In Water Marina Storage Advice

[Oscarab78]

My wife and I have decided to keep our boat at our local marina. We chose to not spring for the lift so the boat will be in the water. Any tips, tricks, or must do’s/don’ts would be appreciated. I have a 2017 Scarab 195 Open with 28 hours on it.

 

[marcham]

Fresh or salt water?

 

[Oscarab78]

Sorry failed to mention that it will be in fresh water on Eagle Mountain Lake in Fort Worth, TX

 

[fireflymedic]

Hopefully you have electricity available. I would get a battery tender/charger and back up bilge pump hookup directly to battery with a float switch. Maybe put an alarm on float switch while you're at it. I believe some people like to take it out of water once a month to wash hull.

 

[Babin Farms]

Make sure you put the cover on it after your done for the day. It helps save the seats from the UV rays and keeps the inside cleaner. We left our cover off one night thinking "we'll be right back out tomorrow" and we'll never do that again. Bugs on the seats from the morning dew and then dried to become stuck to the seats. I don't mind cleaning the boat but for a couple minutes of work, it's well worth putting the cover on.

 

[tabbibus]

Echo above, shore power for a battery charger and always cover up. Every few months take her out of the water and wash the bottom, otherwise you'll get a lot of algea growth. You could do just a good wash once a year but it may be a pain in the butt

 

[renrab]

Scrub brushing the bottom from the water once a week or so will do wonders for the algea.

Wetslip mine all season long, usually yank it once in the middle of the season to powerwash and scrub.

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

If shore power isn't a convenient thing, I just purchased a solar panel based trickle charger instead. Besides cleaning it once in a while as everybody else has said, there isn't much to do. The cover is important. I like to wipe the hull down while I go swimming sometimes, but it won't remove any browning. That will have to wait until it's out of the water with a good acid based cleaner.

 

[Dean P]

That will have to wait until it's out of the water with a good acid based cleaner.

Toilet bowl cleaners work great for this.

 

[rkluck]

I had mine wet slipped for several years. It was a covered slip but I still keep the cover on her. I had power to run the charger. There was water there as well so clean up was easy. I took her out twice a year to clean the hull very good and do all the maintenance. We went out about every weekend and while the kids were playing I took a rag and wiped to hull as much as I could to keep clean. I found it best to back her in the slip. It was great for getting on and off and it also keep the ducks etc off of the back! We loved the convenience of it compared to going to the ramp. We could easily go at during the week etc.

 

[SoundsGood]

If shore power isn't a convenient thing, I just purchased a solar panel based trickle charger instead. Besides cleaning it once in a while as everybody else has said, there isn't much to do. The cover is important. I like to wipe the hull down while I go swimming sometimes, but it won't remove any browning. That will have to wait until it's out of the water with a good acid based cleaner.

What solar charger did you go with? Do you have any photos of how you set the panel? I just picked up a 2016 165 and I’m brand new to this. I’ll be keeping it in the water and would like to have some battery peace of mind. I tried to do as much searching and reading but couldn’t find your set up! Any help would be appreciated.

 

[zipper]

Make sure you have enough dock and spring lines of the right length and size. A bow and stern line and as many as 3 spring lines. Two crossing, or not if using a midship/dock cleat, on the side you dock on, stops fwd/rev movement of the boat. And one spring/dock line on the stern, keeping the boat away from the dock. A quick sketch on the way I tie up to the finger. The red lines are the way I tie up the Yamaha at the slip. The blue lines are an alternate way to run spring lines when there is no midship cleat, like on our Beneteau. There are a couple other ways to run them also running the length of the boat. ie. bow spring line from bow cleat running to stern dock cleat. When you tie up, you don't want the boat to be rubbing on the fenders against the dock. You want the fenders to be the last resort like if a line chaffes and breaks. The boat fenders should not be touching the dock with the boat tied up properly.

Having your own slip is WAY better than dealing with ramp people on the weekend. It is soooo much easier to just "go to the boat".


Edit: If the marina is new to you, look around to see if any body uses chaffe guards on their lines. It does not take much chaffing to wear through yacht braid. 3-strand is stronger and more durable. I replaced all the yacht braid lines on our Beneteau with 3-strand with chaffe guards and have had no issues since. One last thing, if you don't already know how...learn how to tie a cleat hitch, I have seen some fugly ones.

 

[tabbibus]

Make sure you have enough dock and spring lines of the right length and size. A bow and stern line and as many as 3 spring lines. Two crossing, or not if using a midship/dock cleat, on the side you dock on, stops fwd/rev movement of the boat. And one spring/dock line on the stern, keeping the boat away from the dock. A quick sketch on the way I tie up to the finger. The red lines are the way I tie up the Yamaha at the slip. The blue lines are an alternate way to run spring lines when there is no midship cleat, like on our Beneteau. There are a couple other ways to run them also running the length of the boat. ie. bow spring line from bow cleat running to stern dock cleat. When you tie up, you don't want the boat to be rubbing on the fenders against the dock. You want the fenders to be the last resort like if a line chaffes and breaks. The boat fenders should not be touching the dock with the boat tied up properly.

Having your own slip is WAY better than dealing with ramp people on the weekend. It is soooo much easier to just "go to the boat".
View attachment 117205

Edit: If the marina is new to you, look around to see if any body uses chaffe guards on their lines. It does not take much chaffing to wear through yacht braid. 3-strand is stronger and more durable. I replaced all the yacht braid lines on our Beneteau with 3-strand with chaffe guards and have had no issues since. One last thing, if you don't already know how...learn how to tie a cleat hitch, I have seen some fugly ones.

great outline. What if you dock bow first? I need to do this properly because I tend to always just make it tight and leave her against the fenders. Also, what if you are docking at the side of a dock, so you only have the finger and nothing else.

 

[zipper]

great outline. What if you dock bow first? I need to do this properly because I tend to always just make it tight and leave her against the fenders. Also, what if you are docking at the side of a dock, so you only have the finger and nothing else.

We dock both ways with both boats, depends on conditions. If the dock is the same set up I sketched, it is the same, except you use a bow spring line to keep the boat fenders off the dock. Without that spring line from a perpendicular dock, you will not keep the boat fenders from rubbing on the dock with lines, unless the current and wind favor you 100% of the time. In that situation where you tie up on only one side, people use these mooring whips with lines. https://jetboaters.net/threads/mooring-whips-with-narrow-dock.24110/

 

[Oscarab78]

Thanks for all the info, this had been very helpful. Wanted to update from my original post. Ive been keeping it wet slipped in my local fresh water marina. The only issue ive had is the God awful algae buildup. Ive had to take it out at least 2 times a month to give it a good power wash and i mean its an entire affair. First the powerwash then the scrub then the wax, took me 5 hours last time. The toilet bowl cleaner suggestion was great by the way. Here are a few pics from my slip.

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

I just go for a swim once a week and rub off the brown stuff build up with a good sponge. The light browning left over is taken care off by the cleaner whenever I happen to take the boat out of the water. My OCD wants it to be perfectly white... but I've learned to not sweat the small stuff. lol

 

[DRAT]

that's the cleanest marina i've ever seen, lol.

 

[Julian]

he only issue ive had is the God awful algae buildup. Ive had to take it out at least 2 times a month to give it a good power wash and i mean its an entire affair.

Yeah....the further south you are, the more algea that grows. This is why I bought an airdock, and why most people like to have a lift of some sort. Driving a dirty boats costs lots of money! When mine was filthy I'd have to go full throttle to get my boat up to 37.....this meant 1) more noise, but 2) lots more GAS in the entire range of speeds.

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

da hell... really @Julian ? lol What grows down south? Nevermind, I don't want to kow. I'll stick to my Canadian waters in that case...

 

[Julian]

da hell... really @Julian ? lol What grows down south? Nevermind, I don't want to kow. I'll stick to my Canadian waters in that case...

The only problem with those Canadian waters is they are in the wrong state for much of the year (a solid vs a liquid), and even in the liquid state they tend to be a little too "refreshing" for me! (as someone who spent many summers in Sioux Narrows ONT)