9 boating mistakes even seasoned boaters make

Fuel is way more of a headache in boats than in cars. Boats often sit unused for long periods, and even when they are used, a small, efficient four-stroke can take weeks to consume a few litres of gasoline. When gas sits around in a tank, problems brew. First, gasoline exposed to air in the fuel tank oxidizes, forming a gummy solid, which sticks to metal all through the fuel system, including the carburetor and the injector. “This plugs up the fuel systems and won’t allow the gas to flow through properly,” says Blair Anderson, a managing partner at Alberta Marine in Nanton, Alta. The second thing to know is that using gas that contains ethanol is hard on engines, in two ways. Anderson says he sees the effects of ethanol in the deterioration of rubber components, such as fuel lines, gaskets, and carburetor floats. “It’s mostly a problem with non-fuel- injected engines, like older outboards and inboard-outboards.” The other issue is phase separation, which can occur when gasoline with ethanol sits unused in a tank. Ethanol attracts water (from the humid air in a less-than-full tank), and both settle into separate layers at the bottom of the tank. Advice is pretty much unanimous among marine professionals: add fuel stabilizer/conditioner with every fill all season long, not just in the winter months during storage, to avoid fuel degradation problems. And avoid ethanol by using the highest-octane gas you can find. In most provinces, higher-octane fuels, such as premium-grade 91 octane in Ontario and 94 octane in B.C., are free of ethanol. (In Alberta, Anderson says finding ethanol-free gas at the pump is “pretty much impossible right now.”) To minimize oxidization and absorption of moisture, don’t leave fuel sitting around in a tank for more than a few months, especially one that’s only partially filled (large tanks can be left a bit longer; try to use fuel in small portable containers within a month). Ideally, you want to keep the tank really full or really empty. Grant Jowitt, the service manager at Buckeye Marine in Bobcaygeon, Ont., recommends that at the end of the season you use leftover unmixed fuel in another machine, such as a tractor or a lawn mower, and start the next boating season with fresh gas. Photo by eZeePics/Shutterstock

You may be surprised when a marine patrol cites you for crossing your lake on an air mattress. “The second that you’re considered to be ‘navigating,’ safety equipment is required,” says Jonathan Doan, the regional manager for boating safety at Transport Canada. And that’s a discretionary call for the marine patrol. Shape up The equipment you need depends on the size and type of your vessel. Check the Safe Boating Guide (available online) from Transport Canada before the start of every season, as it does get revised. Don’t try to share items between boats. With small craft, a lot of essentials come prepackaged in kits; get one for each boat. Be aware that wearing a PFD on a small non-powered craft reduces the equipment requirements. With a pedal boat or a sit-on kayak, for example (assuming you’re out in the day in clear conditions), wearing a PFD reduces mandatory gear to only a sound signalling device. Photo by Dmitrijs Bindemanis/Shutterstock

Many small, outboard-powered boats get by with a single battery for starting the motor and occasionally running a few low-current accessories, such as lights or a gPs. They’re built to provide a big surge of current or cold cranking amps. The problem comes when you pile on a lot of draws, such as fish finders, chart plotters, and pumps. Regularly drawing your starter down too far greatly shortens its lifespan and causes the battery to fail when you really need it. If you have a number of power-sapping accessories, you definitely need a “house” battery in addition to a starter. “You don’t want to discharge a starter battery at all,” says David Sampson, the branch manager at Total Battery in Barrie, Ont. “At most, say 10 to 20 per cent.” By contrast, a house is a deep-cycle battery that gives a steady supply of current over a long period and can be drawn down and recharged repeatedly. (Even these should only be drawn down to a point: for a typical flooded, deep-cycle, lead-acid house battery—the kind with the caps that you can pop off to check the electrolyte level—“the maximum recommended discharge is 50 per cent,” says Sampson. So you don’t want to go below 12V to 12.2V in daily usage.) Ask a battery expert who knows boats if you need both, what size you should get, and how each should be charged. Consider getting a “battery switch,” which lets you choose which, if any, battery is in use, says Buckeye Marine’s Gary Burke. Sampson recommends eyeballing the electrolyte levels on a typical flooded battery at least twice each summer and topping up the cells with distilled water as needed. Over the winter, keep batteries in a cool, dry, place, and charge if necessary. (The starter should be stored almost fully charged, and a deep-cycle house battery should be at least 70 per cent charged, or no less than 12.4V. ) Photo by Dewitt/Shutterstock

Next to fuel-related problems, overheating is by far the most common issue that cottage-country marine-engine mechanics face. The usual culprit? The water-pump impeller. (Its job is to bring water from the lake into the engine to keep it cool.) Overheating from friction (and serious damage) can also arise in the lower unit’s gears, due to degraded gear oil, the loss of oil altogether, or water getting in. Inspect and replace your impeller regularly. The frequency depends on the engine, how much the boat is used, and the body of water that it’s running on (salt water is harsher). “Impellers typically should be checked every two to three years,” says Blair Anderson of Alberta Marine. Gear oil should also be replaced periodically (again, frequency depends on the engine), which is fairly straightforward in a small outboard and can be done by the average boat owner. Look for milkiness in your gear oil: it’s a sign of water, which tells you that your seals need to be replaced. If you’re not keen on dealing with gear oil, seals, or impellers, take your boat to the shop. Have lower units of inboard/ outboards removed and inspected by a professional every three or four years. Photo by Lillian Tveit/Shutterstock

“People think, The boat is right beside the house and I can keep an eye on it,” says John Brunatti of G. Brunatti & Sons in Parry Sound, Ont., a company that makes boat canvas and upholstery, seating, and interior products. “But it can snow enough over a few hours in the night to collapse a boat top’s frame.” Not to mention damage by critters, such as mice and raccoons. “Boats are left in boathouses with the canvas up, but the owner will throw a tarp over it to protect it. That creates a space between the tarp and the canvas that mice love to get into,” says Brunatti. Raccoons can do so much damage that a boat virtually becomes a write-off. Smart and nimble, they’re not even true hibernators. That’s especially the case these days, according to Kamal Khidas, the curator of vertebrate zoology at the Canadian Museum of Nature, thanks to our strange winters. Once they get into a boat, they’re busy all winter, eating, defecating, mating, raising babies. Inside your boat. In the winter, you need to protect your boat from weather, moisture, snow load, animals, and the degradation of gelcoat and other boat bits from winter UV. To keep most everything at bay, store the boat in a garage or a boathouse, or inside at a marina. If you must keep your boat outside, build a sturdy frame, and wrap the boat in a store-bought tarp, or have a fitted tarp or cockpit tonneau cover made. You should not be using your summer covers for winter. Even a little bit of movement against the tarp can chafe a hole. “Tie down or remove loose items on the outside of the boat too,” says Sam Salter, of Ghost Lake Marina near Cochrane, Alta. “The wind can work a rope loose, and it can chafe.” If you are going to use a shrink-wrap covering (which at least won’t blow away like a lot of DIY tarp and frame jobs), make sure it has plenty of ventilation, and consider removing (or at least setting up on their edge) boat cushions and other fabric items that retain moisture and can breed mould and mildew. As for animal invaders, obviously you need to make it hard for them to get in. But that is easier said than done, especially while allowing for ventilation. Raccoons can use their hands to get into lots of trouble, and screening doesn’t slow them down. Do yourself a favour and make sure the boat interior is truly closed and locked for the winter. Biminis and enclosures are probably most at risk in the off-season, if stored improperly or used alone as a winter cover. Leave the canvas on if the boat is stored indoors (don’t cover it with a tarp), but, otherwise, it’s best to roll up the canvas, and seal it in a container or a sturdy bag. If it’s left anywhere that mice might be, check it regularly; transparent bags let you see inside at a glance. Photo by ZoranOrcik/Shutterstock

The least-loved marine engines are outboards of 25 hp or less, says Buckeye Marine’s Grant Jowitt. “People take them out of the water without winterizing them at all.” You can ruin a small outboard simply by not storing it properly in a cold environment. At the very least, bring the motor indoors, and store it upright to be sure it is drained of water. Ideally, Jowitt says, you should also add fuel stabilizer and grease it. Winterizing regimens vary between engine sizes and manufacturers, although small outboards are generally much simpler. Follow the owner’s manual, or, if you don’t want the fuss, pay for servicing. Having a marina winterize your small outboard may cost about $100, but that’s a lot cheaper than replacing a 15 hp four-stroke that originally cost $2,500. Photo by Nailya Ganeeva/Shutterstock

If there’s a rule of navigation (and safety and courtesy) that’s broken more often than the “10–30 Rule” (a 10 km/h speed limit within 30 m of shore), we haven’t heard of it. The unposted rule falls under Transport Canada’s Vessel Operation Restriction Regulations. It’s there for public safety and to prevent damage to property and the environment. There are exceptions: it doesn’t apply in rivers less than 100 metres (328 ft.) wide; in canals or buoyed channels; or when the boat is moving perpendicular to the shore while towing skiers or wakeboarders. And while the unposted rule doesn’t apply everywhere in Canada, it is in force in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and on rivers and lakes in B.C. Many small boats don’t have speedometers, which can make it hard to know if you’re following the law. “We encourage people to actually navigate at 10 km/hr and see how slow that is,” says Jonathan Doan of Transport Canada. You can use a map app on your smartphone to measure a run over a distance and time yourself. At 10 km/h, you will cover 100 metres in 36 seconds. As for the distance from shore, 30 metres is about half the length of a hockey rink. Boaters sometimes complain that the speed limit forces them to create a large wake. For some lengths of boat, 10 km/h is the point at which they do start to dig a hole in the water, creating a bigger wake that can damage shorelines and property. But going faster isn’t the solution: speeding risks collisions with swimmers and small craft and it’s against the law. Instead, slow down even more in near shore areas, or redistribute weight forward to level out the boat. Photo by Jackie Smithson/Shutterstock

The big insurance decision most cottage boaters make is whether to get a standalone marine policy or have the boat fall under the cottage’s homeowner policy. A homeowner policy may not cover all types of damage to boats, nor liability. Cottagers on Lakes Joseph and Muskoka in Ontario had an unhappy surprise when flooding in 2016 caused water levels to rise quickly. Andrew Robertson, the senior vice-president for Skippers’ Plan at Arthur J. Gallagher Canada, which insures boats across the country, had clients whose boats were crushed against the interior roof of boathouses in the flood. Cottagers with standalone boat policies were covered, while some others who had their boats under a homeowner policy discovered that flood damage didn’t extend to their boats. Placing boats such as canoes and kayaks, small outboards, and sailing dinghies under a homeowner policy may be fine, but, with powerboats in general, it’s probably not enough. For boats worth more than about $8,000, says Robertson, cottagers should get a stand-alone policy. Stand-alone boat policies also offer clear liability for a wide swath of situations, and not only if a swimmer, a dock, or another boat is hit in a collision. Liability covers pollution cleanup when a boat sinks and oil and gas are spilled into the environment. Coverage also extends to wreck recovery. Canada’s Navigation Protection Act requires an owner of a sunken boat that is a hazard or obstruction to navigation to immediately begin to remove it. If you don’t, Transport Canada can appoint someone to do it and recover the costs from the owner. And removal doesn’t come cheap. Photo by LeonWang/Shutterstock

Inflatable PFDs have worked wonders in getting people in small craft to wear a personal flotation device. The problem is that most people don’t test them. Ever. Inflatable PFDs have been around since Mustang Survival introduced them in North America in 1997, which means that you might be relying on one that’s more than a few years old. Whether your model is manual or automatic, unpack it, and inflate it by breathing into the air tube, to check for leaks in the inflated horseshoe and to ensure that it will actually stay filled. Larry Jacobs, an rcmP corporal with the South Island Integrated Marine Unit in Victoria says that they test theirs every six months and let them sit inflated for about 24 hours, to check for slow leaks. “It’s a life-saving piece of equipment. You want it to work,” Jacobs says. Every time you put your PFD on, make sure the indicator for the CO2 inflator cartridge or cylinder is green. Check the expiry date (five years after the manufacture date) on models with a hydrostatic inflator technology inflator cap. Once expired, you must replace the cartridge and the inflator cap with new ones to keep the PFD legal—and dependable. Rearming kits cost about $35. Note that unlike with traditional PFDs, to meet safety regulations you must wear an inflatable model in an open boat or when on deck, not just have it stored on board. Happy (better) boating! Photo by amfroey/Shutterstock