Last summer, Ken and Angela Westheuser added a Harris FloteBote Sunliner 220 pontoon boat to the small fleet at their cottage on Salerno Lake in central Ontario. They’ll make a pot of coffee in the morning, go into a bay and anchor, have breakfast, and read the paper. Their 27-year-old son, Mark, uses the boat for fishing. But the surprise lies in its performance. Its 90 hp outboard motor quickly gets it up and running at 30 mph. So when a friend asked if he could be towed on his wakeboard, Westheuser happily obliged.  

Creature comforts and performance are the major factors in the surge in pontoon boat sales in Canada: This isn’t your grandpa’s glorified swim raft with hard bench seats. According to the National Marine Manufacturers Association, from October 2011 to September 2012, pontoon boats led a rebound in new boat sales in Canada with a 23 per cent increase in unit sales. In all, 4,525 pontoon boats, about 10 per cent of total new boat sales, were sold, and about 40 per cent of them were sold in Ontario.

“People are looking for extra performance,” says Donald Dubois, the president of Princecraft Boats in Princeville, Que. The company’s Vogue line sells outboards of up to 300 hp, and its SVX series has wakeboard packages. “You can now bring many of the comforts of 
home with you,” he adds. Not to mention 
up to 12 people (and dogs). Westheuser agrees. “A pontoon is like a floating living room,” he says. “It’s very relaxing.”

The main reason pontoon boats are catching on with cottagers is “bang for the buck,” says Paul Jenkins, the owner of Bancroft Sport & Marine in Bancroft. “The cost per square foot of usable space is probably the lowest of any boat. The comfort factor is very high, and they’re extremely versatile.” A typical model he sells is a 20′ Starcraft Marine Stardeck with a bimini top and a 50-60 hp outboard that pushes 20 mph, for about $20,000. Manufacturers are also introducing models designed for both day cruising and fishing, featuring a deck area forward with bass-boat-style pedestal seating. “These pontoon boats are almost crossover vehicles,” Jenkins says.

Legend Boats of Sudbury has been busy keeping up with the growing demands for per-formance and amenities, increasing its number of pontoon boat models from nine to 
20 in 2013, with base prices ranging from $10,000 to $34,000. “We want to compete in that high-end area,” says Maurice Beland, Legend’s creative director. He adds that the company’s most popular entry-level model 
is a 21′ Genesis Fusion with a 50 hp outboard that starts at less than $20,000.

Scott Brundle of Town & Country Marine in Buckhorn, Ont., says that most of the sales growth has come in performance packages. Increasing the horsepower and adding strakes to the pontoons’ tubes (or “logs”) gets speed to 30 mph—and faster. Some performance pontoon boats with a third, central tube can even reach 50 mph. “That opens up watersports,” says Brundle.

A popular model for Brundle is a $50,000 Harris FloteBote Grand Mariner 23 with 
a 150 hp outboard capable of 40 mph, but “we’re doing deals now in the $65,000 to $80,000 range.” Amenities at the higher end include luxuriously upholstered lounges, kitchenettes, tables, stereo systems, swim platforms, barbecues, and marine heads with holding tanks (or chemical toilets).

“The biggest misconception,” says Jenkins, “is that pontoon boats are for older, retired people. The demographics are going down, down, down.” And the performance, versatility, and luxury are going up, up, up.

Here’s a savvy saving device: The Toss N’ Save—a 16-metre buoyant heaving line wrapped around a disc that floats—makes water-rescue attempts as simple as throwing a Frisbee.

“Even kids can get it out 25 feet without much effort,” says Teresa Klotz, co-owner of Windabout Enterprises, the company that sells the gadget. (Her husband, Manfred, invented it in 2002, and last year it scored Windabout a Canadian Safe Boating Award for “Best Marine Industry.”)

For a rescuer, the Toss N’ Save is lightweight and takes up little space, even in small boats; for a rescuee, the bright orange disc is “large enough to put an arm through, and buoyant enough so it’ll hold someone afloat,” explains Klotz. And if you toss ’n’ miss? No worries: The rope coils back around the reel in seconds for easy retraction, so additional rescue attempts are a snap.

More info: Windabout

It’s back! Boating Ontario’s Boater Assist—launched as a pilot program in July 2011—is again available in 2013. Run out of gas? Having engine or battery failure? Need a tow? If you’re a Boater Assist member, simply dial the program’s toll-free call centre, and help will be dispatched from the nearest service centre. “We’re similar to CAA,” says Boating Ontario’s Cyndi Hodgson, “but on the water.”

Great for

Boating all summer: 
Boater Assist is available from mid-May to late October, seven days a week, during daylight hours.
Cottagers in much of Ontario: 
Service has grown from the four pilot regions in 2011, and is “constantly expanding,” says Hodgson.
Responsible boaters: Members are allowed a limited number of service calls, so it’s no excuse to ditch regular boat maintenance. Boater Assist is not your mother!
Scoring deals and discounts: 
Members get lower rates on comprehensive boat insurance, plus savings on other products and services.

Not great for

Landlocked lakes in remote locations: 
Boater Assist can only assist you by boat.
Cottagers who can’t communicate: 
With no cellphone (or no service), you’ll need a shortwave or VHF radio to call the Coast Guard, who can patch you through to Boater Assist.
A life-threatening emergency: 
If the boat is on fire, yeesh, call 911.

Package and price info

Basic membership: 
Single boat and any operator with a valid pleasure craft operators card: $75 
for 12 months, with two service 
calls or tows per year.
Family membership: 
Two boats and any operator with a valid pleasure craft operators card: 
$125 for 12 months, with three 
service calls or tows per year.

To become a member, register at boaterassist.com.

1. Set Priorities: “The number one mistake I see is people coming to a show or to a dealer without a list of priorities,” says Mark Payne, the owner of Pointe au Baril’s Payne Marine, on Georgian Bay. Before you start shopping, Payne suggests making a ranked list of the top five features you want in a boat—things like seaworthiness for big water, fish- or ski-ability, price range, fuel economy, and space for hauling people and supplies.

2. Stick to your priorities: Got your list of priorities? Good. For most cottagers, it’s here where tough questions and compromise come in, both essential elements in making the right purchase. For instance, don’t make the mistake of buying a specialized towboat if you’re only interested in casual waterskiing and family day cruising—a bowrider, or, for large groups, a pontoon boat, will better suit your needs. Sara Verni, a public relations manager at the National Marine Manufacturers Association, a trade group representing boat, engine, and accessory companies, steers new buyers to the boat-selector tool on the website discoverboating.ca. Just plug in your desired uses and your ideal capacity, length, and budget, and presto—the application will give you an unbiased range of boat styles that fit your requirements.

3. Take a test drive: Before you commit to buying a boat, take it for a sea trial the same way you’d test drive a car—even if it means waiting until spring. This critical element is often brushed aside by bargain hunters at winter boat shows, but it was at the top of cottager Mark Whitmore’s mind last year when he set out to find the right bowrider for his cottage on Lake Duborne, north of Blind River, Ont. “Taking a test drive was the one thing I insisted on doing,” says Whitmore, who researched boats over the winter and delayed making a purchase of a new 17-foot Glastron until June, just so he could take it for a trial run. “It’s the only way to get a real-life feel for how the boat handles, to get a sense of the power of the engine, and to pick out any flaws in performance.”

4. Shop around for insurance: Unless it’s a small aluminum boat, a canoe, or a kayak, don’t assume that a new boat can be rolled into your cottage insurance policy. “Most people will use what they know about auto insurance when buying a boat,” says insurance broker Andrew Robertson of Robertson & Robertson Yacht Insurance in Mark- ham. “The problem is auto insurance is standard from one insurance company to the next. With boat insurance, each policy is unique from company to company. You can’t just compare prices.” According to Robertson, “actual cash value” policies, where compensation is based on the market value of damaged equipment factoring in depreciation, are “why you hear some people saying, ‘My bleep-bleep insurance company is ripping me off.’ ” Instead, insist on “agreed value” or “replacement cost” coverage, which pays for new parts with no depreciation.

5. Resist those southern charms: A strong Canadian dollar has sent a flood of boat buyers south of the border search-ing for good deals. But according to Constable Dave Ault of the Ontario Provincial Police marine unit in Sault Ste. Marie, the intricacies of licensing a foreign vessel in Canada may not be worth the savings. Owners of a foreign-purchased boat can’t operate their craft until they receive their licence and mark their number on the bow of their vessel in compliance with Transport Canada’s Small Vessel Regulations and Construction Standards for Small Vessels—tedious responsibilities usually handled by manufacturers or retailers for US-made boats that are sold legally in Canada. And some privately sold US boats don’t pass Transport Canada muster. For instance, US regulations for vessel capacity are different than Canada’s, so you may find yourself permitted to carry fewer people onboard. Additionally, if your new boat doesn’t meet Canadian standards in areas such as hull integrity, navigation lights, ventilation of gas vapours for inboard engines, battery location, and the status of fuel tanks and lines, you’re on the hook for upgrades. The bottom line? “It’s a matter of buyer beware,” says Ault.

6. Think feasible financing: Making a nominal down payment or choosing to finance over an extended amortization period puts boat buyers in a bind when they decide to upgrade because they might owe more money on the boat than it’s worth. Will Walker of Toyloan.com, a boat loan specialist in Nottawa, Ont., advises his customers to at least cover the taxes with their down payment and, if possible, to choose an amortization period that’s equal to the amount of time they expect to keep the boat. For the cost of a “Timmy’s coffee per day,” says Walker, a buyer can choose a 10-year amortization instead of 15 years on a $20,000 loan. “It’s a delicate balance between making it affordable and making it fiscally responsible,” he says. “By not financing the taxes and keeping a reasonable amortization, the boat value will approximate the loan value at the typical trade-in time.”

7. Size up your needs: For years, Mike Burnside and his family made the 30-minute trip to and from their water-access cottage on Georgian Bay’s Twelve Mile Bay in diminutive 14- and 16-foot tiller-steered aluminum boats. But as the father of two children under four, Burnside says the “pressure was on” last spring to upgrade to something more spacious and seaworthy. He found a good deal on a 16-foot, inboard/outboard-powered bowrider and jumped on it—a little prematurely, he concedes in hindsight. “There are no issues with just the four of us going up for a weekend,” says Burnside. “But when you add even one more person and gear to the mix, space comes at a premium and it changes the way the boat handles.” This complicates plans for bringing guests to the cottage and offsets the fuel-efficiency gains of a smaller boat with the need to make multiple trips. Burnside added a punchier four-blade prop and installed an aftermarket hydrofoil to the outdrive to bring the boat up on a plane more quickly, but he admits that for a utility boat, bigger is better.

8. Look for quality control: A brief inspection reveals much about the quality of construction of a boat. Whether it’s built of metal or fibreglass, Michael Vollmer, a yacht designer and surveyor based in Burlington, says the key is checking the places that are hard to see to get a sense of how much care went into the boat’s construction. He suggests “the old boat inspector’s trick” of reaching into the hull’s hidden recesses and then counting the number of cuts on your hands. “An indication of the overall quality of the vessel is the number of ‘meat hooks’ on its hidden surfaces, sometimes a sign of improperly rolled-out fibreglass,” says Vollmer. “This might also give you an idea if the electrical and other key systems have been sloppily done.” Speaking of electrical, look for neatly bundled wires, not rats’ nests. And take along a flashlight, to help you peek into those hidden spots. Additionally, Vollmer says a National Marine Manufacturers Association certification—usually shown by a blue sticker—is “a good indication” that you’re buying a quality boat. This voluntary certification scheme assesses boats in terms of steering systems, electrics, fuel systems, ventilation, and batteries, among other categories.

9. Buy local: A brief inspection reveals much about the quality of construction of a boat. Whether it’s built of metal or fibreglass, Michael Vollmer, a yacht designer and surveyor based in Burlington, says the key is checking the places that are hard to see to get a sense of how much care went into the boat’s construction. He suggests “the old boat inspector’s trick” of reaching into the hull’s hidden recesses and then counting the number of cuts on your hands. “An indication of the overall quality of the vessel is the number of ‘meat hooks’ on its hidden surfaces, sometimes a sign of improperly rolled-out fibreglass,” says Vollmer. “This might also give you an idea if the electrical and other key systems have been sloppily done.” Speaking of electrical, look for neatly bundled wires, not rats’ nests. And take along a flashlight, to help you peek into those hidden spots. Additionally, Vollmer says a National Marine Manufacturers Association certification—usually shown by a blue sticker—is “a good indication” that you’re buying a quality boat. This voluntary certification scheme assesses boats in terms of steering systems, electrics, fuel systems, ventilation, and batteries, among other categories.

10. Size up your needs (redux): The aircraft carrier–like size of pontoon boats often intimidates first-time buyers, says Mike Maynard, the director of Hastings Marine in Norwood, Ont. But if you’re looking for something that’s easy to board, stable, and spacious for crowds, Maynard insists bigger is better. “A lot of our customers come in thinking they want a 16-footer with a narrow beam because it seems easier to dock or drive, and we steer them away from that,” he says, “because it defeats the purpose of buying a pontoon boat.” The width, or beam, of a pontoon boat is a critical dimension for stability. Maynard recommends eight feet as the minimum for most applications. Next, consider the diameter of the tubes, a key factor in determining capacity and stability. The norm for 18- to 20-foot boats is 23 inches, while 25 inches is standard for 21-footers and up.

Once you’ve got all the essentials fired up in the cottage, it’s time to get the next essential rocking: your boat. If you took the time to winterize it properly, this should be a piece of cake. If not, no worries, we’ll get you up and running ASAP.

Motor oil

Before you launch is the perfect time to do an oil change. Remember to change the filter as well, and put enough oil back into the engine before starting it up.

Fuel system

Winter can be tough on hoses, so take a good look at them for signs of brittleness or cracking. Check connections for leaks and have a look at the tanks for signs of cracking. Replace anything that shows signs of wear.

Electrical system

Start charging your battery with a trickle-charger a few days prior to launching. Test it to ensure it can hold a charge. If not, get a new battery. You should also have a look at all connections for corrosion. Remove any signs of corrosion with a wire brush, and then re-connect your battery.

Fluids

Check that all fluid levels are where they should be. This includes steering fluids, power trim reservoirs, and coolant. Top any of these up if they are low.

Belts

Inspect belts for signs of wear and tightness. A loose belt will wear quickly, so tighten any belts that aren’t snug on their pulleys.

Hull and propeller

Check the hull for any dings, bubbles, warps, or deformities. You might as well give it all a good wipe down at this point too, and be sure to use an environmentally-friendly cleaning solution. Check your propeller for any dings or cracks and if there are any, replace it.

Insurance and licenses

This one’s a no-brainer, but it’s easy to forget. Make sure your insurance is up to date and that you have all the appropriate paper work. And make sure your boating license is valid.

Safety

Make sure you have all the safety equipment you’ll need on board. This includes appropriate life jackets for everyone on board, fire extinguishers, and heaving line. Be sure to inspect everything to ensure it still functions properly. You should also know the minimum safety equipment required by Transport Canada for the size and type of your boat. Have this safety equipment on board at all times.

When you think about it, aluminum boats are little more than a few sheets of metal, held together with some rivets and welds. And while it’s pretty amazing how much of a pounding they can take, eventually their rivets loosen or break—and then the seams on your hull may refuse to keep the water in the lake, where you want it.

To find the leaking culprits, let water in from outside, or let it out from inside: You can beach your boat and gradually, foot by foot, slide it into the water, marking the rivets that leak as you move along. Or, get the boat up off the ground, fill it to the water line with water, and mark the leaking rivets.

To rebuck (tighten) a rivet, you’ll need a helper (or long arms). One of you holds the buck—any anvil-like hunk of steel—tightly against the flat side of the rivet, while the other hammers the crimped end. If you have one, an automotive bodywork dolly will work as a buck, and a ball-peen hammer can retighten the rivet head. You can also use the face of a sledge hammer as the buck and a carpenter’s hammer to tighten. The key is to avoid too much hammering: Old aluminum rivets can split or break if you give them a heavy whack.

When that happens, you’ll need a source of solid aluminum rivets. Check marine supply houses and sheet metal vendors. To remove an old rivet, file or grind off one head, or drill it out, but don’t enlarge the hole. When seated in its hole, the new rivet’s unpeened (headless) end should protrude by about 2/3 of its diameter. For the best hold, “set” the rivet first, so the metal sheets are in tight contact. Drill a hole just larger than the rivet’s diameter in a hardwood dowel or steel bar. Put the rivet in its hole and your buck against the rivet head. Slip the dowel over the unpeened end—a solid hammer blow will cinch everything up, ready for you to shape the rivet head.

Can you use pop rivets instead? You only need access to one side of the hull to install them, but standard pop rivets are useless below the water line—they have a hole right through them! If you can’t reach both sides, you can try a closed-end pop rivet. It’s not a typical hardware store item, though, so be prepared to hunt around.

As a stopgap until you can install a new rivet, you can also use a small stainless steel machine screw with an acorn nut. Flexible marine epoxy or sealant, applied to the hole before tightening, will help this repair last longer.

Many older bilge pumps in cottage boats rely on a separate float switch to detect water in the hull. Often leaves and other debris lodge beneath the float: The switch stays on, the pump runs, and the battery drains. Conversely, corroded wiring or a faulty float can mean the pump never starts and the boat floods. Whale’s Supersub (about $120 for a model that pumps 1,100 US gallons per hour), one of a new generation of smart pumps, uses an integral electronic sensor that detects water pressure—no need for a separate float switch or its extra wires corroding in the bilge. The Supersub’s low profile makes it easy to install in tight spots, right at the lowest point of the bilge. A screened intake, which you can easily check and clean, protects the pump.

What about the tinnie? For small, uncovered boats with no battery, there are now several brands of self-contained solar-powered pumps (about $200), available at marine supply stores. These lightweight units look like a marine battery with a small solar panel on top and a discharge hose that goes over the transom. As long as you don’t cover the panel, the pump will protect your boat.

All cottagers love the lake, but let’s face it: Come boating season, not everyone embraces high-speed watersports—or the big, fast boats that go with them. This summer, Buckeye Marine is offering expanded, on-the-water courses to teach boaters to be safe, respectful, and responsible when towing tubers, skiers, and wakeboarders. Responsible towing is about minimizing your boat’s impact on the environment, sure, but it’s also about minimizing the impact on your neighbours. In the meantime, Buckeye’s Jay Poole, an instructor and team coach with Water Ski and Wakeboard Canada, offers a few tips to help us all get along:

Change it up. Your location, that is. “Cottagers will be less likely to be upset,” says Poole, “if they see your boat once every week, instead of every day.”
Tame the speed demon. As you motor around the lake, follow the 10 km/h limit within 
30 metres of shore. For one thing, it’s the law. It also reduces your wake’s impact on the shoreline. Nature—and everyone who has a floating dock—will thank you.

It’s almost all about timing. Early in the morning, people are asleep. Consider following suit, or towing your skiers to a part of the lake where there are no cottagers to disturb. “Not everyone is going to be as excited as you to hear your boat at 6 a.m.,” says Poole.

Pick up the barbell pattern. Poole recommends that you drive in this configuration—basically a long, straight line with turns on each end. This route keeps the water calmer and minimizes the space you take up on the lake.

Be quiet. Or, be quieter. “Out on the water, both the volume of your stereo and your voice travel farther and sound clearer,” says Poole. “You may love gangsta rap or bluegrass country, but the entire lake may not.” At 6 a.m.? Hellz no, y’all.

For more towing pointers, and information on courses, visit buckeyemarine.com or muskokaboatgallery.com.

Whether we like it or not, someday most of us will need to buy an outboard engine. Perhaps it’s for that great boat that we bought cheap but that didn’t come with a motor, or perhaps it’s when our existing outboard’s lacklustre performance, the difficulty in getting parts, or a major breakdown signals it’s time for the scrapyard. Problem is, there are so many different makes and models out there that it’s difficult to know where to begin when looking for a replacement.

Modern outboards—two- and four-stroke—have evolved significantly in the last decade, as a result of both advances in technology and stricter exhaust-emission standards. Today’s models use far less fuel, are much quieter, are considerably more reliable, and are much friendlier to the environment than older generations. They also have features never envisioned even a decade ago: electronic controls; high-tech digital engine monitors; improved get-home safety systems, which allow malfunctioning engines to operate for short periods of time under reduced power; and, new in 2013, joystick steering.  

The first step in replacing an outboard is to assess the condition of the boat. “If you put on a new motor, you’re spending upwards of $10,000 to $15,000,” says Jennifer Picken, president of Walsten Marine in Kinmount, Ont., “so we want to make sure the boat is sound before we go any further.” Next, check out the existing engine, if the boat has one, for horsepower, weight, and shaft length.

Factor 1: Horsepower
Ratings have increased over the years, so the horsepower of your new engine may be different than that of your old one. This is because the method for measuring horsepower has changed. Gary Coleman, national service manager for Mercury Marine Canada, based in Milton, Ont., points out that in outboards built before the late 1980s, horsepower was measured 
at the powerhead. These days, it’s measured at the prop shaft. The inherent loss of horsepower between the powerhead and the prop shaft means that, for example, a new 40 hp outboard 
is roughly equivalent to an older 50 hp model. Look for the vessel’s capacity plate/label, located somewhere on the hull. Exceeding the maximum horsepower rating will void any warranty on the boat and it may be difficult, if not impossible, to get insurance.

If the boat is sound but its flotation has become waterlogged, or if it is carrying a lot of gear, the added weight can result in slow acceleration and sluggish performance, signalling the need for a larger outboard, if capacity allows. How you use your boat makes a difference too: Ski and wakeboard boats need the most horsepower, while pontoon and fishing boats can get away with less. 
A boat being used in a calm waterway won’t need as much horsepower as one travelling long distances offshore.

Factor 2: Weight
This can be a significant factor in a 
new engine purchase since four-strokes weigh more than two-stroke engines. 
“If the boat has a 90 hp two-stroke and you’re going to replace that with a 90 hp four-stroke, you have to make sure that there is not going to be too much weight on the back of the boat,” Picken says. Extra weight can make the boat diffi-cult to get up on a plane, says J.F. Rioux, 
outboard product manager for Yamaha Motor Canada, and can cause it to sit too low in the water, which will affect cockpit drainage and potentially allow water ingress over the transom. If the boat is already sitting on its lines with the old outboard, be cautious about installing a heavier engine.

Factor 3: Shaft length
This should be the same on the new 
outboard as on the old one; however, 
not all outboards are produced in multiple shaft lengths, and this may limit your choice of brands. For optimal performance, an outboard’s horizontal cavitation plate (just above the prop) must 
be level with the bottom of the transom. Matt Maynard, of Hastings Marine in Norwood, Ont., explains that the cor-
rect shaft length can be found by meas-uring the distance from the top of the transom (or outboard mounting plate) straight down to the very bottom of 
the transom—the deepest part.  

Factor 4: Rigging, gauges
Most new outboards no longer come packaged with controls (the shifter-throttle, mechanical cables, and wiring harness) or propellers. Depending on 
the brand and the age of the old controls, an adapter kit may be available from the engine manufacturer or an aftermarket parts supplier. These kits allow a new outboard to work with old controls, as long as they are the same brand. While there are potential savings in buying an adapter kit instead of all new controls—which will run at least a few hundred dollars—from a safety and security point of view, it makes sense to replace the controls at the same time as the engine, even if peace of mind costs a few dollars more.

Marine dealers can no longer legally reconnect the old pulley-clothesline steering systems, so you will definitely have to replace one of those with a more reliable cable system. Hydraulic steering systems are available for engines 
of more than about 150 hp and start at around $1,500. Figure on at least twice that for power steering.

Digital engine-monitoring gauges that mount on the console are now available for many 30-plus horsepower outboards, starting at $500. Their multifunction LED screens provide a mind-boggling array 
of valuable data. In addition to what normally appears on stand-alone analog gauges, such as oil pressure, rpm, and temperature, you’ll get everything from fuel consumption and engine diaries to engine diagnostics. Electronic controls, for engines of more than about 200 hp, allow for smoother shifting and less maintenance and are often easier to install than mechanical controls.

The cost of installation also depends on accessibility. As Gary Campbell of Campbell’s Landing in Gravenhurst puts it: “There are many different shapes, models, and styles of boats, and some installations require taking the boat apart while others are simple.” According to Matt Maynard, customers should expect to pay about $400 for a standard install, which includes mounting the engine properly, running the controls and cables, putting in the control box, and setting up the motor to meet warranty requirements (only the dealer can do the latter because they have the specialized computer equipment needed). It’s also a good idea to ask your dealer to take the boat out for a spin to make sure that the controls are properly tweaked and the engine is fitted with the appropriate propeller.

You may find a better price on an outboard by shopping around; however, there is an advantage to buying from your local dealer, someone who will make sure your warranty is valid 
and reward your loyalty by providing prompt, personal service throughout the life of the outboard. There’s also a good chance that you can save money by negotiating a package price that includes the engine, installation, and on-water testing.

Isn’t that the truth? With summer well behind us, so is messing about on the water for the majority of cottagers. I live at Sakinaw Lake on the Sunshine Coast and come October, most of the boats are loaded on trailers and taken home for the winter. However, once those boats arrive home — and especially for those with heated indoor storage, a whole new world of “messing about in boats” opens up — winter projects.

Boater’s To-Do

I don’t think there is a boat owner who doesn’t have a “to do” list. And there’s guaranteed to be a couple of items that never seems to get crossed off — those things we meant to fix in spring — when we were rushing around getting ready to open up the cottage — and in the summer, when we were having too much fun to fix anything but major problems. Well, there’s no better time to whittle down that list than over the winter. But winter is also the perfect time to catch up on cleaning, painting and go over all the systems we rely on during the rest of the year.

The Cleaning: Take perishables, cushions, life jackets and books — anything that will retain moisture — off the boat. Leave locker doors open to ensure adequate airflow. Scrub the boat inside and out. Attack those stubborn stains. If you’ve got an inboard motor, why not give it a pressure cleaning to remove accumulated grease? This is the time to do a really serious cleaning and the chance to get into those hard-to reach areas that don’t normally get attention. Go over every square inch and use plenty of rinse water.

Winter boat maintenance: Take the time to go over every mechanical system and inspect and fix problems and potential problems. For those with an outboard motor — especially if the engine hasn’t been serviced for several years, why not get a professional mechanic to give it a good going over? Spark plugs, pump impellers, thermostats, zincs and gear oil must be checked and replaced on a regular basis. For those with inboards, check under the engine for oil, fuel or water leaks. Check belt tensions, examine all hoses for wear and leaks and replace as necessary. Change engine and/or transmission oil and filtres. When was the last time the in-line gas filter was checked? Consider coating cylinder walls with fogging oil to prevent rusting. What kind of shape are your built-in fuel tanks? If they’re marginal, consider replacing them. Check all engine controls, instruments and switches and fix those that aren’t working. Test alarm systems. Make sure the steering system is fully functional. Examine all parts for rust and wear. Lubricate as necessary. Test and lubricate (with vegetable oil) all thru-hulls and check all hoses for soft spots, cracks and ensure hose clamps aren’t rusty. (There should be two hose clamps in good shape on each thru-hull hose.) Look for and replace cracked O-rings — then lube the good ones with silicone grease.

Electricals: You’ve already checked out the engine electrical system, but try all the electrical switches and repair as required. Follow the wiring and look for and redo corroded connections. Make sure terminal blocks, screws and fuses are corrosion-free. Test the navigation lights and hit the bulb sockets with a little sandpaper if there’s any corrosion. What kind of shape are your batteries in? Check levels, make sure terminals are clean and tight. Are the batteries holding a charge? Time for replacement? This is a good time to re-do that haywired electrical connection you threw together when you were in a hurry last summer, or to sort out that loose wire that’s been dangling from the dash.

Others Systems: If you have a head, check to make sure it is functioning properly. Fresh (drinking) water systems should be drained and flushed every few years. If the water tastes lousy, perhaps take more serious cleaning action or replace the tank. Check the water pump operation (replace impeller if required) and check lines and connections for leaks. If you’ve got a cook stove, check its operation and test it and the fuel lines for leaks. If you’ve got a propane, gas and/or carbon monoxide sniffer, check these items are working. Clean your fridge, and leave the door propped open with a tray of baking soda or a cup of instant coffee crystals to keep things