Do Tell, Boatel?

[Sarah]

You could always have a flush system installed that would allow you to flush at the dock.

Is that what most folks do? I thought flushing after every outing in salt was absolutely vital.

 

[Sarah]

Is that what most folks do? I thought flushing after every outing in salt was absolutely vital.

With the zillions of boats I see around here in slips, and all the zillions of larger boats that can't be taken out of the water to flush every time, that motors would already come equipped with that kind of equipment.

 

[JVM225]

Is that what most folks do? I thought flushing after every outing in salt was absolutely vital.

Many do, I never did it on my old twin I/O boat. It had “closed cooling”, meaning the motors are cooled by antifreeze so the motors wouldn’t be flushed anyway.
Raw water still cools the heat exchangers, exhaust gas, and steering cooler on I/O boats like the one you’re looking for and flushing that part of the system is a good thing, but it isn’t quite critical.
The exhaust components will need to be replaced about every 5 years in saltwater without flushing them. Flushing may extend their life, but I wouldn’t chance it.
I preferred to just get new OEM exhaust manifolds and risers every 5 years as routine maintenance.
The benefit of flushing after every use increases substantially if the motors themselves have raw saltwater running through them, but although I’m not positive how they’re equipped, I’m thinking that’s probably not the case with well optioned late model 260 Sundancers.

 

[Sarah]

Many do, I never did it on my old twin I/O boat. It had “closed cooling”, meaning the motors are cooled by antifreeze so the motors wouldn’t be flushed anyway.
Raw water still cools the heat exchangers, exhaust gas, and steering cooler on I/O boats like the one you’re looking for and flushing that part of the system is a good thing, but it isn’t quite critical.
The exhaust components will need to be replaced about every 5 years in saltwater without flushing them. Flushing may extend their life, but I wouldn’t chance it.
I preferred to just get new OEM exhaust manifolds and risers every 5 years as routine maintenance.
The benefit of flushing after every use increases substantially if the motors themselves have raw saltwater running through them, but although I’m not positive how they’re equipped, I’m thinking that’s probably not the case with well optioned late model 260 Sundancers.

Bingo! There's the info I was looking for! That changes how I look at where I keep the boat completely! You should charge for your services!! You know, before I decided I wanted a Sea Ray, I heavily researched Grady-Whites. That's probably where all the flushing concerns arose. I just want to take the best care of my boat that I can. THANKS!!

 

[JeffM]

I prefer wet slipping. I spend a lot of time on my boat at the dock. When we dry stored the boat was dropped and we were rushed to get off the dock. Same thing when returning. The dock hands were moving our boat around to get pulled while we were rushing to get our gear off and the cover on.

This depends heavily on the marina and their layout. Our marina has quite a bit of space along the piers in the forklift well, and they will put your boat in the night before for early fishing trips and, conversely, if you get in late they’ll lift you first thing in the morning.

The comment about wash racks is a good one — we have five available at a fairly small marina, and the lift operator will put your boat on a rack before and/or after you use it so you can wash, load, and unload it. If you get lucky and are assigned a bottom-level rack, you can load/unload directly to the boat. It’s also very nice to be able to wash/was the whole boat whenever you want.

A final consideration is winter storage. Around here the wet slip fees are for the boating season only. You then need to find a place to store the boat in the winter, which adds cost. It actually is cheaper for us to keep our boat in the boatel than a wet slip.

In this area there aren’t many heated boatels, so you’ll likely still have to winterize.

Best of luck with the new boat! We love our 260.
Jeff

 

[skibum]

I hope to go out one or two evenings a week. Sunday's we'll be out super early to fish and then hoped to enjoy it well into the evening. And then an overnight weekend trip once a month (or more) So also with boatels I wondered where I'd be able to flush the engine. And how do you flush in a slip? Haven't been able to find much info on that. The pricey storage places here will flush and wash but I think I'd rather wash down my own boat in a slip.

You should talk to the boatel folks to see how they operate. My marina only requires that you call them before 5. They will float the boat at the end of their day and leave it tied up to the dock. Quite a few of our people fish early on Sunday, so they call Saturday afternoon for a late evening launch. It's waiting for them in the morning. If I come back after 5, I simply tie up in the launch area and just hang out there. I spend a lot of evenings on the boat right there. For "special" occasions, I can get a slip for $25/night. Lift slip and wet slip holders need to pay for haul outs. I can work on mine for free. There are pros and cons to every marina.
260s have Bravo III drives, which can be (are) prone to corrosion. In that regard, a lift slip or rack storage is preferable.

If you get lucky and are assigned a bottom-level rack, you can load/unload directly to the boat. It’s also very nice to be able to wash/was the whole boat whenever you want.

A final consideration is winter storage. Around here the wet slip fees are for the boating season only. You then need to find a place to store the boat in the winter, which adds cost. It actually is cheaper for us to keep our boat in the boatel than a wet slip.

We love our 260.
Jeff

I read Jeff's reply after I hit enter... he nailed all 3 points.

Good luck!

 

[Todd320]

At my marina, you call before 3 or 4, and they will put your boat in for after hours boating (so you can, for example, either start boating at 9pm, or 6am the next morning). Also, when returning, we can come back at 4 or 5, no rush to get off the dock, or we can come back at 7, 8 or even midnight. They will pull the boat out of the water the following morning. Only issue I have had is between Labor Day and Memorial Day (off season?), if there is a busy weekend, and you return the boat late, you almost certainly will have to raft up to other boats (dock is full), and carry your stuff over other boats. To avoid this, we usually just spend the night in a transient slip at the marina, and take the boat back the next morning around 10, after they have had time to clear yesterday’s boats. During the summer, they keep extra hours on busy boating days and will keep pulling boats out of the water until 6:30, normally they stop pulling boats out around 4:30.

 

[Sarah]

This depends heavily on the marina and their layout. Our marina has quite a bit of space along the piers in the forklift well, and they will put your boat in the night before for early fishing trips and, conversely, if you get in late they’ll lift you first thing in the morning.

The comment about wash racks is a good one — we have five available at a fairly small marina, and the lift operator will put your boat on a rack before and/or after you use it so you can wash, load, and unload it. If you get lucky and are assigned a bottom-level rack, you can load/unload directly to the boat. It’s also very nice to be able to wash/was the whole boat whenever you want.

A final consideration is winter storage. Around here the wet slip fees are for the boating season only. You then need to find a place to store the boat in the winter, which adds cost. It actually is cheaper for us to keep our boat in the boatel than a wet slip.

In this area there aren’t many heated boatels, so you’ll likely still have to winterize.

Best of luck with the new boat! We love our 260.
Jeff

All great points, thanks. Time for me to visit these places in person now that I know more.

 

[Sarah]

You should talk to the boatel folks to see how they operate. My marina only requires that you call them before 5. They will float the boat at the end of their day and leave it tied up to the dock. Quite a few of our people fish early on Sunday, so they call Saturday afternoon for a late evening launch. It's waiting for them in the morning. If I come back after 5, I simply tie up in the launch area and just hang out there. I spend a lot of evenings on the boat right there. For "special" occasions, I can get a slip for $25/night. Lift slip and wet slip holders need to pay for haul outs. I can work on mine for free. There are pros and cons to every marina.
260s have Bravo III drives, which can be (are) prone to corrosion. In that regard, a lift slip or rack storage is preferable.



I read Jeff's reply after I hit enter... he nailed all 3 points.

Good luck!

Thanks! Lots of pros and cons to consider but all of this advice is so helpful!!

 

[Sarah]

At my marina, you call before 3 or 4, and they will put your boat in for after hours boating (so you can, for example, either start boating at 9pm, or 6am the next morning). Also, when returning, we can come back at 4 or 5, no rush to get off the dock, or we can come back at 7, 8 or even midnight. They will pull the boat out of the water the following morning. Only issue I have had is between Labor Day and Memorial Day (off season?), if there is a busy weekend, and you return the boat late, you almost certainly will have to raft up to other boats (dock is full), and carry your stuff over other boats. To avoid this, we usually just spend the night in a transient slip at the marina, and take the boat back the next morning around 10, after they have had time to clear yesterday’s boats. During the summer, they keep extra hours on busy boating days and will keep pulling boats out of the water until 6:30, normally they stop pulling boats out around 4:30.

Not sure I'm coordinated enough to climb over other boats with stuff and 2 dogs in tow Very exciting new world I'm about to enter. Can't wait! Very pretty boat you have!

 

[BillK2632]

When we had our cruiser it was wet slipped and we spent most weekends on the boat and a lot of time just socializing around the docks - it was a nice setup. Fast forward, today our boating is an afternoon on the lake and the dry storage works perfect for that type of boating and the size boat we have.

+'s of dry storage
Boat is safe, inside.
Stays cleaner.
Access to wash racks.
I am on bottom rack, so can work on / load unload anytime.
I text message get's the boat launched, on a rack etc.
No limit on in/out, wash rack usage etc.
No worries about things like corrosion, slim, barnacles etc.


-'s
Access to the boat is on the marina's schedule. Summer is fine, they are opened 8am > dark and will lift out the next morning if I come in late etc, they are very accommodating.

Winter they are closed on weekends Dec1 - Mar1, for the most part this is ok in NC, I just winterize and forget boating, not that many days for a day boat during that period.

Coming in/out of the launch area can feel a little rushed sometimes. I am a little OCD and don't like my boat sitting at the launch dock before/after launching due to wakes and the general shuffling around of boats. There is room away from the launch area if I need to do anything before I am ready to be pulled out.

Damage - things happen when you are moving dozens of boats around in close quarters everyday. I've had some damage from wakes (I assume) when I was not there. Hence the OCD thing about not wanting the boat sitting there waiting when I am not around. Make sure you fender up on both sides, you never know which side you will be launched on.

So overall the dry stack experience has been great for me. If I had a cruiser that I over nighted on, I might be more inclined to be in a we slip.

 

[Sarah]

When we had our cruiser it was wet slipped and we spent most weekends on the boat and a lot of time just socializing around the docks - it was a nice setup. Fast forward, today our boating is an afternoon on the lake and the dry storage works perfect for that type of boating and the size boat we have.

+'s of dry storage
Boat is safe, inside.
Stays cleaner.
Access to wash racks.
I am on bottom rack, so can work on / load unload anytime.
I text message get's the boat launched, on a rack etc.
No limit on in/out, wash rack usage etc.
No worries about things like corrosion, slim, barnacles etc.


-'s
Access to the boat is on the marina's schedule. Summer is fine, they are opened 8am > dark and will lift out the next morning if I come in late etc, they are very accommodating.

Winter they are closed on weekends Dec1 - Mar1, for the most part this is ok in NC, I just winterize and forget boating, not that many days for a day boat during that period.

Coming in/out of the launch area can feel a little rushed sometimes. I am a little OCD and don't like my boat sitting at the launch dock before/after launching due to wakes and the general shuffling around of boats. There is room away from the launch area if I need to do anything before I am ready to be pulled out.

Damage - things happen when you are moving dozens of boats around in close quarters everyday. I've had some damage from wakes (I assume) when I was not there. Hence the OCD thing about not wanting the boat sitting there waiting when I am not around. Make sure you fender up on both sides, you never know which side you will be launched on.

So overall the dry stack experience has been great for me. If I had a cruiser that I over nighted on, I might be more inclined to be in a we slip.

Great points. You've given me more things to ask about when I visit. Were you wet slipped on a lake as well? If not, what kind of salt issues did you have? Thank you!

 

[BillK2632]

Yes, wet slip was on the same lake also - uncovered floating docks.