BOATING TIPS -- May 2000
Use It or ...

I hope that you’re not starting up your engine or hoisting your sails for the first time in six months on Opening Day, hoping you’ll be okay! I say this because recently I had the opportunity to witness an illustration of what can go wrong in this “out of sight, out of mind” scenario.

A really nice fellow, I would guess now about 62 years old, became ill five years ago, and was forced to give up boating. This April, he decided to finally take his large, old trawler down to Seattle to a dealer after five years of non-use, moored here in the harbor. He called me to assist him moving the vessel.

It soon became clear that during those five years he’d half-heartedly tried to sell it, and recently he had gotten some cosmetic work done, painting, etc., but the boat’s systems were given short shrift, and that oversight cost plenty.

Of course, after five years the batteries were shot (especially with that old-fashioned charger). And the fuel tanks were full of “goop”, and had to be cleaned. But there was a bilge pump hose that had broken loose, so it pumped water from the bilge to the bilge, and that repair took several hours to fix. Oh, and non-use had caused deterioration of one of the transmissions, from a specific cause not yet determined, so even after all the other work was done, the boat is still here, while the discouraged owner faced still more bills and a delayed sale. I have no doubt lots of other, less crucial things aren’t working, either. . .

The only moving I did was to tow him over to the Port’s visitor’s dock from out on G-West so that the service crew could get to it!

The conclusions are obvious: (1) If you want to sell a boat, do it right: I’ll talk about that next month. (2) A boat of any size requires continuing use and maintenance. At least every month or six weeks, you should check everything and run the equipment, then, if needed, do the maintenance.

Then you won’t be as melancholy as this poor fellow . . .

Stay safe! —— Joe

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