Wet Moorage in the salt

J

Jazzmanic

New member
As promised, I have a few questions regarding wet moorage.

1) I've heard conflicting views about this so I want to ask. I have shore power on the boat. Is it ok to keep the shore power plugged into the boat full-time for battery charging?

2) How do most flush out the engine? I did a search and saw that most just tilt up the motor and either use "ear muffs", a screw-on flushing attachment or even flush bags (I do have one).

3) Cleaning the boat. I'm spoiled using a biodegradeable cleaner now. I guess it's just water only in marinas. Do most people hop in the dinghy to clean the waterside of the boat?

Wow, I feel like a newbie again.

Peter
 
Hi Peter,

I've kept my boat in the water year-round for the past three years in Annapolis. In answer to your questions:

1) I keep the shore power plugged in all the time.

2) I flush the engine about every 3rd or 4th time out. On the Honda 150 I can connect a marina hose with fresh water directly to it.

3) I hose the boat completely off after almost every outing unless we get back to the marina really late. Then I hose it off at some other time.

You should really enjoy having the boat in the water as you can just hop in and go. The biggest challenge I have found in keeping the boat in the water is waxing the hull.

Thanks, Dick
 
Hi Peter,

1) Shore power plugged in whenever we're at the dock

2) Flush the engine almost every outing when we're home; I tilt the motor up and use the muff. When out cruising, the motor flushing happens much less. I once talked to a Honda rep who said (off record), "You see all those commercial operators with Hondas - how often do you see them flushing the engine? Having said that, the official line is flush it each time."

3) I rinse the boat after each outing when we're at our own dock. Every once in a while, I'll use a little soap. Whenever the boat comes out, it gets a very thorough bath and wax. Again, when cruising, if we're in a marina and they allow it, I'll rinse down the boat, especially the windows and window tracks.

We also have a squeeze bottle of vinegar/water onboard to keep the windows clean.

When at a marina and we aren't around, I keep the window covers on the boat and the camperback on.

Best wishes,
Jim
 
Peter,
You can flush your Suzuki 90 by attaching a hose to a fitting on the port side of the engine. You do this with the engine down and not running. It is described in your owners manual. The 9.9 may also have a fitting for flushing, although it may be of a different type. Again, your manual should detail this.
Some folks put a garden hose type fitting that can be closed off and left attached to the motor for easy hose attachment. I just remove the screw in plug and use a garden hose snap type connector each time I flush. The only precaution to take is in the winter when it gets below freezing, is to make sure you let all of the water drain out of the system before you raise the engine. I have had my boat in the water during 20 degree temps and have never had a problem. I have the disadvantage of having to leave my motor up as the boat bottoms in the muck at about a 2 foot tide. If it gets super cold, you could leave your motor down in the 40 degree water and have no worries.

Get yourself a good quality long handled brush for cleaning the boat. You will find that just fresh water rinsing cleans the boat well, except for the waterline where gunk will accumulate. The brush will clean this off.
Cleaning a boat from a dinghy, for me, is an activity that quickly becomes a physics re-lesson in Newton's 3rd law.

The topic of shore power is pretty complex, in that it involves your whole marina and how well it's grounding system works. Watch your zincs, especially on your trim tabs. They will be an indicator if something is amiss. You don't have to be connected to shorepower to have a problem. Most good marinas are proactive about this, but some are not. A single boat with a non standard system can do some serious damage in short order.

Maybe someone else can address this since my knowledge is limited to just knowing it can be a problem.

Also, you should Goggle "Corrosion in Marinas, The Hot Dock" by David Pascoe. This is good information for anyone who uses a marina, for a day or for permanent moorage.

You are going to love being on the water! To me it is worth the extra care and cleaning. And, you will get many more years of use out of your trailer!

Robbi
 
Ditto on most of the above.

We use flush fittings on our 90s with a splitter for the engine flush with salt away every use and it goes really quick and smooth.

We also hose the boat down after each outing with any significant spray.

We can use "green" cleaning products at the marina in small doses and I use a long handled brush to give the boat a wash occaisionally. We also use an electric pressure washer a few times a year and that is truely the most effective. I have done some waxing in the slip and I do use the dink to get around the other side. Sometimes when we are at anchor relaxing, I do some waxing from the dink as well because that is relaxing to me.

We are plugged in all the time and you should really consider putting a galvanic isolator into your AC electrical system (in not there already) to minimize your exposure to bad wiring in other boats or in the marina feed. We keep a tiny dehumidifier running 24/7 at the dock and also a small thermostatic heater set to about 35 degrees on the floor under the dinette in the winter. Our canvas back is on most of the time at the dock but we take the sides home and clean/treat it each summer and leave it off for a couple of months.

Nothing but success so far!

If you have a few options on slips at the marina, carefully consider how you will be approaching and if you will back in or not and evaluate all the hazards around each slip. We didn't really have this chance but we got lucky and these are important details I would never overlook in the future.

Greg
 
I would like to chime in on the covered moorage comment.

It is unbelievable how things corrode in our wet coast climate (wind, rain, salt spray)

That is the reason my boat is in my front yard except for a couple weeks a year.

My last boat a 2002 Arima was 6 years old when I bought it. The gel coat faded, the saddle tanks not working, the electrical switch for the raw water wash completely disintegrated, barnacles on the metal parts underwater.

It had been in the water it's whole life. I said then I would never buy another moorage kept boat.

That being said I am considering bottom paint and moorage in the summer only, for convenience.

:smile
 
I agree that having covered moorage makes all the difference and we wouldn't keep the boat exposed because of the weather wear but also the difficulty of maintenance and service which is what a boat needs to keep all those items from degrading over time whether they are in the water or not.

I find that the salt water storage requires an owner to be present and vigilant at regular intervals and being able to use the boat year-round aids in that vigilance. It also quickly conforms a person into using only the best materials and doing "jobs" the right way. The salt makes shoddy work "shine" really fast the teaches the finer elements of galvanic corrosion very quickly. I think it would be hard to do without a love of boats/water and a commitment to keep the boat in solid working order and ready for use. I love just going to the marina and doing work in such a scenic/quiet place. Beats the hell out of the garage! Unfortunately, so many of the boats I see kept in the water do not get that level of attention. But they aren't C-dorys so maybe they don't deserve it. :lol:
 
We'll see how the uncovered moorgage works this year. We had a chance to moor it at Edmonds Marina under cover but it's a little farther up north, fighting that north end traffic and such. I have romantic notions about hopping on the boat with the sun in our faces, watching the sunset while sipping our favorite adult beverages... Not so romanitic with a roof over our heads. Time will tell.

I'm sure I'll enjoy working on the boat at the marina as you mentioned Greg. Probably more so now that the boat will be in the same city we live in. Many times in the summer, I took that 1 hour 45 minute drive up to Anacortes to work on the boat. The idea of having the boat so close to home sounds good. :thup
 
Peter,

There are few things cooler than being able to go to your moored boat at a moments notice and be out in the water. Congrats.

1. I'm sure it is the case, but as long as your charger is 'smart' and turns itself off when the battery is fully charged, then plugged in is the way to go.

Additionally, I 2nd the idea of keeping a small heater/dehumidifier on the boat with a window opened a crack to allow air to circulate.

Stray current damage for a fiberglass boat with an outboard is minimal if you keep your motor raised. In most cases, the only metal you have in water are your trim tabs. Check the zincs everytime you haul your boat out to clean the bottom. Your trim tabs should have zincs if they don't already.

My moorage neighbor had an i/o with a Bravo 3 drive which disintigrated within a year (had to be replaced). I had no damage just 10 feet away. He couldn't raise his outdrive.

2. My boat had a 150 with the hose adapter. I flushed after every use. It became a habit and I hooked it up first thing as I went about cleaning up the boat, so it wasn't taking any longer than I would have spent normally.

3. I sprayed her down after every use. 5 minutes with a hose to get the salt off of everything. Clean her/wax her when she gets hauled out 2 times a year for bottom cleaning.

Also RainX on all windows. OMG it is great stuff!

4. Covered moorage is best, but if you don't have it, don't ignore the boat as mentioned earlier. Any moored boat is sitting on top of 100% humity :-) all the time. If left alone, it doesn't take long for moisture to find its way in.

My boat also seemed to collect rain water in the cockpit and not drain it as nicely as I would like. Since you can't intentonially raise the bow of a boat in the water to help with drainage, I kept the canvas up all the time. It's rougher on the canvass, but the cockpit stayed cleaner and dryer.

I'm excited for you.

-Sarge
 
Sarge, Not sure of your boat set up, but when my motor is raised so that the lower unit is out of the water, the motor mount is at least 4 inches deep in the water. That is where the largest motor zinc is located.

Robbi
 
Robbi,

Good point about the motor mount. All the more reason to haul the boat out regularly to clean the bottom and check zincs.


-Sarge
 
Here are my .02

1) I've heard conflicting views about this so I want to ask. I have shore power on the boat. Is it ok to keep the shore power plugged into the boat full-time for battery charging?

>>I never leave shore power on unless I am on the boat. Once at 10pm we heard a sizzle and the smell of smoke. My fuse blew and I shut off the shore power to inspect. One of my wires in the panel had corroded, caused resistance, heat, and voila. Nothing caught fire but I was glad I was there. It was my 2nd season on Napoleon.

2) How do most flush out the engine? I did a search and saw that most just tilt up the motor and either use "ear muffs", a screw-on flushing attachment or even flush bags (I do have one).

>>Suzuki and other contemporary engines offer a hose port up top that will flush right through the outdrive. I flush my engines after every cruise unless I know I'm returning the next day. In my case I have to power away from the dock to my actual floating mooring. I switch the engine I use (I only use 1) to minimize the reintroduction of salt water. Once flushed I trim up and out of the water. It is not perfect because I have to run salt water back into the engine but minimizes the salt. Also, it's best to flush when the engines are still warm from the cruise.


3) Cleaning the boat. I'm spoiled using a biodegradeable cleaner now. I guess it's just water only in marinas. Do most people hop in the dinghy to clean the waterside of the boat?

>>I fresh water rinse after every outing unless I return late at night or plan to cruise the following day.

--Matt
 
Just to address the shore power cord issue. There have been a number of boat fires recently, where the fire was traced to the male plug in the side of the boat. This needs to be inspected at least every 6 months. The outer flange of the female plug, needs to be tightly secured to the fitting on the boat, so there is no motion. Also when the boat is plugged or un-plugged the power should be off at the dock breaker, so there is no arcing at the connection. As arcing occurs, carbon builds up, and the resistance increases. Increases in resistance cause more current, and thus more heat.

We have always kept our large boats plugged in full time--and never had any problems. But also check for galvanic problems. Especially where there is an aluminum engine bracket such as on the Tom Cat.

Another way of dealing with the engine flush is to pump some "Salt a Way" into the passages when you shut the engine down, thru the flushing system. We have usually washed out our outboard motors after use, when possible. Hondas seem to be a bit more susceptable to corrosion than some other motors. I also had a Yahama, which I purchased used, and it had some salt build up.
 
I keep mine on a trailer for day use but having it ready at the dock sure increases your boat usage.

Many of the water kept boats are stored on hoists. This along with the house greatly reduces maintenance compared to a wet hull. Its also easier and more effective for flushing motors. Its another investment that gives a great return on maintenance and cost can be mostly recovered when your done with it by both the sale of the hoist and the sale of the hull without some of the problems associated with staying in the water full time.

Our local sheriff and coast guard rescues boats are stored on hoists.
 
This is a very useful thread to me. I'll be putting C-sweetness in at Squalicum Harbor sometime this month. I feel that I'll be a little bit better prepared. I now need to practice a bit more maneuvering the tomcat in close spaces.
 
Hi Peter. We did water moorage for several years at Skyline in Anacortes. It was wonderfully convenient in the summertime so I'd highly recommend it then. Wintertime was mixed for us. My input: 1. a flushing bag was not a viable option for us. The process was a pain to complete and put me at risk of rolling over the transom and into the water. I abandoned the practice after 1-2 attempts. If you have or can have installed a flushing inlet on your motor you'll be miles ahead. 2. Select a slip near a hose bib if you can, and assess the slip's profile with respect to access, elbow room, adjacent boats' shape/deployment of fenders, proximity to physical hazards, etc. Wintertime means more open slips to choose from. 3. If there's any way to keep the boat on the hard for at least 1-2 months each year, especially during the winter months, it would be easier on the boat. Some types of maintenance are easy in the water (small items, especially interior) and some are much more difficult. Spreading out tools/supplies or anything that makes noise/creates dust, etc., doesn't work well in a marina. Stuff that rolls off the deck or drops from your hand ends up lost in the water obviously. I found that maintenance was overall more difficult in the water, and that water moorage was harder on the boat. 4. You may already have made these modifications: The cleat, fairlead, springline and fender arrangement is different for dock landing/mooring than for trailer landing/storage. As in almost all boating matters, a simple, easily repeatable protocol is well worth the up front investment. 5. Specific to the CD22, I found it difficult not to have some water sitting in the cockpit on an ongoing basis, which bothered me a bit. I guess keep the batteries charged, keep the bilge pump clear, and keep a small scoop/bucket/sponge kit in the cockpit. Most importantly, enjoy the wonderful convenience and access that you'll get with this particular choice. Best, Mike.
 
Again, thanks for all the responses. Not to beat a dead horse but there is one more issue I have a question about. The way our Suzuki 9.9 kicker is mounted on the mini-jacker mount, the corner of the skeg has always dragged in the water about an inch or so. I paid close attention last weekend as it was sitting in the water at the dock and it is still the case that the corner will permanently sit in the water. I looked at the settings on the kicker and it seemed like it was adjusted at the last position and could not be adjusted further.

Question: While wet moored, do you think that this could be a big problem in terms of being eaten away by electrolysis? I'm assuming there's no way to put a sacrificial anode on the skeg, affects performance right?

Also, can anyone think of an alternative short of me buying a $300 Garelick mount that would allow me to get it out of the water?

Peter
 
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