Anyone leave their tinny docked in saltwater?

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Beefer

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Treasure Island, FL
I live in West-Central Florida, a high growth area for barnacles and oysters. I have a storage issue with the new (to me) tinny. My choices are 1) leave it in the water at the dock (convenient), or 2) Drag the boat onto the (non-floating) dock after each use (not an easy chore, especially at low tide).

My wife would prefer if I left it in the water, rather then either take up room on the dock, or kill the grass. I'm concerned about bio-growth, and also the possibility of stray current in the water causing damage.

To leave it in the water, I'm thinking I'll have to strip the boat (it has some type of paint from the previous owner, but not a biocide), sand, prime, and paint at a cost of about $150-200, then I'd have to get an anode or two. Am I correct on this? We do have a 'beach', but that's only during low tide.

I don't have a trailer, nor do I want one. I could remove the engine after each use, but carrying it up the steps is a killer.

What do you guys that live on the water do with your tinnys?
 
I think your motor will eventually get stolen and a big rain storm will sink your boat some day. Your boat will also need more maintainence and work being left in the water. It will also shorten the life of your boat.
 
a tin is pretty light... why not get one of those hoists for your dock that just picks the whole thing up out of the water?
 
I've lived on the salt marsh for almost 30 years, and for most of that time, I have kept aluminum boats tied up at the dock. For the past several years, my boat has been at the dock for at least 300 days out of any year.

Here are some of my observations and tips.....

With welded bottom boats, if you notice, the center strake is welded down both sides. This is because the boat hull is stamped in 2 halves, and this center strake ties them together. Unfortunately, this much heat being put into that center strake makes it the most susceptible part of the boat for corrosion, particularly at the front end, where new bare aluminum is constantly being exposed from dragging the boat onto the beach, oyster rocks, etc.

After bottom painting your boat, you should install a keel-guard on your center strake, to prevent this problem. Because even with good bottom paint, if you drag the boat onto the beach, the paint WILL come off the center strake, and as soon as bare metal is exposed, electrolysis begins.

Any marine growth that attaches to an aluminum boat also makes it more susceptible to corrosion, as this growth etches itself into the surface of the aluminum, and unless you sand it off completely after scraping, it gives new growth a place to attach, as well as allowing electrolysis to etch further into the metal.


The FIRST thing you need to do is paint the bottom with cuprous thiocyanate-based paint...NOT copper oxide, this will destroy your hull.

Interlux makes the paint you need, it's called "Trilux 33" and it is specifically formulated for aluminum. It costs more than the cuprous oxide paint, but this is one place you don't want to be cheap.

Before painting with bottom paint, you also must apply at least 2 coats of Interlux "Interprotect" primer, or your bottom paint will fail to properly adhere, and will come off, leaving the boat with no protection. This is a 2-part epoxy, and it comes by the gallon. Again, it ain't cheap, but neither is having your boat welded to fix corrosion holes, or worse, having to scrap the hull because it's FUBAR from corrosion.

Now, as far as anodes, for a 16 foot johnboat with a 48 inch beam, you need about 32 square inches of anode for proper galvanic protection. On my boat, I have 2 thru-bolts going from the inside of the transom, with washers and lock nuts on the outside, and 5200 applied to them.

The bolts extend out of the transom by a couple of inches, so that the anode mounting holes align with the bolts, and the anode is secured with washers, lock nuts, and a backer plate. The backer plate is a wide strip of aluminum and it serves to keep the anode in place, even if the mount holes of the zinc erode away to the size of the washers and nuts. Without the backer plate, if the holes corrode away (and they will, as the bolts are SS) the zinc can fall off, leaving the boat with no protection.

You should also install a bonding wire to the anode of your boat. You can tie it in to the bonding wire used on the zinc used on your power trim, or, bring it into the boat, and connect it to the negative terminal of the battery. The bonding wire can be made by using some 1/16" diameter stranded stainless wire rope, with ring terminals crimped to either end (since it's stainless, you can't solder it to the ring terminals)



This one goes without saying, but, if you plan on leaving your boat at the dock, invest in a bilge pump and float switch, or one of the self-contained bilge pumps.....but remember, NEVER depend on a bilge pump to do its job. If there are heavy storms, you'd better check in between squalls of rain to make sure the pump is doing its job, or better yet, haul the boat out.

And on a final note, speaking of hauling out, every 3-4 months, you should haul the boat out of the water, to inspect the bottom for growth, change lower unit lube, grease the fittings, flush the cooling system of sand and salt, inspect the anodes, remove the engine cowling and give the engine a good rinse with fresh water, let it dry, then re-fog everything with some sea foam, hilco lube, or Boeshield.

Matter of fact, I hauled my boat out today for its quarterly inspection, as well as getting ready to do some modifications.
 
Thanks for all the insight. I think keeping it in the water will be more headache then it's worth. I only paid a net $135 for the boat and motor.

A davit or lift would be ideal, but are out of the budget for now. I do have a weird floating jet ski dock on the other side of the dock, and I'm thinking of fabricating some type of float/drive/pull on dry dock that would sit between the fingers.

I'm also thinking of a low-budget homemade lift. My thought (at this point) is 2 winches (trailer type should suffice) mounted on the dock close to the seawall (even at high tide I have about 3' from dock to water). I could lift the boat with the winches, and let it hang on it's side. Attach one cable to the bow handle, and one to the far side transom handle. Sounds weird, but I think it might work.... #-o
 
If you have a Sport Port (floating jet ski dock) that will work great for storing the boat, which will keep it out of the water. Also, since it's made for running a jet ski onto, the material the sport port is made from will not abrade the bottom of your boat....unlike a wooden ramp on a floating dock, or pulling onto a beach. I've kept a 14 foot Dura Craft and my 16 foot Dura Craft jetboat on a sport port. They're easy to drive onto, but, depending on boat weight, you may have to use some reverse engine, or even have to physically shove the boat off the sport port.

The davit will also work, you just need a lifting bridle with some heavy duty SS kicker hooks or shackles, to attach to your bow and stern eyes. If you have access to a welder, some galvanized schedule 40 pipe and a couple of winches, you can fabricate a davit for a small boat for a small amount of investment.
 
If you could afford it, I would purchase two davits with come-alongs or a ratchet winch and just mount it to the dock or your seawall. I am sure you see them all over your neighborhood. You could then get the boat out of the water and problem solved, but make sure you take the plug out each time or it will fold your boat in half during rainy season. It is good to see someone from my neck of the woods on here....lets hook up when I finish my boat....I know lots of good spots all around TI and south boca ciega bay. I live in gulfport and my girlfriends parents live in Yacht club estates. Check out dons salvage he has all kinds of davits just laying around his yard. I know where you can have some fabricated if your interested.


see ya
Kevin
 

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