Dionysus,

If you work on any inboard motor, sooner or later you'll spill some
fuel or oil into the bilge. It can't be helped. You will also get
water into your boat on a pretty regular basis. Swimmers climbing back
onboard, rain water, wet skis into the ski locker, it all adda up.
Eventually your bilge pump will activate to pump this water out.

Unfortunatly it pumps that fule & oil out too, leaving a nasty little
surface film on the water behind your boat, The small amounts
discharged by a typical pleasure boater are probably not harmful -
espically in the summer when they will be evaporated quickly - but why
do it if you don't have to.

A bilge sponge will absorb this and allow you to dispose of it
properly. Once it's used, you don't "dry it out" and reuse it - just
get another one. They're only a few bucks and are available in any
marine supply place.

http://www.boatersworld.com/webapp/w...oductId=298217

http://www.boatus-store.com/webapp/w...roductId=94745

Alan Hannas


On Fri, 19 Sep 2003 10:34:50 -0400,
(Dionysus Feldman) wrote:

Realizing that there are no dumb questions, only dumb people, I was
wondering...

A "bilge sponge" was provided with our boat. What is it that one does
with a "bilge sponge?