Recent content by Dave 205

You may have a rare one. My wife has no interest or comfort with trailer backing. Fortunately, she has been very game to drive the boat on to the trailer, and has become quite good at it. My oldest daughter has taken a keen interest in boats and jet-skies. She is now my trailering partner...

I don't know if it is good or bad practice, but I put my charger on the battery about every 6 weeks during the off season. My boat is in an attached garage, I leave the battery in the boat, it has charger leads on it, and I attach a CTEK US 800 charger to it. 12-24 hours is usually enough for...

When I mentioned snaps coming up, I meant as a result of total snap failure - top ripped out of cover, or bottom part pulled out of the fiberglass. It happens, too rough treatment by some of my helpers, and just age at this point. The tape gets me home where I can make a proper repair. I've...

I had not been on this board in a while, and decided to look through my post history for some of the thoughts and suggestions I've received over the years regarding winterizing, etc. Many of the best came from you, thank you and glad to see you are still on this board. Trying to think...

A supply of zip ties and a roll of duct tape reside in my truck year 'round. I can't tell you how many times they've been useful around the boat, and when trailering. With just snap on covers, you may find that a snap will fail on the cover, or on the boat - and yours are apparently older than...

Just saw this two years later! I still had not figured this out on my own! Duh! Thanks, yet another boating tip learned!

My boat is stored in my house garage, so I tow to any body of water bigger than a puddle in order to be on the water. My typical local tow is an hour each way, and once a year we usually do a lake vacation. Just got back from the Ozarks, about a 7 hour drive each way. For a local day on the...

We prohibit red drinks in the boat (and the cars for that matter, after learning the hard way). Gatorade makes a clear version of some of their beverages, and that has been great for the kids to have access to something besides soda. Ice tea, diet Coke, etc., seem to wash out easily. In...

I really like the blue carpet. If we replace ours, that is the color I'll go with.

There are numerous lubrication points on your boat. If you don't have all the factory maintenance manuals, most should be available on Sea Ray's website. I would try your boats performance before worrying about Smart Tabs. I tend to run a pretty full boat, so staying on plane at lower...

Nice looking boat. Congratulations in advance!

Opps, double post!

I'll chime in (late) as the OP has a boat similar to mine, and I've done this both ways. I used a Camco "bucket" system the first year, and the job was kind of a wet, messy hassle, especially as I did it by myself, and you don't want the engine suddenly running dry at the intake when the...

Thanks Dennis. I made the now obviously silly assumption that the hose I missed was the source from where the pink came back up when I filled the big block hose! Just popped off the port side hose, filled it, and pink through the outdrive. Five plugs pulled and replaced, four hoses filled...

Thanks guys. Scott, my boat is in an attached garage. I don't think I've ever seen temps get below the twenties or teens, and that would be under rare and extreme conditions. Dennis, I'm not sure about the backflow preventer. I would have to look when I get home. The picture shows my...