Another season over!

Another boating season behind me........Pulled the boat today.

Changed the oil, pulled outdrive, fogged engine and, ran 5 gals of RV AF through the raw water side of the cooling system.

May have seen a slight amount of gear lube in the bellows.....will need to have the OD presure tested. Other than that everything went smoothly, took me and my 2 boys around 4 hours to pull the boat, clean it, winterize it, cover it and, put it in the backyard.

My season was pretty much uneventful. Thought I had a coolant leak.....turned out to be a loose radiator cap on the heatexchanger. Thought my alternator was going.......turned out to be a loose belt. That was pretty much it I am happy to say!

Have ~140hrs on my Rapido Vortec......running strong with no problems.

Hope everyone has a short off season...........

I plan on replacing my bellows (not looking forward to it) and maybe a switch panel in the off season.

Re: Another season over!

Another boating season behind me........Pulled the boat today.

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Ayuh,... Sure sucks don't it Tony,.... I pulled my barge a couple of weeks ago...
Other than sinking at the dock, Twice because of a problematic bilgepump switch,+ a couple of freaks of nature downpours...
My season was too short,+ uneventful...

Mine's mothballed in the driveway, patiently waiting to be tarped...
'Tween now,+ Spring she'll be getting a full transom assembley goin' through...

Re: Another season over!

So Tony, what are you planning on doing this winter?
Doesn't sound like you will have any big boat projects to keep you busy.

Re: Another season over!

it kills me to drive by the lake 2-3 times a day, still see the sun shining and the lake calm as glass, and I'm so tempted to just rip off the tarp, and fire the engine up (thus effectively un-winterizing it) lol I'm gonna have a hard time waiting 6 months..

I'm already shopping for a bimini top for next season...

At least we can go sledding soon, but the worst time of the year is right now. Those 2 painful months between when the boat is put away, and before there is enough snow to go sledding... and then in the spring, when there's not enough snow to sled, but still ice on the lake!

Counting the days, with a big X on the calendar each day till spring here.

Re: Another season over!

You're right Don......nothing but some PM and maybe the switch panel.
Guess it could be worse.......... I will probably come up with something....I was going to just replace the impeller in the OD but after I saw the small amount of gear lube in the bellows I may drop it off to 1 of the local OD guys.

I am going to replace the bellows......probably in the spring.....I may just loosen the hinge pin bolts before it gets too cold to make it easier in the spring.

And Bondo.........you call sinking twice uneventful????

Re: Another season over!

And Bondo.........you call sinking twice uneventful????

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Ayuh,.... I said Other Than,....

Back around Aug./Sept. we had some real Tarantula Downpours pass by,...
My boatslip is between my 2 houses,... There's eavefall, as well as the water outta the sky,... It Sunk...
I figured dead batteries or something when I got the call,.. headed down,+ pumped it out, Inspected everything,+ it All Worked...
So,... A week or so later, another call,.. Same deal, sunk, just above the starter..
That time I replaced both bilgepumps,+ the danm float switch(which I still think was the Problem),.....
All fixed now,...Trimpump is drained,+ flushed,... a few tablespoons of water in the bellows,..
The starter was still workin', but I figure it'll need replacin' come spring...

Oh, ya,... Lots for rusty tackle to clean,+ paw through this winter...

Re: Another season over!

Bondo.............at least you didn't have any engine problems fom the sinkings. And good thing you're in sweetwater (to use your language).

Re: Another season over!

One more thing, since you have the outdrive off, time to retorque the (Alpha 1) gimbal ring screws to 55 lb. ft. (74.6 N?m). Everything will be nice and snug in the spring. A lesson that I learned the HARD way.

Re: Another season over!

Not yet down south in the 70's here. But I don't know about next week tho.. This is my first boat and I know from the help I get from you guys it will be good to go come next spring when I do winterize it myself.

Re: Another season over!

Dang rain next 2-3 days.

Re: Another season over!

I've got one last trip planned over the Thanksgiving holiday to Lake Havasu. Weather reports are mid 70's. We have spent the last three years at Rocky Point Mexico for Thanksgiving, but the way things are going down there right now we were looking for a warm alternative. Hopefully the weather will hold and then we'll come back to Albuquerque and winterize.