Barnacles are sharp

[Ron Burgundy]

I have about a 3 inch cut on my plam and ring finger from lightly brushing up against a barnacle that was attached to my pontoon. Luckilly it isn't deeper, or I may have needed stitches.

[belercous]

Imagine getting "keel-hulled." Many didn't survive it. The saltwater gave the cuts a little extra bite.

[BassFrequency]

Imagine getting "keel-hulled." Many didn't survive it. The saltwater gave the cuts a little extra bite.

I think about that every time I see Idiot cabin cruisers plowing down the lake with kids hanging off the bow rails

[GregF]

Oysters are pretty nasty too. Be careful where you jump off the boat. Remember Mr Ed and his paw.

[badmoonrising]

Yeah oysters are bad, I harvest them in the mid bay and when I went to OBX, if you don't wear gloves your hands end up resembling ground beef.

[Ron Burgundy]

There's a good chance that it actually was an oyster that cut me. I was out on the island running my hand around on my pontoons (stupid I know) to see what kind of bottom growth I had. It was mostly just that little fuzzy stuff until I got around to the stern....then slice. Who knows what's growing back there. Last time I found a crab living on it.

[GregF]

You need to get one of our yankee friends to send you a wide lexan ice scraper. Heat it in a pan of boiling water, lay it on the pontoon and form it to the curve of your pontoons (wear an oven mitt and hold it at a comfortable working angle). Let it cool. Then you have a custom scraper that will make quick work of knocking that crud off without using your hand.
As cold as the water is, this may be a spring project although I was wading with Ed the other day. I also was back looking over the motor in thigh deep water. I don't think I want to get my "deal" in the water tho. It is small enough now

[badmoonrising]

We are getting zebra mussels, they'll be everywhere here in a decade. I hear they are sharp as hell too.

[GregF]

The salinity will keep the zebras away from Ron and they would only survive here in the river a few months in the rainy season. I am not sure that helps you in the upper bay. You need 14PPT salt to make sure you kill them. From the buoy data I have seen that is pretty rare up there.
Maybe down around Point Lookout they will all die.

(as a reference the ocean is 36-37 and the gulf can be closer to 38)

[badmoonrising]

Our salinity levels get way high in drought years, that would be every summer except for 2011, which was one if the wettest on record. We were catching catfish off of Annapolis this season, that's unheard of. In drought years, we get flounder and bluefish all the way up to Chesapeake City. Neither can tolerate lower salinity.

Good thing with all that rain, we had no barnacles this year. Bad thing was we caught no saltwater fish species north of the bay bridge.

[pontchartraintoon]

I was cleaning the bottom in August, and scrapped myself with barnacles, and it took forever to heal.

[Ron Burgundy]

I was cleaning the bottom in August, and scrapped myself with barnacles, and it took forever to heal.

Mine is finally getting better. The cut was towards the tip of my finger, and on my palm so it kept opening up easilly. It was kind of amazing how clean and straight the cut was.

A friend of mine recommended a product called New Skin. Thinkin' about getting some to keep on the boat's first aid kit...http://www.newskinproducts.com/products ... ndage.aspx

[pontchartraintoon]

I now keep my a pair of work gloves along with my scraper on the toon.

[Ron Burgundy]

Good idea...prevention is the best medicine.

[GregF]

The best prevention is a lift