leaving boat in slip for long periods

I notice a lot of people leave their boat in for pretty much the summer (in folsom) and I would love to do that.. but fear long term damage either staining the gel coat or whatever. Can you just leave it in there all summer and then clean it good once at the end or will the boat pretty much get thrashed? I see some pretty nice boats that have a lot of fug on them.

Depends on how much you care about your boat. I usually pull mine & clean it inside & out every 2 or 3 weeks.

If you like blisters in your gelcoat then go ahead.

If you want to leave it in a slip for an extended period you should get a lift.

ours is in the water for 6 months straight.....i brush it down once a week to keep the growth off.....at the end of the season i clean the boat with hull cleaner which removes all the stain and she looks like new. I do care about my boat but also want to be practical about its use. Its easy to access being in the water and fun to hang out in at the dock not a boat lift.

if it was practical though i too would have it on a boat lift....but i would not pull it out after ech weekend.....that makes a long day too long for me.


I have noticed some pin head type blisters 3or 4 on the bottom of the hull.....but if I have to pay a few hundred bucks down the road to fix em i will.....what are you gonna do?

I leave mine slipped all summer, done it for 4 years now. Had $3K in blistering repair done it last year. Sucks to pay the repair bill, but beats the heck out of trailering to the lake with 2 little kids. I guarantee that we have used the boat 4 times as much because we don't have to deal with trailering the boat to the lake.

If you have 3 or 4 now I can only imagine how many you will have down the line. I had the same problem a few seasons ago from leaving my boat in the water all summer and only pulling it out once a month to clean it. Needless to say a small patch of blisters was $1000 to fix.

...yeah its a thought but like doug says the boat is in the water ready to use which is (sadly) more important. I wished these boats wouldn't blister.....there are millions of yachts and other type boats in the water all year.....do they all blister??...i wouldnt think so. I will just have to deal with it when time comes.

Most of the big yatchs you are seeing have bottom paint on them which helps prevent blisters and scum. You could do it to a wakeboard boat but it would probably kill your resale...

Just pull it out once a month and give it a good bath with hull cleaner and wax it. That's all you can do. We slipped ours for 5 weeks and aside from looking a little scummy, all was fine.

I am with Michael

Our X-star is in the water from beginning of May until the end of October.

I brush the entire hull every week with the mask/snorkel

No growth and I pull the boat out 2 twice to wax the bottom..

I will deal with blistering when it happens... cheaper that a 10,000 lift or a $80,000-100,000 steel dock with a lift.

Not to mention just show up to the cottage, turn key and go.. not to worry about trailering a boat, launching etc everytime you want to go out .

Osmotic blistering is the technical term and it occurs on most fiberglass boats that sit in the water. It happens because the water penetrates through the gel coat. Several boat makers are now using vinlyester resins in their hull lay up which seems to prevent blisters. I think some of the higher end ski boats and yachts actually have guarantees with their new boats for at least ten years against blistering.

We're on our 3rd boat that we've kept in the lake for weeks at a time, and never had a problem with blisters.
I've also read that the "damage" of blisters in your hull are about the equivalent to rock chips in your truck.... not the end of the world.

When I had less expensive boats, I kept them in the water pretty much from April - Oct several years over and had no permanent staining or blistering. Now I have a lift since I have more money invested, but if it came down to leaving it at the lake in the water or trailering, I would keep it in the lake. Not all boats will blister or stain, but some will. Just a risk you take and if you regularly scrub the hull throughout the year and dry it out and wax every 4-6 weeks, it doesn't get too dirty, well at least in a reasonably clean lake.

i see people doing it all the time, iv never had to do it but i would for sure leave it in the water over trailering 2 to 3 times a week, its a pain in the butt. my buddy leaves his in all year, 5 mouths* to be exact and he uses some kind of acid im not sure but i can find out, spray it on and rinse off, and wax, his hull is perfect and its been in the water for 5 years

(Message edited by michridr69 on August 26, 2009)

I wouldn't sweat it, unless it's salt then I might worry a bit. Otherwise just pull it out once a month and give her a good cleaning. My grandparents leave theirs in a lake up north for 4-5 months out of the year. I trailer mine, but I'm not so fortunate as to have waterfront property down here.

Boats that stay in the water will age faster. They always have a little water in the bilge and never completely totally dry out. Make sure you have a really good cover on it to help keep dry between uses.

Larry,
I'm in California also and leave my boat in for extended time during the summer. I pull it out once in awhile, clean it, wax it and pop it back in. The boat hull looks like a show boat.
I have 900 hrs on it.

thanks for all the feedback. I've pretty much come to the conclusion that even though my boat will take a bit of a beating... it's better than sitting. Better to get more use out of it. All the feedback is really helpful thanks guys.

Make sure the batteries are good, packing gland is adjusted correctly, and you don't have any leaking hoses or anything. If the bilge pump has to run a lot it will drain the batteries.

I park my boat in saltwater from May till Oct. The only way to do this is to paint the bottom, which I do every spring with Interlux Ablative paint in a matching color to my boat. I lightly scrub the waterline 1-2 times a season, but other than that, I have never had to clean the bottom.

I don't care about resale value at this point, she's a 2001 with 800hrs and I don't plan on getting rid of her anytime soon.

what trace brings up would worry me more than blisters. Could you imagine coming to the boat and seeing it sunk? Or washed up on shore from a storm? That would make me sick. I do wish I could keep my boat on the water. It gets old trailering it all the time, then folding tower and removing swim platform to get it in the garage. Probably spend an extra hour every time out in just prep time. Although it is nice to not have to haul gas in cans to the boat.

Over the years, keeping the boat on the water has ensured that we ride a lot more than if we trailered it. When the boat is sitting there ready to rock n roll, we are a lot more likely to go out for a quick ride or a booze cruise in the evenings after work (like last night, thanks DD!). I'm going on 5 yrs in Liberty Lake. Did 6 yrs on Sammamish. And 2 yrs on Washington. 3 different boats. No blisters. Pull the boat out occasionally, clean it up, wax it & let it dry out.

Hauling gas isn't much of an issue if you keep up on it, ie; bring a can or two down every night you ride, just to keep the tank as full as possible. If we had to haul 5 or 6 cans at a time, then it might be a problem, especially since I don't own more than 2. It also really helps if you get your crew in the habit of bringing a can down with them when they come out.

When the boat is on the lake, we pay attention to the weather report. If there is a storm, we go get it out. If we're going to be out of town over the weekend, we pull the boat. In the end we probably only mess with the trailer & boat ramps lines about one in every 8 - 10 times we use the boat.

Another thing that really helps, shared or secondary waterfront. Look into it. Houses, condos, townhouses or apartments, they can all have shared waterfront, owned, leased or rentals. Taxes are no more than any other house. Many times boat slips are included. We're a block away from the beach in our current place. So doing all this stuff is a lot less hassle. And if you get up early in the morning you can load your gear up in the golf cart, zip down to the boat & go for a run before you have to show up for work at 8am.


(Message edited by bill_airjunky on August 28, 2009)