My 2024 pre-season prep (maintenance/upgrades/repairs) checklist

[Ronnie]

So it begins. By the way I saw a lot of my neighbors driveway boating this morning as well.

I managed to change the oil, filters and spark plugs on all four engines.

Also discovered that one of my amps failed over the off season. I plan to to replace the non marine with the marine version soon.

deployed the Bimini, of coarse it provided shade to the areas I didn’t need it to.

this took a lot longer than I anticipated but I was taking my time. It was good to hear the engines fire up for the first time in a long time.

if the weather holds up we may boat to breakfast / brunch tomorrow.

more to come, off the top of my head:

Still plan to replace my 2010 glass and frame with the same from a 2017.

also plan to install a dual head horn and color the seadek symbols on the hull

still need to clean the boat and condition the upholstery as well as reload it.

trailer wise:

install guide poles and lights, mount wireless camera, new center brake light assembly, drill and tap set screws for the wheel jack handle.

 

[Ronnie]

Last pics from today. The battery powered ratchet wrench came through again. I love that thing.

Just a reminder that instructions on how tight to make your spark plugs are illustrated on the box. Summarily hand tight plus 1/2 to 2/3 turn.

 

[Ronnie]

More pics of things I have to address preferably before the season starts.
1: remount the aftermarket’s transducer
2: fix the peeling seadek
3: color the center of the symbol black
4: replace the broken center light

 

[David Martin]

I agree on the plugs and the wrench.....hand tight then 1/2 to 2/3 turn in wrench. I use to use a torque wrench but saw it was always 1/2 to 2/3 turn. The great thing about doing what NKG package says is it does not matter if you install dry or use an anti-seize lube its all about the washer crush.

 

[Ronnie]

Didn’t get much done today but took a lot of time anyway.

1. Patched my wife’s wav runner cover, which I tore a few years back and initially tried to repair with flex seal tape, big messy mistake.

2. drilled and taped the trailer Jack handle to make it semi permanent instead of solely magnetic which means the handle must be stowed while underway.

3. Ordered a new marine amp.

 

[Babin Farms]

Didn’t get much done today but took a lot of time anyway.

1. Patched my wife’s wav runner cover, which I tore a few years back and initially tried to repair with flex seal tape, big messy mistake.

2. drilled and taped the trailer Jack handle to make it semi permanent instead of solely magnetic which means the handle must be stowed while underway.

3. Ordered a new marine amp.View attachment 216769View attachment 216770View attachment 216771View attachment 216772View attachment 216773View attachment 216774View attachment 216775

Red thread locker!!! Must never want to take it apart without a LOT of heat.

 

[Ronnie]

Red thread locker!!! Must never want to take it apart without a LOT of heat.

The magnet alone won’t hold the handle in place on the road. It’s about $30 from etrailer. If it fell off on the way to the water I could use pliers/vise grips or a cordless drill to operate the jack but permanent mounting seemed to be the best way to go. In hindsight it would have been quicker and easier to put a bolt all the way through the assembly. Instead I bought the wrong sized set screws so had to hunt for alternatives at home.

 

[Ronnie]

Getting the parts and soon tools together.
here is a pic of the fenders, guide posts with lights and pads and the third brake light.

still trying to figure out how to mount the camera.

 

[drewkaree]

I could use pliers/vise grips or a cordless drill to operate the jack

You really need to throw an adjustable wrench in your tool bag. Vise grips or pliers will chew up stuff and you still run the risk of rounding off a bolt/nut.


As for that jack, a 10" is preferable, but that mechanism on the jack is so smooth, I've tested it with a 6" after the fact, and it still was capable, and I was never concerned that it was taking enough force to round it off. If there's any concern, keep your thumb on the adjustment wheel to feel any movement before it it causes you problems, and either use better technique or a better tool.

I think folks with an ARK jack would be surprised how easy it is to raise/lower with an adjustable wrench

@HangOutdoors may have some more tips (or want to do this mod too)

 

[Ronnie]

You really need to throw an adjustable wrench in your tool bag. Vise grips or pliers will chew up stuff and you still run the risk of rounding off a bolt/nut.


As for that jack, a 10" is preferable, but that mechanism on the jack is so smooth, I've tested it with a 6" after the fact, and it still was capable, and I was never concerned that it was taking enough force to round it off. If there's any concern, keep your thumb on the adjustment wheel to feel any movement before it it causes you problems, and either use better technique or a better tool.

I think folks with an ARK jack would be surprised how easy it is to raise/lower with an adjustable wrench

@HangOutdoors may have some more tips (or want to do this mod too)

I agree, although I hope I’ll never have to use it, I will put a crescent wrench in boat towing tool kit at least until I remember to buy box wrench for the task.

 

[Ronnie]

No real work lately but the new amp came in today.

 

[Ronnie]

Still gearing up. The. The cleaner and paint for the brakes calipers on the tow vehicles and trailers came in today along with . I also got a great deal on a small propane heater at a garage sale.

 

[Farny]

No real work lately but the new amp came in today. View attachment 217012

https://jetboaters.net/threads/wetsounds-rgb-controller-kicker-400-2-amp-for-sale-tx.43600/

 

[Ronnie]

Getting ready for the part of preseason prep that I don’t like at all. Washing, polishing and waxing the boat. Depending on how much time I have I may just pay someone to do these things.

 

[1WetBoat]

Getting ready for the part of preseason prep that I don’t like at all. Washing, polishing and waxing the boat. Depending on how much time I have I may just pay someone to these things. View attachment 217420

I have to do mine also, and I'm considering paying someone to do it this year.

 

[Ronnie]

I have to do mine also, and I'm considering paying someone to do it this year.

The tasks (wash, polish and wax) sound simple enough but since I’m only supposed to polish two square feet of the hull at a time, the boat looks more like the Titanic than a run about. The last time I did it over a year ago it took me over 8 hours on a weekend. The laborers down at Home Depot formed a quasi union and wanted $20 per foot whereas if I brought it to a shop it would have cost me about $15 per foot. Still not cheap but a lot less expensive and the latter at least have a business license and presumably insurance.

 

[drewkaree]

Do you have a powered polisher? I know the suggestion is to do 2 sq ft sections, but you're not really doing a @suke detail of your boat, so with a powered unit, you could easily do larger sections for an amateur job that'd still look a lot better than a cleaner wax hand application. I've got an ancient Porter Cable 7424 for a full workup, and a modified Black & Decker WP900 for yearly sealant application. Both make it much better and less of a hassle. Not sure how the Bauer is received in the detailing community, but it seems to be a reasonably priced unit: 5.7 Amp 6 in. Short-Throw Random Orbit DA Polisher/Sander

 

[Ronnie]

@drewkaree , the little used polisher I have is in the pictured bucket along with a bunch of pads. I agree it makes things easier but definitely not easy and still very time consuming. I’m just not into into it but accept that at worst the boat is dirty all season instead of starting clean and getting dirty. I will clean the skis though. Just another first world problem I’m happy to have even though I complain about it.

 

[1WetBoat]

Do you have a powered polisher? I know the suggestion is to do 2 sq ft sections, but you're not really doing a @suke detail of your boat, so with a powered unit, you could easily do larger sections for an amateur job that'd still look a lot better than a cleaner wax hand application. I've got an ancient Porter Cable 7424 for a full workup, and a modified Black & Decker WP900 for yearly sealant application. Both make it much better and less of a hassle. Not sure how the Bauer is received in the detailing community, but it seems to be a reasonably priced unit: 5.7 Amp 6 in. Short-Throw Random Orbit DA Polisher/Sander

I have a G8 and a G9 that I haven't used on the boat yet, lol.
I need to practice some more on my older truck before I move on to the boat. Once I have the confidence with using them on the boat I will move from hand polish to machine polish. Or I could just pay someone to do it for me, lol.

 

[Ronnie]

I can’t recall what model my griots polisher is but it can’t be more than three years old or have more than eight hours of use on it.

I’m reconsidering renting a slip for the season but remember how much scum built up on the hull when I had the boat in a slip for four months two seasons ago. It was so hard to clean that I ended up paying $800 to have the boat detailed. If I go with a wet slip this season I plan to install this anti fouling device. I’m still on the fence about renting a slip since I only live a mile from the ramp but I think I would boat more if I could just walk on to it instead of have to launch and recover it every time.

https://boattest.com/hull-shield-ultrasonic-anti-fouling-system?utm_medium=email&_hsmi=253782115&utm_content=253782115&utm_source=hs_email

I’m also looking at how to cover the boat when it’s stored next to the house and debating whether to buy a hard or soft RV port or a fixed or retractable awning or two of differing heights to accommodate the tower (my tower doesn’t fold but can remove the top half of much I’ve done once, it’s a pita).