TIME TO STAR GETTING YOUR SPRING PLAN TOGETHER !

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TIME TO THINK ABOUT SPRING

Spring boat opening, what to look for and tricks to save you money

Part 1

Its that time of year when boaters get excited, its time to get your boat up and running for another great boating season. So what needs to be done and in what order? First sit down and make a list of what issues may have followed you from last fall, this should be your priority. This list may include items other than repairs or maintenance to the boat, check your items you took home or stored away on the boat for damage like mold or mildew, if there any life jackets or gear with mold or mildew  replace the item(s) and clean what you can.. Also confirm details or your slip for this season (its never to early), If you are planning a move from one marina to another, arrange transportation or any outside services you need as soon as possible. As spring service providers gets busy, a delay may shorten your season.

EXTERIOR AND UNDER THE HATCHES

In parts of the world were our boats are stored outside, shrink wrapping is a standard way to protect the boat from snow and ice. One of the draw backs to shrink wrapping boats the way we do is the moisture build up under this cover even when its well vented. Particularly if the boat is wrapped early, or if the fall had been wet or you have a wet bilge. This water will try to evaporate as soon as the temp starts to rise. The moisture will collect on the inside of all surfaces (as there is little air flow). The next thing you know, there is mold mildew and dry rot starting in your boat. Have you ever opened a deck hatch, it appears all black on the inside and on the locker walls. Quite often this occurs in the floor lockers and engine compartment. You know the moisture has been bad when you open the engine hatch and run your hand over the motor(s) and the water runs off your hand.To help prevent this next year, consider late wrapping after the boat has experienced some dry winter air  Always unwrap as early as possible in the spring so you can and let the boat air out. This is particularly true on low hour boats as the heat from the motors really doesn't dry out the bilges and areas below the deck often enough. One great solution to remove excess moisture is to run a dehumidifier on the boat for the last week while the plastic is still on. Open the hatches and take advantage of the cover and remove as much moisture as possible. You may need to continue this after unwrapping for a few days. In the cabin and in the engine compartment. This idea will pay dividends for you, your boat and the motor(s). 

 After you dry the areas up: To clean up mold and mildew get yourself some bleach and a spray bottle, open the lockers and storage areas, spray the straight bleach all over, as far as you can reach, let it sit and rise with clean water. You will see an immediate difference, it will clean things up nicely. You will see the condition of the boat structure, hoses and even wire harness in the area. A return to a clean and original state. Not only does its clean up but it makes things clean to inspect and to work on. This clean up will also reduce nasty odors in the boat. As a matter of fact you can do the whole deck and hull this way before further maintenance is done. You will see the white plastic components such as windlass foot controls, lights, antenna mounts, & plastic housings such as radar and GPS look like new. Do this with the canvas off it usually wont discolor the canvas but it will eat up stitches. When your bilges and lockers are cleaned up. A trick to keep the odor down in any areas that are considered wet or you know collect water is to pick up a small container of chlorine tablets for a hot tub or swimming pool.  Toss one in each of these wet areas. This will keep the water clean clear and odorless, it will also prevent mold and mildew. Any bilge pumps in these wet bilge area will stay clean and the inside of the hoses will remain clean and unobstructed.

Once you have completed the above task get out the bucket and soap and a soft brush and wash up the boat, a soft brush is important I have witnessed boaters scrub the hull with a stiff brush or a brillo pad. Do not do this it will damage the gel coat surface, creating even scratches over the whole hull. This is expensive to have this fixed and this damage is more visible on colored hulls, No hull should require this type of scrubbing. It will not improve the shine or remove any discoloration (fog) on colored hulls. Just give the boat a good cleaning. After rinsing the boat go inside check all the windows and along the deck and hull joint and see if you have any leaks, make notes for repair. Check any "dry storage" lockers for the water. In sunken aft seating areas (aft settee) were the floor drops check the floor for any sign of water, these aft cabin areas are generally were rain water leaks will show up. The floor area here is sunk down and there is very little room under the floor making it the lowest point. This floor area is usually full of foam underneath, so once wet its stays wet until the floor area gets soft. The floor is glassed to the hull here so any water intrusion will find its way to this floor area first. If you do see water try to follow it up walls and get this fixed as this will get wet all the time. This is an area were boats pick up weight (this can be noticed easily if your water line is getting higher every year). This is a great time to use that dehumidifier and place it in cabin close all doors and hatches and run it as much as you can before launch, you will be amazed how much it will pull out of your boat. This will remove odor and add years to the life of your boat!

 

DECK DRAINS

Make sure that all the deck drains are working correctly, start at the anchor locker and work your way back all drains including aft sink drains. Its a good idea to visually check the anchor locker drain inside the locker. Also check the most forward area of storage below the anchor locker inside the boat. The anchor locker collects sand and seaweed from the chain or rope this blocks the drain and creates leaks into the cabin. Another issue that can create a water leak from the anchor locker is a damaged or a plugged  clam shell cover (s) on the outside of the hull (stainless cover over the outside of the anchor locker drain) . If you trailer your boat or store your boat on a trailer you can damage the chrome clam shell and reduce or prevent flow. Remember on most boats rain water will run into the locker and escape out through the drain the anchor locker is not designed to hold water. When water gets into forward lockers or in forward bilges ninety percent of the time its from the anchor locker area.

 

POLISH AND WAX

After all of the cleaning and drains are checked you are ready to polish and wax the exterior, If you run into a time crunch at least do the hull you can always reach the deck from the dock. Plan to do the hull and any areas you can't reach from the dock on some models this may include the area above the rub rail. Believe it or not do this before any gel repair are completed as the fresh polished gel is the easiest to match. It also allows you to easily see areas in need of repair, as you go along and mark the areas for repair (a small piece of masking tape works best). By cleaning and polishing first you will prevent dark rings around your gel repairs.(This information covered in Part 2)  There are a few things you need to know if you are going to polish on your own, its a long tough job that takes patience and the correct supplies and equipment. Without the investment in the correct supplies and equipment you really are wasting your money. There is bad news for some boaters if you have a colored hull you want to shine up, some hulls are just not going to respond to all this work ( See our article on colored hulls).  A good example is an older boat from the eighties that has not seen proper maintenance or a dark blue or black hull on a Rinker. This work will probably only look good for a few weeks or months,  the colors can appear uneven all over. Rinker colored hulls just don't last they tend to go dull and milky, On any hull, you may fight with old gel repair areas that were done with poor quality gel or to much tint they will continue to give you problems with color and finish.  There are several compounds and waxes to choose from I cannot advise you at this time which to use ( but we will as soon as we are authorized to), ask your local supplier for their advise. You will need to follow the instructions of the product you purchase, Remember if you buy quality supplies the material does all the work, you are looking to create the correct temperature of the pad resistance on the gel of the hull or deck to get a good shine. once polish and wax is done clean up the mess and prep for gel repairs (This information in next article).

The next step is the canvas the large panels with no windows can go in the washer, do not dry. You may need to go to an industrial washing machine to do this, get the canvas back on while still damp. A little vaseline on the snaps lubricates and prevents corrosion. Some chap stick on the plastic zippers works great keeping plastic zippers from failing, but only do this if there are no repairs. If you need any repair work now is the time. Once the canvas is clean and dry you can spray with scotch guard to water proof the material however if you can see sunlight at the stitches this area will still leak, it maybe time to replace panels. When it comes to windows if they are foggy try a little pledge if this doesn't work there is Clear To See a product available from your marine parts store. If they wont come back replace the panel(s). Any tricks generally do not work! To keep your windows longer you must keep some oils in the plastic (this is were regular pledge does the trick), Keep your widows from touching the stainless bars. The plastic will burn when it comes in contact with the bars, foam pipe insulation cut to length is an easy fix.

Stainless can be cleaned up easily, At your local dollar store pick up a bag of stainless steel pads for pot cleaning and just rub the stainless clean, make sure the pieces you are polishing are stainless steel and no platted plastic or other platted materials.. You can wax stainless once its cleaned.

Some extra tips for exterior acetone on a rag for rubber rub rail insert, do not wax the nonskid areas, use rain x on windows, always carry a philips screw driver and tighten screws on your hardware.

 

 Look for Boat Nut Media plan's Spring Start Up Part 2

Gel Repairs, Below the water line, Systems, Mechanical, Upholstery, Appliances, and The rest.

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