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Last boating day of a most unusual season... and some shocking numbers... YIKES

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goldnrod24

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Yesterday was the day. My daughter, SIL and 2 grandkids were hoping for one final boat ride of the season. Despite the grey seen in the first photo, as you can see from the smiles, it was huge fun. The sun peeked out a bit for the second photo and it was taken after they were in the chilly water!

My hour meter doesn't lie. Only 13 running hours this wacky summer. And my calculator doesn't lie either. Adding payments, fuel, insurance and winterizing/summerizing costs and then dividing by this 13 hours means I spent $335 per running hour this summer!!!!!!!!

Now, we all know that we enjoy our boats while anchored, too, so there were many more hours of fun this summer than 13. Accord to my 2020 boat log, we took 9 boat rides this season. That comes out to $484 per ride!!!!!!!

I think I'd better put the calculator down and enjoy these photos. They make it all worthwhile.

Here's to hoping the 2021 boating season is much more active.

Last boating day of 2020.JPGA & A on the last boating day of 2020.jpg
 
Awesome!
We hope to get a couple more hours out on ours, probably end up with 125+ “running” hours this year, which equates to probably 400 “boat” time hours ... :)
 
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Great times! Thank you for sharing.
 
I guess living in a mild climate like Portland, Oregon has its benefits. Our winters might hit 20 degrees for a week and maybe 3-4 inches of snow total in average year. The rest of the time in high 30's to low 50's. I was told by Bennington dealer to just add winter fuel stabilizer to fuel tank that is under half full after last trip of summer. Run it enough to have treated fuel in engine injection system. Leave outboard all the way down in operating vertical position and it will self drain. Turn off battery switch. Trickle charge batteries a few times over winter. Done! Ours is on trailer and backed under 14' W x 40' L x 12' tall walls VersaTube kit RV shelter so stays under a roof. Change quality oil and filter at maximum 100 hours. Put mooring cover on it when entire inside bone dry. If you are only putting on 30 or less hours a year, I think some professional "winterizing" in mild climate is overkill. Of course eventually needs lower unit oil change, water pump impeller, fuel filters, spark plug change, etc. Keep track of hours and service per manufacturer specs. We only use in freshwater. I bought my 2013 22 SLX in 2017 and traded it in February 2020 and was just coming up on the 100 hour since dealer did oil change before we bought it. No service costs at all. This used 2017 22 SSRCX had 29.5 hours in February (dealer changed oil as they routinely do on trade ins before reselling) and now about 50 hours total after summer use. Am I so wrong in my service strategy? Fuel injection and electronic ignition solves so many old carburetor and choke issues that used to be common with outboards. I welcome your opinions.
 
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jhill said:
I guess living in a mild climate like Portland, Oregon has its benefits. Our winters might hit 20 degrees for a week and maybe 3-4 inches of snow total in average year. The rest of the time in high 30's to low 50's. I was told by Bennington dealer to just add winter fuel stabilizer to fuel tank that is under half full after last trip of summer. Run it enough to have treated fuel in engine injection system. Leave outboard all the way down in operating vertical position and it will self drain. Turn off battery switch. Trickle charge batteries a few times over winter. Done! Ours is on trailer and backed under 14' W x 40' L x 12' tall walls VersaTube kit RV shelter so stays under a roof. Change quality oil and filter at maximum 100 hours. Put mooring cover on it when entire inside bone dry. If you are only putting on 30 or less hours a year, I think some professional "winterizing" in mild climate is overkill. Of course eventually needs lower unit oil change, water pump impeller, fuel filters, spark plug change, etc. Keep track of hours and service per manufacturer specs. We only use in freshwater. I bought my 2013 22 SLX in 2017 and traded it in February 2020 and was just coming up on the 100 hour since dealer did oil change before we bought it. No service costs at all. This used 2017 22 SSRCX had 29.5 hours in February (dealer changed oil as they routinely do on trade ins before reselling) and now about 50 hours total after summer use. Am I so wrong in my service strategy? Fuel injection and electronic ignition solves so many old carburetor and choke issues that used to be common with outboards. I welcome your opinions.
Click to expand...

I encourage you to cut and paste your post and create a new one with a title such as "What do you think of my Service/Winterizing Strategy?" You will get many more views than my post which isn't technical at all. Hiding it here may keep your questions less visable than creating another thread.
 
Funny thing, I was comparing the cost all year to the cost of renting per day (about $450 most local Marina’s), so we sqeaked under that number, but hard to put a price on those memories.
 
Priceless!
 
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