Taking Care of Your Boat

  

Nothing’s worse than having a boat sit in the yard all summer long. But, if you don’t take care of your boat, performing routine maintenance, that’s exactly what can happen. Don’t be the one stuck on land all summer. Take the time to maintain your boat, make sure your boat insurance is in order, and get out on the water.  Here are some things you should be sure to do on a regular basis:

• Clean your boat. This one should go without saying, but unfortunately, a lot of boat owners don’t invest even a few minutes in keeping their boat clean. Something as simple as spraying your boat off after you pull it out of the water can keep your boat in the water by avoiding the damage caused by long term exposure to the elements.

• Wax and paint your boat as needed. Make sure you use anti-fouling paint.

• Take care of your batteries. This is even more important for your boat than your car, because boat batteries by their very nature are exposed to more water and moisture. Keep the batteries clean and dry.

• Cover your boat when it’s out of the water. Why anyone would invest the few bucks you need for a boat cover after spending thousands of dollars on the boat itself is beyond us. It’s almost as bad as taking your boat out without any boat insurance.

• Flush your engine. Every time you bring the boat out of the water, you should flush the engine.

• Once per year, take your boat to a marine mechanic and have it looked over thoroughly. We know, this costs money, but it’s a lot cheaper than replacing the boat in most cases.

• Make sure your bilge pump is in working order before going out on the water. We hope you never have to use it, but when you do is a very bad time to discover that it isn’t working.

In short, take care of your boat and your boat will take care of making sure you have a good, safe time out on the water. Taking care of a boat the right way takes time and money, but in the end, it’ll be well worth it when you’re out on the lake and some other guy is sitting at home flipping through the channels with a boat he can’t use in the yard.