Haulout Time

We, too, put more time on the Zodiac than on the big boat. Definitely a strange summer (year)!
Looking forward to a fresh start again in 2021!
 
We plan to stay in the water one more winter. Bottom is in good shape but will need to do a late spring lunch hang, power wash and check/replace zincs.
We put quite a few hours on her this year running from Annapolis MD to Wildwood NJ twice and south down to the James River and Rudees Inlet past VA Beach once... And, then our typical weekend/day trips. Never seems to be enough for me and the wife although the teenagers fight it sometimes.

Main engines - 120 hours
Generator - 450+ Hours
Need to reduce the Gen Runtime hours next year by adding an inverter for the Fridge and Freezer or replacing them with a 120/12v version.
Dingy - No hour meter but we run the crap out of that thing between the kids and us

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Well ... i am trying to close the boat... got the sump cleaned out... I use Noflex so that was easy.... the liquor cabinet slowed me down a bit... a shot at a time takes a while :).... good thing it doesn’t come out until Tuesday

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We plan to stay in the water one more winter. Bottom is in good shape but will need to do a late spring lunch hang, power wash and check/replace zincs.
We put quite a few hours on her this year running from Annapolis MD to Wildwood NJ twice and south down to the James River and Rudees Inlet past VA Beach once... And, then our typical weekend/day trips. Never seems to be enough for me and the wife although the teenagers fight it sometimes.

Main engines - 120 hours
Generator - 450+ Hours
Need to reduce the Gen Runtime hours next year by adding an inverter for the Fridge and Freezer or replacing them with a 120/12v version.
Dingy - No hour meter but we run the crap out of that thing between the kids and us

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That’s a lot of hours on the genny. Are you on the hook a lot? All my fridges are dual voltage so it is nice to about to not up run it all the time but I still tend to run the genny in the summer for the AC anyway.
 
Well ... i am trying to close the boat... got the sump cleaned out... I use Noflex so that was easy.... the liquor cabinet slowed me down a bit... a shot at a time takes a while :).... good thing it doesn’t come out until Tuesday

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Great idea. How do you use no flex in the sump? I mean how often do you top it off? Seems a couple of showers and it’d be gone ..so a teaspoon or so a day?
 
That’s a lot of hours on the genny. Are you on the hook a lot? All my fridges are dual voltage so it is nice to about to not up run it all the time but I still tend to run the genny in the summer for the AC anyway.

Yes we do prefer to be out on the hook over the slip... We also run with the generator on so it adds up.

1) wife wants the AC
2) Our main Ref and Freezer are 120v only - would love to switch them out to Multitap our even 24v only. Then I could use the charger off the Bow thruster and add another bank from there...
 
I’m out!!.... pretty uneventful. Good summer despite Wuhan.

Looking forward to doing some traveling next year. We already have a rendezvous trip planned to North Channel Yacht club.... if Canada is open we are going to keep going up to the north channel. Let’s hope we are back to some kind of normalcy by then
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Great idea. How do you use no flex in the sump? I mean how often do you top it off? Seems a couple of showers and it’d be gone ..so a teaspoon or so a day?
Missed this too.... literally this summer I never looked at the sump. I would put maybe two table spoons down the shower drain and wash it down hoping the pump wouldn’t come on. I would do this on a Sunday or Monday before we left for the week ..... and maybe once every 3 weeks. About two weeks ago I checked the sump and it didn’t look good so each Sunday for two weeks I put about 2 tablespoons down .... it cleaned it up almost like new except for the scum line which is understandable because the water level never gets there for long .... but easily removed with a paper towel.
 
I’m out!!.... pretty uneventful. Good summer despite Wuhan.

Looking forward to doing some traveling next year. We already have a rendezvous trip planned to North Channel Yacht club.... if Canada is open we are going to keep going up to the north channel. Let’s hope we are back to some kind of normalcy by then
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We are looking forward to next summer too. If you in fact do make it up to North Channel Yacht Club, let us know, that is just a quick dinghy ride away from us. Bring your dinghy up when you come, from there you can get to about 5 or 6 small bars using the dinghy.
Hoping next summer, we can get down to the Ohio islands and Cedar Point as well as a long trip up into Lake Huron.
 
Bring your dinghy up when you come, from there you can get to about 5 or 6 small bars using the dinghy..
We have been up there before and toured those grass rivers or what ever you call them. Need gps for sure. A dinghy should be a right of passage up in that area :)
We plan on breaking from the group and going to Crews Inn to see Tommy and belle Maer and MacRay to see some old friends.
Will definitely let you guys know when we are up there
 
The last couple of years the crew pulls my drain plug and then tape the plug to the ladder.... then the way they block it, its like they make a ladder for all the mice to Walk in thru the drain hole. This year again they pulled it and I Was there this time and asked the guy why?.... he says to get rid of the bilge water. I said this bilge has been dry since I owned it....he says well you are the only one in the marina. Is a dry bilge not the norm? I would think if it isn’t something needs to be fixed... I put the plug back in
 
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The last couple of years the crew pulls my drain plug and then tapes the plug to the ladder.... then the way they block it, its like they make a ladder for all the mice to Walk in thru the drain hole. This year again they pulled it and I Was there this time and asked the guy why?.... he says to get rid of the bilge water. I said this bilge has been dry since I owned it....he says well you are the only one in the marina. Is a dry bilge not the norm? I would think if it isn’t something needs to be fixed... I put the plug back in

I am stored outside and shrinkwrapped. Plug out. The reason they do that is in case for some reason there is a leak in the cover and water gets inside the bilge and freezes it can cause damage. Bilge pumps for sure and could be worse if a lot of water gets it. If you are concerned about mice, I would just stuff some bronze wool in the hole for rodent insurance or maybe attach some screen in some way. When they block my stern the blocking is back a few inches from the transom so the mice would have to be advanced gymnasts to find a way to swing up and over to the drain hole. But Americans seem to do far better than Canadians at Olympic gymnastics so maybe its a different risk for you.;)
 
A dry bilge is not the norm, and not easy to achieve. But it probably is more the norm for boaters like you and me and the others who post here regularly. I want to be able to tell if I have a leak somewhere, and if there's always water in the boat, it makes it hard to know.
Sometimes dry bilges are impossible because of things like water heaters with pressure relief valves that discharge into the bilge rather than being connected to thru hulls, old style stuffing boxes, or dripless seals that drip. My excuse is that on the 400DB, the air boxes have a drain hose that runs into the bilge. In a good rain, those hoses make a little water.
They used to just end in an outside stringer vault and the water would flow through a limber hole, run under the shaft log right behind the dripless and down through another limber hole into the rear bilge area. I added lengths of hose that pass through the limber holes and discharge right into the bilge. Bilge still gets water in it but everything else is dry on the way there. Now I at least know if I see water somewhere other than right at the bilge pump, I need to investigate. Everything else is dry and if water shows up it gets vacuumed out immediately.
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I am stored outside and shrinkwrapped. Plug out. The reason they do that is in case for some reason there is a leak in the cover and water gets inside the bilge and freezes it can cause damage. Bilge pumps for sure and could be worse if a lot of water gets it. If you are concerned about mice, I would just stuff some bronze wool in the hole for rodent insurance or maybe attach some screen in some way. When they block my stern the blocking is back a few inches from the transom so the mice would have to be advanced gymnasts to find a way to swing up and over to the drain hole. But Americans seem to do far better than Canadians at Olympic gymnastics so maybe its a different risk for you.;)
I have mice crawl up two stories of brick and somehow get in my attic.... this has been going on for 5 years. I kill about 12/yr.... little tiny things. What kills me you would think the dead ones can’t pass on the secret passage. So it has to be written down somewhere or is mice folklore :)
 
I have mice crawl up two stories of brick and somehow get in my attic.... this has been going on for 5 years. I kill about 12/yr.... little tiny things. What kills me you would think the dead ones can’t pass on the secret passage. So it has to be written down somewhere or is mice folklore :)
They are buggers. We had the same issue at our last house that had very rough textured brick and gaps at the soffits along the brick. Constant battle and despite sealing the gaps, once they are in the house, they are in. New house (touch wood) have had no issues ever. Cottage is another story. I just get them under control and they find another way in. Only one last winter in the traps. This fall, its like I am back to square one. Obviously they have found a way in again.
 
They are buggers. We had the same issue at our last house that had very rough textured brick and gaps at the soffits along the brick. Constant battle and despite sealing the gaps, once they are in the house, they are in. New house (touch wood) have had no issues ever. Cottage is another story. I just get them under control and they find another way in. Only one last winter in the traps. This fall, its like I am back to square one. Obviously they have found a way in again.
I have only seen one on his way down. We have had two contractors out to figure it out and they can’t find a thing. So the boat can fill with water I am not leaving the back door open for the mice. (Inside storage)
 
I have only seen one on his way down. We have had two contractors out to figure it out and they can’t find a thing. So the boat can fill with water I am not leaving the back door open for the mice. (Inside storage)
Indoor storage, I would be leaving the plug in too. And leaving a few mouse traps around the cockpit over winter.
 
It might be a marina myth but I have been told to leave Bounce dryer sheets and/or bars of Irish Spring soap around cockpit entry points and on the cabin floor..the mice don’t like the smell...can’t say if it is 100% effective, but we haven’t had any rodents in 7 years of covered storage.
 

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