22' Sun Deck with 150 Yamaha Engine - Headed North for the Summer

wcberger

We are in SW FL and of course in saltwater.  We store it at our marina in a dry dock 'barn'.  
What procedures do we need to do to 'summerize' it?  Is this something we can do ourselves, or do we need to pay the marina?  Their estimate is about $480.00.  Seems steep to us.  We just had our 20 hour check up.

We are new to boating and have spent this winter thoroughly enjoying our new Hurricane.  Any help will be appreciated.

Thank you!
Wayne

smiley

Ernest T is usually a wealth of info on these questions.......I would think coming out of FLA you already are summerized?

Salt water issues of course, trailering or really cruising in the boat back North?  That would be a great ICW convoy trip, a group from FL to Maine.......Enjoy!

wcberger

Capt. Roy,

We will be storing the boat for the summer down in FL.  Dry dock, in barn.  Not sure what we should do???

Ernest_T

With an outboard it is pretty easy.  I'd guess that you would do the same procedure I would do for winterization, with the exception that you don't have to worry about freezing issues.

Since you just had the 20 hour service, they should have already done the oil, lube, etc. for the engine, and I assume that it has had a good fresh water flush after being run in salt water.  You should fill the fuel tank with fuel and add Sta-bil Marine fuel stabilizer.  A full tank reduces the space for water condensation.  (Yamaha also highly recommends running their Ring Free product in all tanks of fuel to reduce carbon build up).  You should consider emptying the fresh water system or adding a small amount of bleach etc. to prevent mold build up.  I think it would be a good idea to drain the live-well system also, but not as critical if you don't have freezing issues.

I assume you have a newer model Yamaha F150 4 stroke.  If your engine is 2 stroke, disregard the following.  Yamaha recommends fogging the engine if it will be stored for an extended period (more than a month or 2).  The best way is to make up a fogging mixture and run it through the engine from an external fuel tank.  This is probably the most complicated part of the winterization/summerization process, but once you do it it is pretty easy.  I used the following process:  [link=http://forums.iboats.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=71763&d=1288444337]http://forums.iboats.com/...71763&d=1288444337[/link] and checked it out with a Yamaha technician to be sure it was OK for their engines.  I used a 3 gallon external fuel tank, so I halved the mixture, which provides more than enough of the fogging mixture.  Once you are done, you can dump the excess fogging mix into the fuel tank on the boat.  You have to disconnect the fuel line and run it to the external tank, then just run the engine on the hose to do the fogging procedure.  There are other ways to fog the engine (pulling spark plugs, etc.), but the method mentioned above is the most thorough and gets the entire fuel system, and once you have the external fuel tank rigged up all you have to do is remove one hose and connect the external tank to do the procedure.  Once you are done, tip the motor down to let it drain completely before storage.  Here is a thread on fogging the Yamaha F150 that I started last year in another forum:  [link=http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=447624&highlight=fogging+f150]http://forums.iboats.com/...highlight=fogging+f150[/link]

Since your engine has been exposed to salt water conditions, I'd also recommend spraying down exposed metal components with an anti-corrosive spray like Fluid Film, or CRC 656.  Then some silicone spray for plastic and rubber parts.

If the boat is being stored in a non-humidity controlled environment like outside, or in a garage you will need to put in some of the moisture control canisters, or rig up some type of ventilation system to prevent mold/mildew buildup over the summer (I'm assuming it will be covered).

You will want to pull the battery, and put it on a battery tender and you should be good to go.