Wet slip tips

[Mogey]

Hey all,

I recently purchased a 2005 Tige 22V Rider's Edition from a buddy of mine. I wanted to ask about the pros and cons of keeping the boat in a wet slip... I'm on Lake Austin and slips w lifts are almost impossible to come by with Lake Travis so low, so the only options I've found are covered and uncovered slips.

Do I have to make sure my automatic bilge is working, etc? Just the other day the boat was covered in my driveway and it poured rain for 12 hours... when I uncovered it there was about 6 inches of standing water in the boat and in the engine bay. Is there a way to avoid this while it's on the lake in a wet slip?

Thanks!

[duffymahoney]

I leave mine in a slip and so far no gel coat blisters. Yes auto bilge is super important but if they boat has no leaks then you should be good. I leave mine in a floating slip 5-6 months a year. Works great. I would say get a covered slip, that will keep the rain off, then make sure to put your cover on also to keep birds, dirt out of the boat. I get out with a sponge and mask a couple time a month and swim around and scrub off the algae. Works great.

[hossdog]

I left my old i/o in and uncovered wet slip for the past 5 years every season and no real problems. One thing I recommend is always checking for any kind of debris around the boat before kicking it into gear. I bent a prop one year because of a log that had been pushed underneath and I didn't notice. Otherwise just check your bilge pump and check on the boat every few days.

[Mogey]

okay thanks guys. this is definitely a newbie question.. but how do i know if my boat has an automatic bilge, and how do i turn it on? i have a switch to toggle between the two batteries, so i'm guessing i'll have to leave one battery on, and the bilge switch on?

[duffymahoney]

It's a float auto switch. You shouldn't have to do anything.

[dingleberry]

Just something to think about - when people come on this site and complain about their gelcoat blistering (not a common complaint, but it does occasionally happen), most of the time they keep their boat in water in a warmer climate. Duffy and hoss live in ID, so their water is probably significantly colder than you will have in TX.

If you will be keeping your boat in the water, you may want to consider using some sort of barrier coat on your hull to help prevent blistering, like an antifouling paint.

[Bakes5]

I kept my boat in the water 6 months per yr in Washington state. Went out about 5 times a week during the summer. Took it out every week or two to gas it up and do a quick wipedown. After 2 summers of this the boat was still in really good shape. I took it to lake of the ozarks and left it in a week and the bottom turned tan and had a chalky texture on it. Ruined my shoulder buffing it out before I got a rotary polisher (the bomb by the way). Anyways, no probs with clear, cold water. Big problems with warm....not so clear water.

Frankly, I would be hesitant to leave my boat anywhere without looking at the other boats left in that lake.

[chpthril]

okay thanks guys. this is definitely a newbie question.. but how do i know if my boat has an automatic bilge, and how do i turn it on? i have a switch to toggle between the two batteries, so i'm guessing i'll have to leave one battery on, and the bilge switch on?

Your 05 22V should have a 3-wire automatic bilge pump. It should be wired directly to one of the batteries. I would do 2 things, 1) make sure the float works (fill the bilge with water with the plug in) 2) make sure its wired straight to the battery. If the pump passes test one with the switch in the OFF position, then you should be good to go for #2.

[Ewok]

Just something to think about - when people come on this site and complain about their gelcoat blistering (not a common complaint, but it does occasionally happen), most of the time they keep their boat in water in a warmer climate. Duffy and hoss live in ID, so their water is probably significantly colder than you will have in TX.

If you will be keeping your boat in the water, you may want to consider using some sort of barrier coat on your hull to help prevent blistering, like an antifouling paint.

I kept my boat in the water 6 months per yr in Washington state. Went out about 5 times a week during the summer. Took it out every week or two to gas it up and do a quick wipedown. After 2 summers of this the boat was still in really good shape. I took it to lake of the ozarks and left it in a week and the bottom turned tan and had a chalky texture on it. Ruined my shoulder buffing it out before I got a rotary polisher (the bomb by the way). Anyways, no probs with clear, cold water. Big problems with warm....not so clear water.

Frankly, I would be hesitant to leave my boat anywhere without looking at the other boats left in that lake.

X2, especially about looking at other boats in the lake to see wha you'll be dealing with. Also spider poo stains gelcoat so clean it up ASAP.

[Dave S]

I know this comment has no answers towards your original question but when you have it on the trailer, you should remove the plug in the back of the boat. That way if it rains while the boat is on the trailer, the water can drain out. It is very possible for your boat to hold much more water do what we call "trailer flooded" or "sank on the trailer" and ruin everything if you were to not catch it in time.

Automatic bilge-if your battery was on with this much water in the boat on the trailer, surely your automatic bilge pump should have kicked on if you had one. The auto switch, which is a float, can go bad and corode over time. An auto bilge is also not an "end all". If you have an electric drain on your battery (ex. maybe from miswired stereo?) or old batteries that don't a charge and go dead, then the auto bilge pump will not work. You just have to do a little extra due diligience when leaving a boat in the water.

[Mogey]

thanks for the feedback everyone. i asked around the lake and inspected a lot of boats in the water, and didn't hear/see any real problems other than algae.

i ended up putting it in a wet slip, however, i couldn't get the auto bilge to work when i filled up the bilge with water. the bilge itself works, and it looks like it's wired directly to the battery, so i'm guessing the auto switch might be corroded, as someone suggested. right now i'm just checking on it very often and making sure no water is accumulating in the bilge.

i realized that the reason to boat filled with water was because i kept it in my driveway which is slanted downwards, so the water couldn't come out of the plug hole.

[IDBoating]

i couldn't get the auto bilge to work when i filled up the bilge with water. the bilge itself works, and it looks like it's wired directly to the battery, so i'm guessing the auto switch might be corroded, as someone suggested.

Could be some foreign object stuck in the float switch, too. Any number of things.

Bilge pumps are cheap. If I left my boat in a wet slip, I think I'd install a second bilge pump as cheap insurance. Right after I fixed or replaced the first one.

[boatwakes]

Electrolysis would be a concern. Dissimilar metals underwater (Nibral prop and stainless shaft) create an electrical current and will destroy any underwater metal (your prop, skegs, rudder, through hulls and swimstep brackets) if you don't use zinc anodes for protection.

[OldeBoy]

i couldn't get the auto bilge to work when i filled up the bilge with water. the bilge itself works, and it looks like it's wired directly to the battery, so i'm guessing the auto switch might be corroded, as someone suggested. right now i'm just checking on it very often and making sure no water is accumulating in the bilge.

Did you make sure the wire from the float switch is hooked directly to the positive terminal on the battery. A previous owner had labelled this wire as negative. Also check the fuse in this line as it may be blown.

[Mogey]

Did you make sure the wire from the float switch is hooked directly to the positive terminal on the battery. A previous owner had labelled this wire as negative. Also check the fuse in this line as it may be blown.

Yep, turns out the fuse was blown. Also, the float switch was stuck in the "on" position (which may be why the fuse was blown). All is good now and auto bilge is working properly. Thanks for the help guys!