introduced himself as Cameron, to take a look at my boat. I showed him the topsides and non-skid which needed the most work. After a thorough examination Cameron said that they could do the work, gave me a reasonable estimate, and said that his wife Samantha, who handles the scheduling, would contact me. Relieved that the topside cleaning and waxing would finally be done, I worked on other projects aboard the boat that day.
Samantha provided me with a written estimate, got my boat on the schedule and took a deposit. Their company Detail By YEET which stands for “Young Entrepreneurs Earning Trust” specializes in boat cleaning, waxing, and maintenance but they also clean trucks and other vehicles too. They do a lot of the work themselves and have a small crew of contract workers that they use for bigger jobs and to speed things up when they are really busy.
Because they were working on the dock near my boat already, they were able to slot in my topside project fairly quickly which worked out well for everyone, although they told me they are often booked out for weeks especially in the busy spring season. With a heavy-duty pressure washer, they finished the preliminary cleaning being careful not to cut the teak trim. Marine products like Star Brite deck cleaner and FSR helped them get the tougher stains out of the fiberglass. After a thorough cleaning, they compounded the topsides by using a buffer. They prefer 3M compound, polish, and wax products which do a nice job. Larger areas are mechanically buffed and detailed with smaller areas hand cleaned and waxed. Their crew thoroughly cleaned and polished the topsides of Loona in a couple of days. The same work would have taken me a week or more working alone.
Loona after she was cleaned
The results are amazing. All of the winter grunge is gone and the decks, topsides, and flybridge are now sparkling clean and covered with a protective layer of carnauba wax. It was hard for me to admit that I don’t have the time to do all the projects aboard that I want to, but hiring a crew of detailers to get some of my spring cleaning done was a great choice. Not only is a major project done and the boat looks respectable again for spring and summer adventures, but I feel a whole lot better. The fact that I was able to support some hard-working young people with my business made the entire experience even more worthwhile. Sometimes you need to realize that you can’t do everything yourself, and I am glad I did. I am a happier owner knowing that my boat has been taken care of and that I helped some young entrepreneurs in the process. My advice. Get some help and spend more time enjoying your boat.
Contact Sam & Cam at: yeet.industries18@gmail.com
3M boat cleaning products:
https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b40065580/ and https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b40066668/
StarBrite Deck Cleaner:
https://www.starbrite.com/products/star-brite-non-skid-deck-cleaner-protectant-ultimate-deck-wash
Davis FSR (Fiberglass Stain Remover):
https://www.davisinstruments.com/products/fsr
