Is 4-5 weeks to long for a boat without starting on.

[alain.lpa87]

Hi,
New boater here, never owned a boat before never even drive it one before. 2 month ago we (my wife and myself) decided to have some fun and leaving in Miami a boat was a great idea so we got a Yamaha AR220, it came out of the dealer with a full tank (87 octane with ethanol), the first 4 weeks we went out every weekend and enjoy it a lot mostly just driving to a sandbar and spending the day (im not confortable yet with my driving skills and better not talk about my docking ones ) but my question is, after those 4 weeks of going out every weekend life happened and we haven't been able to take it out again, so the boat has been seating in the parking (outdoor) with half a tank of gas or less and im afraid this can harm my new toy, i have read a lot about ethanol vs non and it seams that opinions varies and everyone recommends some king of fuel stabilizer when storing the boat for long period of time as well as a full tank, but is those recommendation for looonggg period of time like winters or it will also applied for 4-6 weeks out of the water, also if there is anyone of south florida that can tell me if we winterize this toys down here or we do any kind of preparation for Nov-March month that seams the only one i wouldn't use it.

thanks in advance for any help/comments, and sorry if this was already asked, im new to boats as im new to forums (this is my first ever forum)

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

You’ll be fine. When you fill up just have some Star Tron Marine additive and add that in per the instructions.

Just follow what the manual says about long term storage and you will be fine. The one thing you will definitely want to be doing is flushing with Salt Away after each use in salt water. Salt Away is also an easy way to clean the salt residue off of your boat as well.

 

[alain.lpa87]

You’ll be fine. When you fill up just have some Star Tron Marine additive and add that in per the instructions.

Just follow what the manual says about long term storage and you will be fine. The one thing you will definitely want to be doing is flushing with Salt Away after each use in salt water. Salt Away is also an easy way to clean the salt residue off of your boat as well.

thank for the reply. yes we do flush every engine every time we go out, 5 min just with fresh water and 1 min with salt away and use the remaining salt away in the nose devise to put in the entire boat in and out, them we rinde the boat with fresh water again and dry it out, sometimes depending if is to late i just let it seat overnight after the last fresh water rinse and dry it out the next morning before putting the cover and drive it to the parking lote we storage it (i cant keep it on driveway on weekdays because of the homeowner association) also depending on how dirty it gets (because of our kid and friends kids) i put boat soap to clean some of the deck areas.

On the cleaning notes our came with the marine rug (it gets attached with clicks in every corner) i notices every time i clean the boat i need to remove it and let it dry on the backyard or something because if not the lower end that goas directly to the deck does not breathe and them the entire deck and the rug never get dry down there, is this normal, is there any solution beside remove it every time till everything is dry

 

[Murf'n'surf]

You'll be fine for 2-3 months on ethanol fuel just sitting. I would switch to non ethanol to make things more enjoyable -- not as much worry.

As for your carpet, get rid of it and run bare floor or get yourself a Sea-Dek marine mat set up.

 

[alain.lpa87]

You'll be fine for 2-3 months on ethanol fuel just sitting. I would switch to non ethanol to make things more enjoyable -- not as much worry.

As for your carpet, get rid of it and run bare floor or get yourself a Sea-Dek marine mat set up.

thanks, can i mix them up and start adding non ethanol till the ethanol one is completely eliminated because there is still almost half a tank of ethanol fuel in there

 

[Murf'n'surf]

thanks, can i mix them up and start adding non ethanol till the ethanol one is completely eliminated because there is still almost half a tank of ethanol fuel in there

I did mixes many times with no problem. The only time i would say no, is if you were going to store it for a long period. Then you would want to burn as much of the ethanol fuel off.

 

[alain.lpa87]

I did mixes many times with no problem. The only time i would say no, is if you were going to store it for a long period. Then you would want to burn as much of the ethanol fuel off.

got it, i do have a WaWa gas station and Racetrack relatively close that run non ethanol but the guys from the dealer told me that they filled up with ethanol one and that was the manufacturer recommendation but i think ill be switching over non-ethanol, maybe those few more bucks will be worth it down the road preserving the boat.

also, should i use stabilizer for long periods out like Nov-May even if im storing full tank with non ethanol, or the fact that is non ethanol is enough and there is no need for stabilizer also what is fog the engine and do i even need it down here in miami (i hear that on jetboatpilot video about winterization )

 

[Bluewater272]

10% Ethanol is fine, non-ethanol is a significant cost increase (and hassle in most locations) if you're only doing it to prolong stability for short periods of non-use. If you think this will be a frequent occurrence, just use Stabil when you refuel - it will also carry you for your "winter" period.

 

[alain.lpa87]

10% Ethanol is fine, non-ethanol is a significant cost increase (and hassle in most locations) if you're only doing it to prolong stability for short periods of non-use. If you think this will be a frequent occurrence, just use Stabil when you refuel - it will also carry you for your "winter" period.

so you mean, continue to using 87 with 10% ethanol and put in stabil (every time i refill and that way im set for either long or short periods, making sure i always refill before a long period) if that is the case i prefer to do it like this

 

[Murf'n'surf]

I have run many boats and PWC's for years and never added stabilizer in Florida. Ethanol free fuel is the standard on the water and as you said readily available in South Florida --- you can't go wrong with it.

 

[Ericd]

Personal experience, not an expert…I’m a snowbird in SWFL. Burned ethanol fuel and left boat full for six months during summer. Would always start with a couple of cranks upon return. Last year I added STA-BIL with my fill for storage. Took the boat out last month and started first crank. I’m going to keep using it.

 

[Neutron]

Ethanol fuel has roughly 3 month shelf life before it starts to degrade, so for any fuel that might not be used up completely in 4 to 6 months use stabilizer. It will give you at least another year depending on which stabilizer you use