Bug Guts...grrr!

[MalibuBuzz]

Came home from the lake last nite and have a HUGE collection of bug guts on the tower. I am glad we put the bimini in it's case for the trip, otherwise it woulda been loaded up too. Any tricks of the trade to easily clean them off the tower? What about wrapping the tower in seran wrap to and from the lake, then peeling off the wrap with the bug guts for a quick solution? Any other good ideas would be helpful.

[WakeGirl]

Well, it's one of those things that happens if you tow, there's no real good way around it. The wrap only works if you use the industrial strength kind, the over-the-counter stuff that we get from the store will just come apart & make a huge mess (that's not personal experience speaking since I've never tried the wrap, but several of our members have). I'm of the opinion that the tower itself isn't that hard to keep cleaned off, it's all of the accessories that is the big headache. Here's what I did:

Racks

On the last boat I had covers made from Speaker Sox, but my problem with those was that the racks were fully polished & the material from the covers left black rub marks on the metal. It polished out, but where's the return in that? So for this boat I bought Titan racks with the lift offs & I stow the racks when we tow. That combined with the fact that these racks are chromed instead of fully polished makes them much, much easier to keep looking good.

Speakers

I did get some covers for these from Speaker Sox, but this time around it seems to be working great since my cans are chromed instead of fully polished. Again, much easier upkeep vs. all of that polishing.

Bimini

The boot protects it pretty well, we just need to keep it cleaned off.

Tower mirror

Again, quick detach & it gets stowed in the boat while trailering.

Tower itself

Aside from having a full boot made for the tower, the best thing you can do is to keep it clean as well as keep a good protective coating on it. I use either Babe's or a product called Honda Gloss (available at Honda motorcycle dealerships) on it & it seems to wipe down much easier as result. Keeping it waxed up will also do the job, but I've found that either of these products will do the job equally well.

[jetskipro550]

bug and tar remover works great! I just apply the stuff, and about 5 minutes later wipe off the bugs.

[MalibuBuzz]

Racks

On the last boat I had covers made from Speaker Sox, but my problem with those was that the racks were fully polished & the material from the covers left black rub marks on the metal. It polished out, but where's the return in that? So for this boat I bought Titan racks with the lift offs & I stow the racks when we tow. That combined with the fact that these racks are chromed instead of fully polished makes them much, much easier to keep looking good.

Speakers

I did get some covers for these from Speaker Sox, but this time around it seems to be working great since my cans are chromed instead of fully polished. Again, much easier upkeep vs. all of that polishing.

Bimini

The boot protects it pretty well, we just need to keep it cleaned off.

Well, keeping the speakers and racks are no problem now, as I made some DIY covers for them. I used moleskin fabric that has a nice soft interior, so no rub marks are left on anything...in fact the interior is as soft as what you use to clean sunglasses lens. The Bimini boot was easy to just wipe off the bug guts - I think using a brush would work well there. I really don't want to make a tower cover, would rather have some good solutions for quick clean up.

[INTChamp]

Rent a slip at the marina. I'll even go down and check on it every few days if you'll leave me the keys. Of course, it will mysteriously have an additional 5-10 hours when you show up every Saturday.

[MalibuBuzz]

Rent a slip at the marina. I'll even go down and check on it every few days if you'll leave me the keys. Of course, it will mysteriously have an additional 5-10 hours when you show up every Saturday.

haha....didn't you say your boat got super dirty at the marina????

[zilla]

Painters blue tape on the front of the tower

[josh_tn]

Rent a slip at the marina. I'll even go down and check on it every few days if you'll leave me the keys. Of course, it will mysteriously have an additional 5-10 hours when you show up every Saturday.

haha....didn't you say your boat got super dirty at the marina????

You could always leave it at my house so you don't have to tow it so far. I'll even lake test it for you during the week so you know that its ready to go for the weekend.

[MalibuBuzz]

Rent a slip at the marina. I'll even go down and check on it every few days if you'll leave me the keys. Of course, it will mysteriously have an additional 5-10 hours when you show up every Saturday.

haha....didn't you say your boat got super dirty at the marina????

You could always leave it at my house so you don't have to tow it so far. I'll even lake test it for you during the week so you know that its ready to go for the weekend.

Haha...very funny! I actually enjoy being able to walk out in our other garage just to look at it during the week...

[srud]

Painters blue tape on the front of the tower

This really works quite well.

[INTChamp]

Rent a slip at the marina. I'll even go down and check on it every few days if you'll leave me the keys. Of course, it will mysteriously have an additional 5-10 hours when you show up every Saturday.

haha....didn't you say your boat got super dirty at the marina????

You could always leave it at my house so you don't have to tow it so far. I'll even lake test it for you during the week so you know that its ready to go for the weekend.

Nice try Earl.

[vette-ski]

For short trips I just deal with the few I catch and wipe them off. For long hauls I apply a somewhat liberal coating of cheap car wax on the front surfaces of the tower, light bar, and speakers. But don't wipe it off until you get there. The bugs just wipe right off with the wax. Never tried the blue tape. It might save from having to vacuum up all the bugs after the wipe-off, but the wax might be a little easier and quicker to put on

[wienrdog]

Painters blue tape and the painters masking with 24" plastic attached. 2" blue tape on the tower & bimini legs that are facing forward.

I the put a layer of blue tape on top of tower (it doesn't come off tower cleanly - grrrrr), then tape the self adhesive plastic to the blue tape, wrap it around bimini & tape loose end back to tower.

Worked great!

[johnsvt]

I use mother's spray wax and a terry cloth towel to clean tower, about once a month. I only have a 4 mile tow to the lake though.

Edited June 12, 2007 by johnsvt

[Greg_S]

I use mother's spray wax and a terry cloth towel to clean tower, about once a month. I only have a 4 mile tow to the lake though.

[MalibuBuzz]

I use mother's spray wax and a terry cloth towel to clean tower, about once a month. I only have a 4 mile tow to the lake though.

We are about 1 hr 20 mins from the lake. Morning trips to the lake aren't a problem, but heading home in the early evening is a huge bug catching problem.