first time boat owner

[Fasteel]

Well my wife and I bought a nice cabin in Manitoba and with this cabin there is a 20 ft Sylvan with a 175 hp Merc, 1995 vintage. This boat has been garage stored and not been in the water at all last year. I suppose there are a number of things that will need to be done, trouble is I've never had a boat before and I will take it to the nearest marine dealer for service. Just would like to know what things I should have done to the boat without getting hammered by the marine shop.
Thanks Greg

 

[OhWellcraft]

Re: first time boat owner

If the prev. owner laid it up when last used there shouldn't be too many things that need to be done to it. However if it was just pulled into the garage from being used at the lake and left that way for over a year there may be some issues but nothing too serious. At the very least hopefully the motor was lowered all the way down so the water could drain out, if not and it froze then there could be some issues. There is a great thread here on how to properly winterize an outboard very informative even for a novice all easy to do. There is also one on how to summerize(get ready for the summer) also very easy to do. If you plan on keeping and using the boat a good manual will pay for itself very quickly plus you don't have to be subject to someone elses schedule. Even if you just use it to help identify where everything is and for routine maint. it will be well worth it. Once you do it winterizing/summerizing is very simple and will save you alot of money. As far as other items only you will know if you are comfortable in attempting to do yourself. Items like waterpumps/carb clean/etc. Good luck hopefully it was put away correctly and won't need much at all.