10 s SOUTHERNBOATING.COM s MARCH 2016
Ah, yes. It’s that spring-cleaning time of year. In my
household I refer to it as a “honey-do list” and, boy, does
my wife, Michele, love to make lists. I think that is why she’s
always asking me to bring home legal-size tablets instead of
the standard size. But I’m not here to air my home cleaning
problems. I have something more important to discuss that
being as we enter Spring, we
have our own seasonal chores
to take care of with our boats.
Many of us want to get ready
for the summer cruising season,
and what better time than now
while the weather is still a little
cool and you’re not holding up
plans because something on
your boat went wrong. You will
notice that in this same March
issue is our Annual Haul-Out
Guide with some helpful hints
and projects, most of which
really should be left up to the
professionals. Whether you
own a small runabout, a 39-foot
center console or something
more in the lines of 50-80', you
still must attend to different
maintenance projects each
and every year. Many of you will haul your larger boat out
each season (a lot of our readers own two or more boats)
to have the bottom painted, so while it’s on the hard, take
a fool’s advice and spend a few extra dollars and have the
yard check for the following: thru-hull fi ttings. (Sometimes air
conditioning pick-ups will acquire growth up inside, and you
know Murphy’s Law—it will wait until your cruising before
it starts affecting your air conditioning units by restricting
water fl ow.) Also make sure they have free mobility. Most
people never close and open their seacocks on a regular
basis to make sure they don’t freeze up. Check them for
leaks or caulking going bad, always make sure they have
two hose clamps and let’s not forget the bilge. I would be
willing to bet there are a number of you reading this that
have multiple pumps in your bilge and at least one hasn’t
worked for a while without you realizing it. I know I have. (I
don’t have a bilge alarm system
so cut me some slack.) For the
larger vessels have the yard check
your rudder posts, shafts, props,
zincs, stuffi ng boxes, and always
check for blistering before rolling
on any new coat of paint. It’s
always a good idea to have your
own list of things to check before
going into a yard (some of you
might need that legal-size pad I
was referring to above), especially
areas of the boat that sit below
the waterline. While your boat is
just sitting around getting your
personal honey-do list worked
on take the time to check your
entire electronics package and
make sure everything is in good
operating order. Sometimes even
the top-of-the-line equipment
may need some adjustments or calibration. I’ll go into the
mechanical side—pumps, engines, generators etc.—in a
later issue, but since we have included some useful haul-
out information in this issue, I thought I would share a few
ideas I keep on my honey-do-list.
And here’s one more thing for your to-do list. Since this
edition is also our Palm Beach Boat Show issue, I invite you
to come by our booth and visit our staff. We always enjoy
meeting our readers. Happy Cruising!
By Skip AllenVIEW FROM THE PILOTHOUSE
COURTESY OF DOUG THOMPSON