Gary- I keep my boat in a slip too (from October through mid-May when I switch it with our pontoon boat for the Summer), but it's in fresh water (Shasta Lake), and covered. But here's how I'd deal with your two problems:
Flushing: ****************************************************
I'd get one of those flushing bags recently discussed here on this site and flush the engines one at a time (unless you want to buy two bags) with fresh water from the dock (I assume you have fresh water available) using a hose/outlet available nearby. Just fit the bag down over the shaft, start the motor, and run fresh water into the bag and flush the salt water out of the bag and engine.
You probably also have a hose fitting on the engine, but leaving the motor shaft down in the water with the hose attached would still bring salt water up via the pump.
At the end of the flushing period, I'd simultaneously tilt the motor up and shut it off, being sure not to run the motor dry for any length of time. If the motor tilts high enough to stay clear of the water and waves, just leave it out of the water, remove the bag, and proceed with the other motor.
If salt water contact is probable, then you have to either live with it, which would affect the lower end mostly (electrolysis), or leave the bag on and tie it up at a level so as to leave freshwater in it with the top high enough to keep salt water out. I'm not sure if the bags are deep enough for this.
Occasionally, I'd add a salt flushing/removing agent like Salt Away in the bag to clean out the motor, but not leave the solution it in the bag afterward unless you talk with a Technical Rep from the Salt Away manufacturer to see if it is advised. Might be corrosive in it's own way.
If the motors don't quite clear the water, see what you can do to shift some weight around inside the boat and raise the stern.
One of the culprits to getting the tails of the motors to clear the water is the inclination of the transom backwards.
If you must leave the lower units in contact with salt water, definitely try not to have shore power attached for continuous battery charging, as the system grounds the entire boat, including the motors, and stay voltage electrolysis in the harbor can eat up metal many times faster than just leaving the units in place in the water. Grounding the engines makes them into giant charged electrodes! Be sure to watch the corrosion on your sacrificial electrodes in any case.
In dealing with this problem, you can see the value of a Hydro-Hoist in totally floating the boat up clear and out of the water, which also solves the bottom paint issue.
You can also see the simplicity of keeping the boat in dry storage on the trailer, especially in a covered inside enviornment.
Rain Water Collection: *****************************************
This is one of the ALL-TIME CLASSIC C-Dory Discussion Issues.
Water, including rainwater, tends to collect forward towards the cabin bulkhead instead of at the rear bilge well under the engines. So how do you remove this water?
Some boats in the past were equipped with a bilge pump well and pump off to the starboard side just inside and forward under the galley. I'm not sure if the new boats also have this feature. There is an opening to allow the water into this well/compartment, and a Rule Platinum 1100 gph automatic pump is given the task of continuously checking the compartment for water, then pumping it overboard. This requires that you leave the pump on continuously when you're not present during the rainy season. This, in turn, seems to require battery charging if the absent period extends over long periods of weeks or months. Manufacturer's specs say the pump can tend it's duties for several weeks without charging as long as monumental pump-outs are not necessary. A solar charging set up could extend this service period indefinitely, at least theoretically.
Personally, I'd want to go look at the boat after any really big storm, period. Just insecure, I guess, but who wants to leave a new $60,000+ toy out to fend for itself for long periods? Would you buy a new Corvette and leave it on it's own in a storage yard for weeks on end?
A much better solution would be to cover the cockpit and keep the rain water out as much as possible. A mooring cover would probably be the least expensive solution. Just be sure it fits tight enough to shed most all of the water, which naturally wants to pool in the depressed center if the cover is not tight enough. Some types of boats require supporting ribs to keep the center up. Perhaps a couple of coolers stacked in the middle of the cockpit or something similar would substitute here.
Perhaps Steve at Gunther's could point you toward a local canvas shop for a cover, but you could also very possibly have one made cheaper by someone in the Pacific NorthWest that already has patterns and usually can afford to do the work for less than Bay Area prices. You can probably mount the snap fittings on the hull yourself if given a pattern and/or advice on how to do so by the maker. You could also go up to a C-Brat Get-Together and have the cover installed while you're there!
If you're more interested in going further and investing in a full Bimini top with side curtains and the like, this would be another alternative, though both more expensive and probably necessitate full professional installation.
I'm sure others will offer further advice on these topics and that this limited foray into these two problems is not all inclusive. Be sure to look up as many related topics in the Library and with the Search Engines as well as the same on the C-Dog site. Every issue like this branches out into a myriad of related ones just like a giant spider web.
Hope we've got you started on your way!!! Joe.
