Your Best Technique or Invention

[Capt.Bill11]

Yes, but using Rain-X or one of the newer better glass treatments makes your glass much easier to keep clean and stops the formation of mineral spots and etching. Which may not be a big issue in the PNW but is in a lot of other boating areas. So it is not a waste of time.

And Rain-X at least lasts 1-2 months. The newer glass treatments last much, much longer. Especially if you properly polish out your windows before applying them.

 

[Hawgwash]

The newer glass treatments last much, much longer. Especially if you properly polish out your windows before applying them.

This is a "Tips and Techniques" thread so give us a tip on the newer glass treatments and the technique to properly polish out the windows.

 

[BandB]

Yes, but using Rain-X or one of the newer better glass treatments makes your glass much easier to keep clean and stops the formation of mineral spots and etching. Which may not be a big issue in the PNW but is in a lot of other boating areas. So it is not a waste of time.

And Rain-X at least lasts 1-2 months. The newer glass treatments last much, much longer. Especially if you properly polish out your windows before applying them.

I think of it as sealer vs. repellent and although Rain-X has changed their formula, many of the others are sealants from their origination. Some are really paint sealers also usable on glass. What do you use, Bill?

 

[Marin]

Yesterday while I was in the yard for our boat launch I got to talking to the yard manager about adjusting the packing nut on a shaft log. While this had nothing to do with the problem the boat had been in the yard for, I have never been happy with the tools I have for the purpose of adjusting the packing nut and its locknut. So I asked the manager what the yard used.

He said they use a tool I'd never heard of, an offset hex wrench. He showed me one and I could immediately see its advantages. It has the leverage to free a seized locking nut but requires minimal clearance around the packing and lock nuts. Much better for this application than a pipe wrench and much more robust than the flimsy little packing nut wrenches they sell at places like West Marine.

So I bought two of them on my way to work.

 

[Capt.Bill11]

This is a "Tips and Techniques" thread so give us a tip on the newer glass treatments and the technique to properly polish out the windows.

Well to start with, most all of the polymer sealants like Zaino, Rejex, etc. work at least as well and last much longer than Rain-X.

To truly polish out glass I've found you need to use a real glass polish and felt polishing pads with a machine like an orbital polisher and a triangle sander to get in the corners and edges. Or at least a round felt pad that attaches to a drill. It can be done by hand of course. But it goes a lot faster with the machines. And for really badly pitted or mineral etched windows you may need to polish twice.

As to what polish to use, Eastwood sells some good stuff. And of course you can use cerium oxide.

The polish and glass treatment used on my current boats windows are from these folks

https://yachtsurfacerestoration.com/services/glass-surfaces

And I could not be more please with the results. The windows are as smooth as, well, well polished out glass. And the sealant has been keeping them that way for the last 3 1/2 months/3000 plus miles of this trip so far without having to renew it even once. And of course they are very easy to clean. Even after running all day in snotty weather and they're caked with salt. The salt just rinses off easily with plain water.

 

[Capt.Bill11]

Just though of a couple of other tips.

To clean oily spots left on teak by suntan lotion, potatoe chips, etc. Use K2r spot remover.

And the keep metal cans from leaving rust rings after there bottom edges start to rust, cover the bottom edge with masking tape when the can is new.

 

[Forkliftt]

That's a great idea on the masking table in the cans. I'm having a helluva time when guests visit the boat getting them to flip the Lysol back on its cap after they leave the head!!!



Forky
1983 Present 42 Sundeck
Twin Lehman 135's

 

[Gabe n Em]

A quick tip many of you are aware of: used fire hose can often be gotten from your local fire department for free and makes phenomenal chafe guards.

 

[bayview]

I use washing machine drain hose for chafe guards on my 5/8' and 1" dock lines.


Cheap and easy to deal with get it at Home Depot. It is smooth inside so seems to set up little friction on the line. After 5 years the line inside the hose was like new.

 

[Art]

I use washing machine drain hose for chafe guards on my 5/8' and 1" dock lines.


Cheap and easy to deal with get it at Home Depot. It is smooth inside so seems to set up little friction on the line. After 5 years the line inside the hose was like new.

Temporally... Gorilla tape works well in a pinch when docking or rafting.

 

[Hawgwash]

He said they use a tool I'd never heard of, an offset hex wrench. So I bought two of them on my way to work.

I betcha Mark Pierce has had one of those for years.
I got one for Christmas in 1962

 

[hmason]

I use washing machine drain hose for chafe guards on my 5/8' and 1" dock lines.


Cheap and easy to deal with get it at Home Depot. It is smooth inside so seems to set up little friction on the line. After 5 years the line inside the hose was like new.

I like this idea. How do you get it to stay in place? Thanks.

 

[bayview]

I drill soma holes near the end and use small line with many wraps tied tightly. It doesn't seem to difficult to keep in place probably more friction on the outside than inside???

 

[BandB]

A quick tip many of you are aware of: used firehouse can often be gotten from your local fire department for free and makes phenomenal chafe guards.

Wifey B: You can get a used firehouse? Darn....just don't have space for one though. Even with the pole to slide down? What a way to make an entrance into the main room. Bet you could turn it into quite a recreational space.

Yes, I knew you meant "firehose." In NC, that's what lot's of the marinas used as dock bumpers. All the fire stations had long lists of people in line for their next available hose.

 

[Forkliftt]

I betcha Mark Pierce has had one of those for years.
I got one for Christmas in 1962

Hawgwash- were you old enough to hold it up under the mistletoe?? I I would have been 4 1/2 years old . One year during my single years I got my 11 year old daughter a small toolbox and assembled some tools including a 1/4" socket set. She was not impressed...


Forky
1983 Present 42 Sundeck
Twin Lehman 135's

 

[Forkliftt]

Wifey B: You can get a used firehouse? Darn....just don't have space for one though. Even with the pole to slide down? What a way to make an entrance into the main room. Bet you could turn it into quite a recreational space.



Yes, I knew you meant "firehose." In NC, that's what lot's of the marinas used as dock bumpers. All the fire stations had long lists of people in line for their next available hose.

That's a great idea- and probably required by law to be replaced on a certain year interval- so sustainable supply. Green and clean.


Forky
1983 Present 42 Sundeck
Twin Lehman 135's

 

[BandB]

That's a great idea- and probably required by law to be replaced on a certain year interval- so sustainable supply. Green and clean.

Wifey B: They outlast any other form of dock bumper I've seen. Especially with the treatment at marinas where 1 out of 10.....or 1 out of 5.....or 1 out of 3....or 9 out of 10....boaters can't dock.

Sort of funny sometimes to read trawler owners and other larger boat owners talk about docking. Without question the average owner of a trawler or any boat over 30' can dock better than the average bowrider or bass boat or pontoon boat driver or even PWC drivers. Of course I have seen larger boats dock so smoothly and then seen them hours later ram into the dock with their dinghy.

 

[Hawgwash]

Hawgwash- were you old enough to hold it up under the mistletoe??

In 1962 I had a hard time holding me up under the mistletoe.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. hm. RE: post #342... "How do you get it to stay in place?" Leave the hose connected to the washing machine. That sucker ain't goin' nowhere...

 

[Marin]

As with airplanes, big boats are easier to run than little ones. It is much more challenging to dock our trailer fishing boat than our 30,000 pound cabin cruiser. The planing fishing boat slides all over the place on the water and the wind blows it around willy nilly. The cabin cruiser with its deep keel goes where it's pointed and its inertia causes it to be much more predictable which makes it very easy to maneuver.

 

[Heron]

Foam gun for washing....

I started using one of these on the cars...Simple and fast. Took it down to the boat and works equally well. $25 gun, some appropriate wash fluid and you're job is easy! Lay down some foam, Brush, use the quick-connect to go back to Water only, Done! No more buckets!

Try it!

Amazon.com : Bunnyk Foamaster II 95QGFMR 75QGFMR Foam Sprayer / Foam Gun : Foamaster By Gilmour : Patio, Lawn & Garden

 

[BandB]

As with airplanes, big boats are easier to run than little ones. It is much more challenging to dock our trailer fishing boat than our 30,000 pound cabin cruiser. The planing fishing boat slides all over the place on the water and the wind blows it around willy nilly. The cabin cruiser with its deep keel goes where it's pointed and its inertia causes it to be much more predictable which makes it very easy to maneuver.

Wifey B: Take a RIB dinghy and the wind sweeps through and you feel like you're going to do a Mary Poppins. Take a 300 ton boat and the wind blows and it's like the boat looks at it thinking, "did you say something?"

 

[Gulf Comanche]

All the used firehose you'll ever need:
USED Fire Hose - SAVE! | repurposedMATERIALS- Repurposed Materials

 

[Capt.Bill11]

Foam gun for washing....

I started using one of these on the cars...Simple and fast. Took it down to the boat and works equally well. $25 gun, some appropriate wash fluid and you're job is easy! Lay down some foam, Brush, use the quick-connect to go back to Water only, Done! No more buckets!

Try it!

Amazon.com : Bunnyk Foamaster II 95QGFMR 75QGFMR Foam Sprayer / Foam Gun : Foamaster By Gilmour : Patio, Lawn & Garden

The problem with that is all the foam. I always tell my mates and deckies that if you're washing the boat with a big mess of soapy, foamy water you're wasting product, water and time rinsing off all that extra foam.

 

[Heron]

The problem with that is all the foam. I always tell my mates and deckies that if you're washing the boat with a big mess of soapy, foamy water you're wasting product, water and time rinsing off all that extra foam.

If you set it right it actually uses very little Detergent.....Dial it down and there is not the foam shown in the picture above.
No waste here..

 

[SCOTTEDAVIS]

That's a great idea- and probably required by law to be replaced on a certain year interval- so sustainable supply. Green and clean.


Forky
1983 Present 42 Sundeck
Twin Lehman 135's

Tested once a year, visually then pressurized (during hot weather, thank you) to about twice working pressure, depending on hose size (200psi for big hose, 250-300 for smaller stuff < 3").

A modified gate valve is used, it has a half inch hole in it so after the air is purged the valve is closed to reduce the volume of water discharged if the hose bursts, this is for safety.

The stuff that looks bad gets bets on it's bursting pressure and as it is going to be scrapped anyway it gets "run up"

Tests are on 300 foot at a time and can make for a long day.

 

[SCOTTEDAVIS]

Temporally... Gorilla tape works well in a pinch when docking or rafting.

Good stuff, if you don't have a roll or two of this you should get some at any big box store.

I keep 2 in the box I have Rescue Tape in, Art is right this is also a must have.

 

[bayview]

Get a decent battery hydrometer to occasionally check the charge state of each cell in flooded cell batteries.
You will learn the effectiveness of your charging scheme and get an indication of battery end of life.
Best to check after several hours of rest on the batteries.

 

[bayview]

I always flush a lot of water and some KO through the heads at the end of each cruise.
Maybe I got lucky but never had any pump, hose failure or smell after 15 years.

 

[Great Laker]

Avoid docking overnight next to a post mounted dock light after carefully washing and detailing your boat. You will attract a variety of critters that attach themselves to the cabin and decks and leave deposits or pass away by the thousands. When you go out in the morning the sight of it can ruin your day.