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Hours on Boat


IceMelted

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I'm sure I'm only one of the hundreds of people on this site that feel this way, but I could swear if I had a hour meter by the dock and clocked the amount of time I spend cleaning, drying, and covering the BU after every usage, it would have double the hours on it than my BU has on it.

Maybe it is just the situation I'm in, being on a channel, and parking parallel to the frontage, but it's a nightmare trying to get the boat cleaned and covered and put away until the next use.

How long does it take you to put your's away? Have you learned any tricks to help speed up the process?

After every use, I do the following, and it seems to take forever.

Fold Tower, so it will fit under ShoreStation Canopy.

Use new aerobic steps to get everyone (Wife & young kids) off of boat without hitting head / back on folded tower. Mad.gif

Hand Crank ShoreStation 1/2 way.

Drag Hose down to Dock / ShoreStation.

Spray Exterior of boat, getting off any weeds etc. (Piece of cake from shore side, but I've resorted to floating around the other side in a one person tube).

Climb fat butt out of tube, back onto dock.

More aerobic steps over ShoreStaion, Tower etc back onto boat. Mad.gif

Wipe down interior & glass.

Dry off all Gel above rubrail.

Cover boat.

More aerobic steps over ShoreStaion, Tower etc back onto dock. Mad.gif

Get back into tube (without falling off of the dock into the channel water).

Whoops, forgot to bring dry towel onto tube with me. Mad.gif

Float back to dock, fall into mucky water in channel while trying to get fat but out of tube and back onto dock.

Now back on tube, with towel, dry off the rest of the boat / below rubrail.

Hand Crank ShoreStation to it's final position...

Reel Hose back in. Done....

Crap, now I left the cell phone on the boat... Cry.gif

Edited by IceMelted
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Does your family watch with popcorn in their hands when you are doing the tube thing?! ;)

Just messing with you. That sounds like a lot of work. Fortunately I have an indoor storage with a tall door so there is no breaking down the tower and no covering the boat. I dry and wipe down the interior and windshield while the wife and/or friends do the gelcoat. I wish I had some ideas for you, but it seems like you have your process down.

You could always not wipe the boat down and just clean it every few uses.

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Ya, I go through a similar rigamarol. I get to have others help me with the wipe down though...

To answer your question RE how to make it quicker: Hire it out. There's got to be a teenager that would be willing.

OR

Find a teenager that wants to be a third, tell him the cost of doing that is the cleanup.

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Fold Tower, so it will fit under ShoreStation Canopy.

I have the canopy extension poles, so my tower fits in nicely. I can crank the boat up (by remote control of course, because I'm too lazy to turn the wheel Biggrin.gif ) to about the top of the gunwhales. With a good cover (I have a Covercrafts, which I Love.gif btw), the interior never gets wet from rain.

After every use: hang up life jackets on board racks, fold ropes, put away boards etc, dry above rub rail, wipe down windshield with dry towel (rainX makes this a snap), set cushions on edge to dry out lockers etc.

Once a week or every other week: Babes Boat Bright for all hull I can reach, Babes Seat Soap and Seat Saver for Vinyl.

Once a month: Rain X

I do the acrobat act too, but I just climb on the load guides for my lift and the lift next to me for the hard to reach areas opposite my pier. I'd say for every hour I have on the boat, I have 1-2 at dock cleaning/drying/loving. It's a labor of love though.

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I'm sure I'm only one of the hundreds of people on this site that feel this way, but I could swear if I had a hour meter by the dock and clocked the amount of time I spend cleaning, drying, and covering the BU after every usage, it would have double the hours on it than my BU has on it.

Maybe it is just the situation I'm in, being on a channel, and parking parallel to the frontage, but it's a nightmare trying to get the boat cleaned and covered and put away until the next use.

How long does it take you to put your's away? Have you learned any tricks to help speed up the process?

After every use, I do the following, and it seems to take forever.

Fold Tower, so it will fit under ShoreStation Canopy.

Use new aerobic steps to get everyone (Wife & young kids) off of boat without hitting head / back on folded tower. Mad.gif

Hand Crank ShoreStation 1/2 way.

Drag Hose down to Dock / ShoreStation.

Spray Exterior of boat, getting off any weeds etc. (Piece of cake from shore side, but I've resorted to floating around the other side in a one person tube).

Climb fat butt out of tube, back onto dock.

More aerobic steps over ShoreStaion, Tower etc back onto boat. Mad.gif

Wipe down interior & glass.

Dry off all Gel above rubrail.

Cover boat.

More aerobic steps over ShoreStaion, Tower etc back onto dock. Mad.gif

Get back into tube (without falling off of the dock into the channel water).

Whoops, forgot to bring dry towel onto tube with me. Mad.gif

Float back to dock, fall into mucky water in channel while trying to get fat but out of tube and back onto dock.

Now back on tube, with towel, dry off the rest of the boat / below rubrail.

Hand Crank ShoreStation to it's final position...

Reel Hose back in. Done....

Crap, now I left the cell phone on the boat... Cry.gif

You lost my sympothy with " if I had a hour meter by the dock" Biggrin.gif I am the only one who takes care of our boat but I can't complain cause I don't pay for it.

Edited by jetskipro550
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I'm sure I'm only one of the hundreds of people on this site that feel this way, but I could swear if I had a hour meter by the dock and clocked the amount of time I spend cleaning, drying, and covering the BU after every usage, it would have double the hours on it than my BU has on it.

Maybe it is just the situation I'm in, being on a channel, and parking parallel to the frontage, but it's a nightmare trying to get the boat cleaned and covered and put away until the next use.

How long does it take you to put your's away? Have you learned any tricks to help speed up the process?

After every use, I do the following, and it seems to take forever.

Fold Tower, so it will fit under ShoreStation Canopy.

Use new aerobic steps to get everyone (Wife & young kids) off of boat without hitting head / back on folded tower. Mad.gif

Hand Crank ShoreStation 1/2 way.

Drag Hose down to Dock / ShoreStation.

Spray Exterior of boat, getting off any weeds etc. (Piece of cake from shore side, but I've resorted to floating around the other side in a one person tube).

Climb fat butt out of tube, back onto dock.

More aerobic steps over ShoreStaion, Tower etc back onto boat. Mad.gif

Wipe down interior & glass.

Dry off all Gel above rubrail.

Cover boat.

More aerobic steps over ShoreStaion, Tower etc back onto dock. Mad.gif

Get back into tube (without falling off of the dock into the channel water).

Whoops, forgot to bring dry towel onto tube with me. Mad.gif

Float back to dock, fall into mucky water in channel while trying to get fat but out of tube and back onto dock.

Now back on tube, with towel, dry off the rest of the boat / below rubrail.

Hand Crank ShoreStation to it's final position...

Reel Hose back in. Done....

Crap, now I left the cell phone on the boat... Cry.gif

You lost my sympothy with " if I had a hour meter by the dock" Biggrin.gif I am the only one who takes care of our boat but I can't complain cause I don't pay for it.

I remember the days of trailering back and forth, the only updside was the ease of cleaning and covering.

And to the question about the audience with popcorn, that's exactly how it feels sometime. And to make things worse, my Wife is one of those types that will Laugh their A$$ off when you get hurt or do something stupid (Like flip off the tube while trying to get back on the dock! She does the Point and Laugh like Jim Carey & Jeff Daniels in Dumb and Dumber with the hot chili peppers in the burger) ROFL.gif

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Cleaning up the boat and putting away is half the fun (While sucking down a few well deserved beers)???

Same here. I always clean the boat myself, partly because I like doing it and partly because I know it's done right. I use Babes Boat Bright after every outing. It keeps everything looking brand new. I had been using 303 on the vinyl but recently stopped. I use the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and don't put 303 on. To me, it seemed like the 303 actually attracted more dirt. I keep my boat covered in the garage and don't need the UV protection as much. I will let the boat dry out in the garage for a day or two and then put the cover back on. The next time I get it out, the vinyl looks perfectly clean. When I used to use 303 on it before covering, I would take the cover off the next time and it looked like the was a layer of dust on it.

I usually vacuum the boat as well. I, like many on this site, am very anal about my boat as well.

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Cleaning up the boat and putting away is half the fun (While sucking down a few well deserved beers)???

Same here. I always clean the boat myself, partly because I like doing it and partly because I know it's done right. I use Babes Boat Bright after every outing. It keeps everything looking brand new. I had been using 303 on the vinyl but recently stopped. I use the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and don't put 303 on. To me, it seemed like the 303 actually attracted more dirt. I keep my boat covered in the garage and don't need the UV protection as much. I will let the boat dry out in the garage for a day or two and then put the cover back on. The next time I get it out, the vinyl looks perfectly clean. When I used to use 303 on it before covering, I would take the cover off the next time and it looked like the was a layer of dust on it.

I usually vacuum the boat as well. I, like many on this site, am very anal about my boat as well.

Give the Babe's Seat Saver a try. It doesn't leave that slippery, oily residue like 303 does. Plus, it smells pretty good and leaves the vinyl feeling very soft. I use 303 on the swim platform now and Babe's on everything else.

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Cleaning up the boat and putting away is half the fun (While sucking down a few well deserved beers)???

Same here. I always clean the boat myself, partly because I like doing it and partly because I know it's done right. I use Babes Boat Bright after every outing. It keeps everything looking brand new. I had been using 303 on the vinyl but recently stopped. I use the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and don't put 303 on. To me, it seemed like the 303 actually attracted more dirt. I keep my boat covered in the garage and don't need the UV protection as much. I will let the boat dry out in the garage for a day or two and then put the cover back on. The next time I get it out, the vinyl looks perfectly clean. When I used to use 303 on it before covering, I would take the cover off the next time and it looked like the was a layer of dust on it.

I usually vacuum the boat as well. I, like many on this site, am very anal about my boat as well.

Give the Babe's Seat Saver a try. It doesn't leave that slippery, oily residue like 303 does. Plus, it smells pretty good and leaves the vinyl feeling very soft. I use 303 on the swim platform now and Babe's on everything else.

Funny you mention that. I just bought some of the Babes Seat Saver the other day but haven't had a chance to try it yet.

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I second the post extensions for the Shore Station. I wouldn't be without them now. The tower fits perfectly with all the underwater gear out of the lake. Last year I was folding the tower down after every use. Finally, I just took the tower off and kept it under the deck.

I clean my boat maybe two times throughout the summer. Its five minutes in and five minutes out. I use my boat quite a bit and I just don't have the time to be that obsessive about it. It cleans up nice though. Biggrin.gif

I do throw the cover on it most of the time except on weekends. I say its a labor of love. If it makes you happy-clean away. If it feels like work, only do it when necessary.

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I live on a channel that can get pretty crappy mid summer as well, so I know what you go through in that regard. I don't have a tower to have to deal with, but a couple things in your process stand out to me...

1. I don't bother with dragging a hose around after each use. I bought a soft bristle brush with an extension pole (the kind designed to be hooked to a garden hose), and use that clean off the crap on the sides of the hull. I stand inside the boat and work my way around, dipping the brush frequently into the lake. For all the weeds and surface scum, the water beneath is pretty clean - if yours isn't this might not be an option.

2. I keep a spray bottle of 50/50 vinegar/water on the boat, and again from inside the boat, work my way around the hull wiping the whole thing down with a clean towel - I don't do above the rub rail, then cover, then do below the rub rail - I can see how that would take a lot of time. The brush in step 1 takes off all the crap below the rub rail that I'd be concerned could make my towel dirty and cause scratches.

Working from inside the boat on the lift is a lot faster - you may not have that option if you are having to climb around your tower. All told, I probably spend 20 minutes putting her away, a little longer if the kids are driving me up the wall and I just want to decompress for a bit. Nothing like sipping on another beer and listening to a few tunes...

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