R U Ready ?

[Skagitguy]

Spring is just around the corner ! Decided to get outside today ( we do have a meet at the end of this month you know ) and get all of the gear back into her and do a little housecleaning like a bubble bath, charging the batteries, spray polish the dash-glove boxes, Coast Guard equipment,put the seats back in. Finish off with a little vacuuming, and starting up the motor up with just two turns of the key ! Called the CG Rep to inspect it soon. O yea i filled the tanks ( 52 gal total ) last October ( $3.18) at bargain prices to what they are now and that should keep me going till late in August !

[Bflaherty]

Chuck,

I am curious about your methods of storing all the gas for so long? Our Chris Craft gets picky if I get gas in May and am still running it in June!!! Also, what are you doing to protect the batteries during the winter cold? I have had to replace our battery almost every year due to it discharging and freezing in the winter cold...

We are hopeful to make the event this month, but weather has to be pretty good if I have any hopes of getting the ok to take 6 month old Declan for his first boat ride...

[TheBronze]

Looking good!

I started mine up a few weeks ago. Battery was decent and she fired right up. Just the same, I put it on the trickle charger overnight last weekend.

Regarding the battery question. A couple of solutions are available. Pull the battery and store it in your garage (that would be my first choice). If your furnace is in your garage (most are) it should have a vent that blows air into that space. It is usually enough to keep the temps above freezing. Of course, if you can keep the whole boat in the garage, even better!

If that isn't an option, you might get some success with a trickle charger attached to it.

Barring that you could always put a lamp in front of it. That would help keep the moisture down as well.

[Steve_Kiesel]

I get single digit or minus weather for a couple months during the winter. I keep a trickle charger on my batteries, they seem to do fine. Of course they might be wearing down faster. From my research, a charged battery will not freeze.

I do the same on my camper. I plug it in at least once a week to keep the batteries topped off. I just checked the on board monitor yesterday, they are showing a full charge. These batteries were new last summer, so I will see if they last the normal five or six years.

Chuck, Bainbridge is looking good. I'm actually going to be in the area that weekend during the outing. But unfortunately I will be helping a friend put down new flooring. So I'll miss the outing, but I'm still planning on making it up for at least one of the outings this summer.

[strobee]

Using a battery tender over the winter will keep your batteries living a long life. Battery tenders are bit better than trickle chargers since they keep the battery charged that the optimal rate without overcharge. Clint

[Skagitguy]

Brain, I have never heard of that about a battery lasting just a year or so ? But who am i? I don't know crap when it come to things like that. Maybe it is because you have a lot colder location in Bellingham? All i do is nothing. I leave them in the boat as they are kind of a pain to get to out being they are at each end of the bench seat in a compartment just for the batteries.Then when Spring time comes i check the water level and charge the batteries once for the season. I have never ( knock knock ) had any problems with batteries. I do have the Perko dual battery switch which i really like being you can just turn it off. Maybe it's because i don't keep a boat very long. lol ! Except the Farallon ( 5 years ) ,Rosario ( 6 years ) and this Skagit which is just about 3 years now. I do keep a shark skin heavyduty trailerable boat cover over her in the winter. In the winter i also will go out in the shelter and flip the cover back and let a little fresh air in to the cockpit and cabin every so often. When it starts getting like Spring, i just put a light weight cheap car cover over it that was from Schuck's. All that does is keep her clean till the next time we go out and on return wash her ( towel dry ) and put the cover on again. Another reason is when it rain a lot, the shelter with the 1 5/8 support pipes overhead get a lot of condensation going on them and that means " little dirty drops" all over the boat ! OMG ! As for the gas i put in "Sta-Bil " with Ethanol. I put in what they tell you for storage for a year and then a little bit more. I used "DampRid in the cabin and cockpit along with the air dryer in the picture ( 2) that moves the air round some. I know everyone has their own ideas, but this is what works for me....Knock, Knock..again. Hope to see you at the end of this month on Lake Washington.


Hey Steve,Sorry we will not be seeing you !

[61_express]

I wish I could be so lucky as to be on the water in a month. Late April is even a bit cold. Hopefully i will fire up the Homelites in a month or so. Still in the 20's at night here. I use Stabil and Seafoam and have never had an issue. My dad's boat with the 350 volvo was having issues idling and i used Seafoam in it and it cured the problem in about 30 min of cruising. I love the stuff. I charge my batteries before i start it and they stay charged all season. I leave mine in the boat also.