Summer Boat Maintenance Tips

Summer is in full swing, so you may have taken your boat out once or twice already this season. Boat owners can sometimes forget how much work goes into keeping your boat in proper working order. After all, it’s easy to forget when you are spending all of your time fishing and lounging on the deck! To help our customers properly care for their boat this season, we thought we would provide some helpful tips for caring for your boat.

Keeping Your Hull Clean

Rinsing your hull off regularly during the season is a great idea to keep your boat in proper working order. Clogged hull bottoms can sometimes have trouble running at full RPM and can negatively effect fuel consumption. Ideally, you should get your hull cleaned about once a month while it is in active use. If your boat appears especially dirty or you notice performance problems, you may want to get it looked at more often. Lake Erie isn’t known for being the cleanest lake, after all!

Testing the Battery

Before taking your boat on the water, you want to make sure that your battery is properly charged. If your battery was not properly tended to when it was in storage or your boat has been sitting at the dock for a while, your batteries may need a charge. Boating with a battery that is not properly charged can be very dangerous. Without a proper charge, your engine can unexpectedly stop, causing you to be stranded on the open water. To prevent this, you should check your battery every other week. You can see a helpful guide over at eHow that will show you how to test your marine battery.

Regular Engine Maintenance

Monitoring your engine is one of the best ways to ensure a safe boat ride. Regularly check your fuel, oil and fluid levels. Be sure to flush out your engine after every trip and check to see that your water pump has a good flow. Periodically checking your ignition and wiring systems for wear can help prevent repairs down the line. If you think there may be a problem with your engine, take it in for a checkup. Better safe than sorry!

Checking Bilge Pumps

The bilge is the lowest part of your boat below the waterline. The bilge collects water that is splashed onto the boat. Your bilge pump pumps out this excess water and keeps your boat from sinking. Make sure that the bilge of your boat is cleaned regularly and that your battery has enough charge to run your pump for prolonged periods of times.

GK’s Custom Polishing, Inc. has been detailing boats & personal watercrafts in Cleveland since 1994.  We perform our cleaning and detailing services to the highest standards of quality. Call us today at (440) 937-4457 to get a free quote today! For more information on detailing, storage and transporting for cars, boats, Jet Skis, Motorcycles and more, visit our website.