Spring Commissioning is the obvious choice for a boating article at this time of year. Most of are old hands at this, or have the yard commission the boat. At best, perhaps I can add a few new points that may be useful. For those of us who have dry stored the boat this winter, you are probably ready for painting the bottom and polishing the hull. According to Warren Elliott, there have been several changes to the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection rules about hazardous waste, including sanding off old bottom paint. Your yard may have several new rules for compliance. There is nothing I can add to this. I prefer to have the yard paint the bottom. However, you must still pay attention to what they are doing! I have seen instances where the yard forgot to put on the necessary zincs, and in one instance they painted over the zinc. When I haul my boat I make sure to lubricate the Autoprop and put on the shaft and Autoprop zincs. I also take a little time to make sure all of the thru hulls are well lubricated and the barnacles removed from the intakes. This is also a good time to inspect the rudder / rudder post and cutlass bearing. Warren, when polishing the boat, uses two ladders and plank to reach the hull. He pointed out that a safety harness connected to a lifeline makes him feel more comfortable.
Aahh! The boat is finally in the water. We get on the boat, take a deep breath, look around and say, “How am I ever going to get the boat ready for the season?” I think it helps to have a beer or go for coffee at this point to contemplate the first steps. If you are anything like me, the inside of your boat is filled with sail bags, a dinghy, dodger, bimini, carpets, battens and everything else that needed to be stored properly for the winter. I noticed a few leaky hatches and ports this winter. Caulking them will be my first task. Washing and waxing the topsides will be the next job. I usually put the sails on before the dodger and bimini. Make sure you polish the plastic in the dodger before you mount it, it is easier.
Now the cabin is only half full!
Shall we tackle the plumbing? On Indulgence the forward head intake and salt water wash down pump are teed together. Last year the bilge pump started running when I opened the thru hull to check the forward head and wash down pump. Well, I forgot to replace a filter and connect some fittings and was taking a fair amount of water in the boat before I questioned why the bilge pump was running. The lesson here is to work carefully, make sure that you do not have any spare parts like filter covers left over when you are finished. Close the thru hulls before you leave the boat! I tend to work with systems as opposed to location, e.g., heads, fresh water sinks and showers. Ok! Where were we? I now can pump sea water into the heads and pump them dry to the holding tanks. The wash down pump pumps water and shuts off when it is supposed to.
I have three fresh water tanks on Indulgence, a shower, transom shower, two head sinks and a galley sink. All of the taps were opened as part of winterizing. To get the system working I close all of the taps and replace the zinc anode in the water heater, put water in one tank, and turn on the water pressure switch, making sure I open the correct valve for the tank that I filled. Open one tap and stand back with all of the spitting until the air is out of system. By the way, remember to open the sink drain that you are working with. As soon as some water is flowing, I shut the tap and wait for the water pump to shut off (when the pressure has built up). If the water pump continues to run, water is running someplace. You probably forgot to shut the valves on the transom shower. I continue the process with all of the taps and all of the tanks. To get rid of the pink stuff, put a few gallons of water in the tank and run it dry, as opposed to filling the tank.
I assume that you changed the engine oil and all of the filters as part of winterizing. I check each of the filters with a paper towel, making sure they are clean and tight. Check the antifreeze and oil levels and open the cooling water thru hull. Start the engine, checking for cooling water at the exhaust and leaks around the filters. Make sure the batteries are charging. [For those of us that have wet batteries, check the water level before you turn on the engine and make sure the battery compartment is well ventilated.] I will let the engine run until it comes up to temperature, shifting to forward and then reverse. Obviously, there should not be any unusual vibration. Shut off the engine, go talk to your neighbor, have another cup of coffee and let the engine cool a little. When I come back, check for leaks around the filter, check the oil and coolant levels. Go through the same process if you have a generator.
I will also cycle through all of the instruments. Turn everything on, wind, depth boat speed, etc. When I am putting the speed and depth transducers back into the mounts, spin the speed paddle, you should see a reading on the meter. I will cycle the autopilot, looking for motion. Remember to release the steering wheel brake before operating the autopilot!
This is a good time to stick your head in the bilge and other compartments in the hull. There is probably the usual amount of water and dirt. The 42 Owners Forum mentioned some mildew and dirt accumulating in some boats that had been stored with winter covers or shrink wrap. I have found a good stiff brush, soap and water and a little bit of Clorox work well. There are also mildew cleaning products that you can use. Make sure that the boat is well ventilated when you use some of these cleaners. As soon as the various compartments are clean and dry, we can start putting back more of the stuff! Now the boat is only one quarter full.
Stan Ross cleans all of the woodwork in Frog Prince with some kind of orange based cleaner. I don’t know if this works any better than any other product, but his boat smells like a tangerine when he is finished. I use Clorox wipes to clean off any mold or mildew on the headliner and other fiberglass surfaces. Don’t forget the inside of the drawers and cabinets. The boat does look and smell fresh when you are done.
I can now invite the Admiral to come on the boat to help with the linens, medicine cabinets and galley stuff. Melissa’s first comment is that the boat looks pretty good! We try to be very systematic about making sure everything is on the boat. It is very annoying to be in the shower and discover you forgot the shampoo and the towels. There are a couple of odds and ends that you may want to add to your list:
- Clean and grease the windlass.
- Repaint the anchor chain or replace the length markers.
- Clean and grease the winches. I cut a hole in a cardboard carton that forms a tray around the winch to catch the springs and pawls when the jump out.