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Keeping my Boat at a Marina

patcraver

patcraver

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Hi Everyone. I have researched local marinas and I found on that will be perfect for me. Is it ok to leave our boat in the water all summer? I know some algae will grow and I will have to pull the boat a few times throughout the year to clean everything thoroughly. I just want to make sure we aren't making a bad decision leaving it in the water all the time. Thank you in advance!
 
Tens of thousands do this every year and many on here do as well. Remove any valuables. I live on a lake but if I was keeping mine in a marina I'd pick a slip away from most boat/foot traffic.
 
Just make your first stop a toon cleaning stop.  Issue every passenger their own ScotchBrite pad.  Won't take but a few minutes to get the bathtub ring on the toons clean.   Chances are you'll use your boat more often if you've left it in the water--ready to go.

Is your boat going to be completely undercover?  I wouldn't want my boat left out in the weather, as they'll last so much longer if kept dry.
 
I am also at a marina and mine never left the water until October last season ,I had no problems .

I would also recommend Sharkhide . I did wipe mine down once or twice a week at the sand bar .

I also covered with the mooring cover every time ,besides the protecting from the elements ,there is also the gull issue .

You can also help protect the cover with 303 fabric guard .

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_4/181-2682171-0523920?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=303%20high%20tech%20fabric%20guard&sprefix=303+%2Caps%2C239

I also use it on the carpet .
 
Mine will stay in the water for the season at camp. As others have posted, wander around with a scrub brush or pad at the beach and give the pontoons a thorough cleaning when you haul it.

A big nod to the provided cover. Keeps all sorts of crap out of and off the boat.
 
Patcraver, mine is in the water at our cabin all the time.  Truthfully I hardly ever touch the toons and they really don't look that bad at all.  I clean the hell out of them when I take the boat out in the fall and apply sharkhide every spring.  Early spring I hit 27 WOT and by fall it has fallen to 23-24 but I am not a speed guy we usually cruise our 29 mile lake about 10 - 12 mph during the day and 4mph for nighttime cruises.  HOWEVER even after stating our preferred speed I kick myself for not having bought the F150
 
It's not too late. Only money!
 
To get rid of the gulls criscross some fish line over the top. If you can have it about 3" high. The gulls will hit the line and leave and soon learn to stay away from your boat.
 
I kept mine in the water last season. depending on your body of water, scum can collect rapidly. Pay close attention... A quote from Ron Burgundy "Boy, that escalated quickly. I mean, that really got out of hand fast!" comes to mind.
 
Ours is in water April to October. Once algae starts, I scrub toons every couple weeks. Pull up to island, anchor in shallows, jump in with scotchbrite pad, 20 minutes later, I'm done. I found out its a lot easier doing it every couple weeks vs. waiting till it gets thick. It's a lot harder to clean off the thick scum. We uncover/cover ours EVERY day. 5 minutes off, 7-8 minutes on. If you do it, it just becomes habit.

Our boat still looks brand spanking new.
 
Thanks for the great advice everyone. I feel much more confident leaving it at a marina now. Should I have the dealer apply the sharkhide before I pick the boat up?
 
Applying sharkhide is certainly something you can do yourself but I pay the marina where I winter store to do it for me
 
You could also see if there is a valet service at your marina.

We originally looked for garaged storage for our new boat during the off season, and a slip during boating season, but it turned out the marina had garaged storage, year round, which included valet service (you call an hour ahead and they put it in a slip, and put it away when you are done), and that was pretty much the same price per year as me storing it at an off site storage place.

Pricing and options are never the same everywhere, but we love the valet service.  Just as convenient as a slip, but keeps the new boat out of the storms and hot sun.  And it's locked up in a garage, so we just leave all our crap in it.  They even put the cover on for us.  Something you might check into.
 
Dan,

Do you tip them for the service, or is it just ready and no one there when u use it? We were gonna do this at river but figured every in and out we'd have to tip so that starts to get expensive as much as we use our toon. Then the river is skanky water too, so that sealed the deal.
 
highpond said:
To get rid of the gulls criscross some fish line over the top. If you can have it about 3" high. The gulls will hit the line and leave and soon learn to stay away from your boat.
Click to expand...
Another cheap n easy trick is run string line from Bimini down to front pole support vent. Tie plastic Wally store type bags every couple feet. Kinda crappy looking, but better than the "other" crappy look on your mooring cover.
 
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It is ready to go and no one is there.  The dock boys are mostly college kids home for the summer.  The only time we even talk to them (unless we go up to the office specifically) is when we come in close to closing time and they run down to get our boat out and in the garage quick so they can go drinking.
 
Regarding "scrubbing" the toons -- how rough of a pad should be used?  The Scotch-Brite pads seem to run the gamut from non-scratch to heavy duty, etc.  Is there a concern with scratching the toons?  The water I'll be running/keeping the boat in can be pretty dirty and I'll want to keep the waterline marks beaten back, but they don't have to be perfect.  

I'll have Sharkhide on them so hopefully the cleaning will be easier, but do I need to worry about scrubbing off the sharkhide?
 
I used a hard plastic bristled brush. Not sure if there was a stiffness specification on the package, but it seemed to work well, did not remove the sharkhide.
 
If you getting the SharkHide  all you need is sponge and a brush for anything stubborn .I wipe mine every time we go out ,only takes a few minutes at the sandbar
 
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I use a red grill scotchbrite with handle I got at Home Depot. Green ones seemed too soft. My waterline is always there but the scum isn't. Only way I could probably get rid of waterline mark is sand/polish and it does not bother me enough to do that.
 
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