|
|
Coast Guard Offers Outboard Boat Storage Tips
Wednesday, October 05, 2011
 PITTSBURGH, PA -- With colder weather approaching, the 2011 recreational boating season is winding down. To help outboard boat enthusiasts protect their vessels and have them ready for 2012, the United States Coast Guard and its Auxiliary civilian volunteers offer the following tips:
- Get to the front of your carburetors by removing silencer-cover.
- Hook a hose to your water intake.
- Crank and let engine warm-up, with the motor running at fast idle;increase speed slightly. {Be ready for this next step!}.
- Disconnect the fuel line at the engine and spray a couple ounces of Fogging oil into each carburetor as the motor runs out of gas and stalls.
- Remove the spark plugs and spray some in each cylinder; turn the flywheel by hand a few times.
- Change the lower-unit lube and remove the prop, grease the shaft and all other fitting and lube points.
- Spray a little corrosion preventative on the engine and BE SURE to leave your motor in a vertical or down position so water won't lay in there and freeze.
- Put your battery inside the shop and charge it now and then. As long as you're going that way, why not put your prop on the shelf by the battery? {Maybe it's a good way to still have it come spring!}
- Fill the fuel tank and add the proper amount of fuel stabilizer to it for the winter.
- Clean the motor and clean and wax the boat's above-deck surfaces.
- Don't forget the bottom while your at it! Your boat bottom will be quickest if it is perfectly smooth. Dirt and slime buildup will slow you down. Clean the bottom with a strong cleaner. Wet sand any tough bumps in the running surface with 400-600 grit paper. You don't need wax. (In fact it can, in some circumstances, slow you down.)
- Get a good quality cover for your boat that breathes.
The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary is composed of uniformed, non-military volunteers who assist the Coast Guard in all its varied missions, except for military and direct law enforcement.
Submitted by:
U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary
Back
to All Articles
|
|