New Boater - Hamlin Lake, Michigan, lots of questions.

[Dsqrd909]

Great forum with lots of info.

About 4 weeks ago, we bought a used 2014 S20 with a Yamaha 50. Boat was well cared for, but as with anything used, there are some things to fix and some things to buy.

1. Squeaky steering wheel. It sounds like it's right under the hub and not from any cables chafing. Any risk in spraying some WD-40 there?
2. Wish there were cleats at the bow and not just an "eye".
3. The original depth finder (Garmin Echo 100) has a frozen screen but does show depth. However the circuit breaker for the ACC switch keeps tripping. Will have to troubleshoot that this weekend.
4. Tried cleaning pontoons. They are clean of anything that would slow the boat but don't look good. Tried scotch pads but the small area I tried showed lots of scratch marks. I have read lots of the other threads about shining them and will try that after the season.


Overall the family has loved it so far.

 

[goldnrod24]

Enjoy your new boat. You are in a wonderful part of Michigan. Have fun.

 

[Michiman]

Welcome to the family! I think you're really going to enjoy her. As for your issues, I'd personally try the WD-40 on the hub (avoiding the cables, of course). I put WD-40 on almost everything other than popcorn. If you have room, adding a couple of nice cleats shouldn't be too difficult. My 2016 has the same Echo 101 so I can speak from experience that you're not missing much without the display. If you don't have under-skinning, it should be easy to replace. As far as the physical appearance of your toons, some folks on this forum have been pretty successful in polishing them to near mirror results but keeping them that way is a lot of work. Several of them also wouldn't do it again because it's a hell of a job. Use the search bar at the top to read their stories. Me, coming from a fiberglass boat that shined like no tomorrow to a pontoon, I was quickly disappointed. However, folks around here talked me down from the ledge. Now I just enjoy her from the inside and largely ignore her ugly tubes. For the record, it appears that some toons do better with acid wash than others, so don't be surprised if that doesn't work out like you were expecting.

 

[Dsqrd909]

As far as the physical appearance of your toons, some folks on this forum have been pretty successful in polishing them to near mirror results but keeping them that way is a lot of work. Several of them also wouldn't do it again because it's a hell of a job. Use the search bar at the top to read their stories. Me, coming from a fiberglass boat that shined like no tomorrow to a pontoon, I was quickly disappointed. However, folks around here talked me down from the ledge. Now I just enjoy her from the inside and largely ignore her ugly tubes. For the record, it appears that some toons do better with acid wash than others, so don't be surprised if that doesn't work out like you were expecting.

Thanks Michiman. After reading those posts, I am firmly in the "not worth the effort, risk or expense" camp in polishing or acid washing the toons. I will just keep them clean enough to not affect performance.

 

[Michiman]

A wise choice IMO! My Benny sits in the lake all season so I keep a couple of "carwash" mitts onboard to wipe the toons down every couple of weeks. Thankfully, our lake water doesn't seem to generate a lot of slim build-up that would require more frequent cleaning.