This is for those boaters who keep their boat in a marina which has become infested with zebra mussels (ZMs). Of course getting the boat out of the water, cleaning, draining, and drying is the best course of action, if you can. But for some of us, the convenience of keeping a boat at a marina is worth the cost, and now the effort—when it comes to ZMs. So for those boaters in Texas who find themselves docked in the many Texas lakes now hosting the little buggers, take some tips from folks who have dealt with them up north for many years to lessen the impact:

1. If possible ($$$$), get a boat lift; or
2. Keep your engine out of the water when docked; and
3. Run your engine every week at low speed for fifteen minutes, to let the hot water do its thing on any larvae that might be living in your cooling system; or
4. Use engine muffs to do the same thing.

Here is a pretty good article on the subject matter: https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/invasives/fact/pdfs/ProtectYourBoat.pdf

Good tips! Those mussels are a pain... Would hate to see them spread more than they already have.

I never thought about them getting up in cooling system. Ants on dry land and zebra mussels in the water. There is no safe place anymore.

never understood why folks got so worked up over something that you cant do anything about unless you could stop floods ducks geese an all the other flying birds that relocate many other things in our waterways.