Aluminum fishing boat in (freshwater) wet slip?

[bab311]

Hi all,

I recently bought my first boat, a 1997 Lund Fisherman 1800 - great boat in great shape for its age. I’ve searched for posts about this topic here and on other sites over the month, and have some follow-up questions.

For several reasons (convenience of getting on the water, being able to charge my trolling motor at the dock, etc.) I prefer to keep the boat at a wet slip, but I know there are potential issues that can arise, including stray current and corrosion. As I’ve scoured the Internet for info about stray current at marinas, I’m not sure if I’ve made myself more concerned than I should be or if I should be as concerned as watching videos about stray current disasters has made me!

I know algae/growth will occur so I’d plan on treating it and taking it out every few weeks to give it a good power wash. The boat has a seacast transom and is solid and dry.

Rack storage intrigued me but not having an electric plug-in and the risk of oil dripping on my boat makes it less appealing. I’d also like to have access for early morning and late night fishing. The wet slip price is great.

Curious if anyone here has been in a similar situation and if you have thoughts about my options:
- Wet slip
- Rack stroage
- Keeping it on a trailer at the marina and driving three miles up the road to launch it whenever I want to use it (and sitting in long lines during peak season)


Thanks in advance!

 

[FunInDuhSun]

Welcome to iBoats!
A slip is the utmost in convenience. I keep a 14’ Jon in fresh water all summer and never had an issue with corrosion.
Three things to keep in mind- you should have a proper automatic bilge pump, an onboard battery charger and a shore power connection.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

1st, nice boat, I had the exact same boat but a 17'er. It's a fishing machine, you will love it. I had my boat in the water at a slip at a local marina, you call it a wet slip, it can't be beat for convenience. For convenience it's well worth every penny. Trailering the boat is a chore. Mine was in a really gungy creek on Lake Erie so here is a few things you may want to know about a "wet slip."

I took it out every 3 or 4 weeks to get the discolouration and Zebra mussels off the hull. Power washing didn't clean it all off. I use Lysol Toilet Bowl cleaner with Hydrogen Peroxide. Power wash the loose stuff off, spray the cleaner on, wait a minute then scrub with a good quality deck brush and power rinse it.

Tilt the outdrive UP. Keeps algae etc. off the prop and things out of the outdrive.

After a period of high winds and rain I go and check the boat to ensure it's secure, the bilge is empty and the battery has a full charge. Auto bilge running can kill the battery.

Keep some slack in the dock ropes allows for rises and falls in water level. There is a proper way to tie off a boat at a slip and the wrong way as well. Learn the right way. It is here somewhere on iboats forums.

If there are prolonged periods the boat doesn't go out get to the slip and air it out.

My Lund had a snap down travel cover . To me it was a pain to reach the opposite side of the dock. If I kept it I would have had a mooring cover made like I have on my StarCraft. I strongly suggest a mooring cover for a slip.

There is no comparison trailering a boat and having a slip. Well worth every penny like I said.

Good luck and enjoy. Safety 1st and safety last.

 

[Texasmark]

Water quality surely dictates this problem but on vacation, leaving my boat in fresh water, in as early as the end of one week, I can feel algae already to the point that I felt it needed to be washed off. A dirty hull really eats into your MPG and top speed. If in salt water, barnacles don't wait that long to attach themselves and then there is the lower unit corrosion, even with the engine tilted up....which is another issue. The cost of a lift would certainly mitigate these real problems.

On keeping a boat at a marina, besides the above problem, my reasons not to are:
Cost
Security from theft
Security from weather related problems
Everything you are going to use has to be transported to/from the boat.
Normal maintenance items will have to be dealt with one way or another.

Not having these worries to me are well worth the launch hassle even with me fishing alone and doing it all alone.

To each his/her own.

 

[Mechmagcn]

My aluminum Jon boat, a daily driver, is in the water year round, has been for 7 years now. Have never had corrosion problems, even with a battery tender and an electric heater (gotta keep the cab warm for momma) plugged in. Algae is a concern though, my boat is used daily, so it doesn't get a chance to grow.
When we used our home as a weekend retreat we trailered the boat. A slip makes life so much easier.

 

[southkogs]

The three down sides to slips here in TN that I've seen are 1.) cost - it saves me quite a bit to trailer, and we typically don't run into huge waits to get on the water even in the Metro Nashville area. Then 2.) lugging all of the stuff out to the boat from the car - Most of the boats I see slipped have had to rig some kind of dock storage because lugging all of their gear for the day is a bit of a chore. I kinda' like just tossing everything from the car into the boat and dropping the boat into the drink. And lastly 3.) fuel. I like filling up at the gas station and not paying dock prices or hauling gallons of gas down the gangway.

Otherwise, I am kinda' jealous of the of the dudes who just tie up, toss a cover over the boat and head home.

 

[briangcc]

I trailer mine as...

1. Cost - slip is around $900+ for the season. I can buy an awful lot of gas for my truck with that AND I'm not tied to one lake.

2. I don't have to worry about whether its still where I left it - theft, vandalism, or weather.

3. I don't have to worry about any marine growth - I can clean it in a few minutes in my driveway after each use...both outside AND in.

4. Trailering isn't that bad. IF I didn't have my boys with me I could have it in the water in minutes after arriving at the launch site. A few launch/retrieve cycles you'll have it down to a science.

5. Gas - by me its a $0.50-$1.00 premium to fill up on the water. Again, I can buy a lot of gas simply filling it before I head to the lake.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

Of course there are cons to keeping a boat in the water and is well pointed out above. I have lockable storage on my StarCraft so rods and reels are as secure as it can be. Of course if someone wants to rob you they will. The owner of the Marina I was at lives not 30 feet from the slips. It only holds 10 boats. I have a bag that I keep my electronics in that I carry to the boat, my tackle bag and a small cooler. Not too bad. I can't launch and retrieve my boat solo. If I want to go out fishing by myself I can do that with a slip otherwise I need someone to help me, other than my wife. She won't go out on the boat anymore especially if I need her to help launch it. She just doesn't like boating on a big lake. We have seen some bad weather and that was enough for her to pack in boating.

 

[JimS123]

For me cost is no consideration. I'm retired and when I want to go fishing I want to go fishing. I'm also anal about maintenance. If my boat don't shine, I'm not happy. If the weather gets bad, I don't want to worry about the boat. And if I want to polish her, I don't want to to have to go thru any hassle to git er done.

To me launching and retrieving is part of the fun of boating. But of course I don't have a "storage trailer" with wooden carpeted bunks, I have a "launching trailer" with dozens of rollers and a power winch that takes no effort. Truth be told, I have less hassle in launching and retrieving than I would have if I had a wet dock and had to go thru all the hassle trouble of putting a cover on.

My trailer is set up for solo launching. When the wife comes along I enjoy her help holding the lines, but when she is out with her horses and I go fishing alone its no hassle at all. In fact, its easier. There have been times that people saw me alone and came over to help, only to f*&^ the whole launch up because they didn't know how to properly launch a boat.

We take a 2 week vacation int the Summer and of course rent dock space. Every day its a matter of pulling the electronics and putting them in the car and then putting the cover on the boat. Repeat reverse the next morning. When I get home I always find my SS prop needs polishing (stray current) and the boat's hull needs cleaning.

Just my opinion after having been a boater for 58 years - 6 years with a dock and the last 52 with an awesome trailer and a garage built for boats.

 

[mr 88]

A few things to comment on .
Try it for one year and see how you like it.
Things / gear /electronics can be stolen any place , just like if your boat is not in the driveway ,crooks ,and that's there profession, will now see after casing your place your gone for the day. SO while your worried about your boat gear being jacked, you come home to a cleaned out house. THAT"S why they have insurance , for homes as well as BOATS. So rest easy on that one.
Gas , a smaller boat with a 4 stroke , like yours is not going to burn that much gas over the course of a season to make a difference .Also you probably have portable tanks that you can fill up at the gas station if that bothers you. Most ,not all , marinas pump 89 and non ethanol gas ,so figure that into the difference's in gas prices as well as keeping the local Marina in business.
You can always buy a dock box or even a pick up truck utility box ,bolt or lag screw it to a couple 4 X 4s to get it off the ground . Now you have a on site storage unit so you are not dragging cleaning supplies ect back and forth.
Stray current ,buy a sacrificial anode,attach it directly to hull / unit or both if stray current becomes a issue .
Have fun !

 

[JimS123]

A few things to comment on .
Try it for one year and see how you like it.
Things / gear /electronics can be stolen any place , just like if your boat is not in the driveway ,crooks ,and that's there profession, will now see after casing your place your gone for the day. SO while your worried about your boat gear being jacked, you come home to a cleaned out house. THAT"S why they have insurance , for homes as well as BOATS. So rest easy on that one.
Gas , a smaller boat with a 4 stroke , like yours is not going to burn that much gas over the course of a season to make a difference .Also you probably have portable tanks that you can fill up at the gas station if that bothers you. Most ,not all , marinas pump 89 and non ethanol gas ,so figure that into the difference's in gas prices as well as keeping the local Marina in business.
You can always buy a dock box or even a pick up truck utility box ,bolt or lag screw it to a couple 4 X 4s to get it off the ground . Now you have a on site storage unit so you are not dragging cleaning supplies ect back and forth.
Stray current ,buy a sacrificial anode,attach it directly to hull / unit or both if stray current becomes a issue .
Have fun !

When I had issues with in-water storage, the sacrificial anodes deteriorated along with the prop. Driveway storage is just as bad as in-water. Sits wet all the time with 100% UV. My last boat lasted 35 years in the garage and still looked like new.

In my case my house has a security system so no issues with theft. (its a real good system and its also tied in the with basement flooding, smoke alarms, etc. Any event alerts the police, plus my own personal cell phone)

Insurance is necessary, of course, but every time you make a claim your rates go up.

I personally prefer E-10, so marina gas would not be acceptable. Besides, the cost is astronomical in my area.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

Marina fuel around here can be 20% higher than a regular gas station. I don't know how they can get away with that. Yes it can be a pain hauling gas in a 5 gallon container. I got one of those "jiggers" and it made filling much easier. The one thing I had going against filling is the boat was moored on the port side and the fill was on the starboard. So I was breaking the law everytime I filled the boat up as I had to be in the boat to fill it up. I never got citizens arrested. Depending on the boat and the location of the filler something to take in consideration is on what side the fill cap is and how accesable you may be filling at the marina 100% of the time. Folding up the mooring cover and carrying it off the ramp so my next door neighbour could get to his boat could be a pain but I did get some exercise. If I only had a travel cover I would never get a wet slip. I have seen a few guy fall in the drink trying to get the last snaps on the cover while balancing on the transom. I used bleach jugs filled with water with S hooks to hang down and hold the cover taught.

 

[rcmpvet]

So I was breaking the law everytime I filled the boat up as I had to be in the boat to fill it up. I never got citizens arrested.

Actually you would be in the clear. One person, boat operator or the fuel attendant is allowed on board during fueling dockside or beach side. This is the actual regulation:

49	Fuelling vessel equipped with a fixed fuel tank while dockside or beached unless person fuelling is only person on board

1002(3)(b)

https://www.laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-96-313/page-4.html