Berthing do's and don'ts on the delta

[ppickerell]

Tomorrow I put my bass boat (which has been on a trailer in indoor storage all it's life) into a fulltime covered slip at a better than average Delta marina. I'm pretty excited. I fish at least once a week and the gas savings, reduced wear and tear on my tow vehicle and the hassle and expense of launching disappears.

On the other hand I am worried about a number of things.
1. How long in the water before the bottom needs cleaning?
2. How wet do the holds get between trips. Life vests mold in two weeks?
3. Are properly installed heavy duty locker bars considered adequate security to leave terminal tackle aboard? Rods and reels will come off. And the swimbait box!
4. Leave the batteries on so auto bilge works?
5. Fish finders removed every trip?
6. Use the trailer cover while docked, or will this cause mold?
6.Any other issues I need to think about?

[DeltaDan]

4. Leave the batteries on so auto bilge works?

Doubble check your Auto-Bielge pump wiring ... It should always be 24/7..... Even with the boats main power off.


Myself -- I take evertything out of my boat every time and leave all lockers unlocked so there are no locks to break to find ..... absalutely nothing in my boat.

For mold issues I prop all my locker doors open with water bottles and then cover -- but I have the trailor to clip the cover to.


You can look for a foldable cart like this to get all your gear back and forth and make some rod straps on a foundation to be one in all.







Are you in a covered or uncovered berth ?

[RichThiel]

For the boat in the water 24-7. What I noticed is once the water gets above 60 degrees, algae will start to form.....What I do is pull the boat out say every 3-4 weeks an hit it with "Phillip Pink Stuff". For the area that seems to build up of algae the most is the Transom area of the vessel.

If there is a better cleaner or substance than PPS, I don't know about it YET. But it works for me.

Rich Thiel

[DeltaDan]

If there is a better cleaner or substance than PPS, I don't know about it YET.

Rich -- You can use mine any time Bro.

[ppickerell]

I was afraid that hauling off everything was answer. I will probably shed 200 #'s of gear if I have to haul it from the marina parking lot.
Are there frequent break ins on bass boats berthed in Bethel?

[spanky99]

The only thing that I have to say is your going to be sorry. You mentioned you have kept your boat garaged which tells me your boat probably looks in new condition. Putting your boat in a slip is going to make it age really fast. Even though it's in a covered slip, you still have the problems with birds and stuff. But what is worse than that is all the green stuff thats going to be growing on the hull, which also stains really bad. Last summer I moved up to the Delta as my family purchased a marina (Sherman Lake Marina). I intially put my boat in a slip and pulled it once a week to clean, but one week turned into two, then four and the longest was two months. After the two month stint I couldn't believe how filthy the bottom was. It took about four hours of scrubbing and it still doesn't look the same. I used some hull cleaners that worked but it still was not an easy task and the boat still doesn't look the same especially on the transome area. If your going to put it in a slip, invest in a lift of some sort, you will be glad you did. As far as theft goes to me it seems like a toss up, you could put a locker bar in but then I have heard stories about thieves pulling the boat out of the marina just to saw the bar off and steal those items we have all worked so hard to get. If it was me I would take everything out and leave the lockers open or have good insurance. At our marina we have a few live aboards that keep an eye on things plus myself and a few others are in law enforcement so everyone is watching our boats and our tennant boats pretty close, however there are no guarantees. Another issue is gassing up the boat. You're going to have to find affordable marina gas or haul down gas cans.

There are alot of benefits to having a boat in a slip though as you have mentioned. For me it was being able to go out and fish even if I only had an hour or so. I will be putting my boat back into our marina however I'm going to make it a point to pull it at least once a week for a good cleaning as I have just replaced my seats and in the process of replacing my carpet.

[Mike]

I was afraid that hauling off everything was answer. I will probably shed 200 #'s of gear if I have to haul it from the marina parking lot.
Are there frequent break ins on bass boats berthed in Bethel?

If your talking about Russo's you shouldnt have a problem. I kept my boat there for a year and never had a problem. They keep all of the "iffy" people out of there. Well except Rich, but he dont take much...........

[jamescaird]

I would say the "don't" is to don't berth if you can avoid it. It seems great until you do it. I berthed on bethel island for a few years, it is far more convenient to leave EVERYTHING in the boat and just launch it off of a trailer, then you're not worrying about the boat. Bass boats are not designed to be left in the water. You can expect heavy growth which will effect performance, dirty boat full of spiders, a much more rigorous take off/put-away routine with all of the gear loading/unloading, and if your bilge pumps/batteries ever fail...you are looking at alot of ugly damage. The bottom line for me is I spend more time fishing and less time fiddling around by towing the boat to the water and launching it in 2 minutes, with all of my gear and electronics never leaving the boat. Berthing is for non-trailerable boats as far as i'm concerned.

All that said a HydroHoist makes it a better setup if you must berth...leaving the boat floating in the water takes it's toll very quickly.

Having the boat berthed and having to load/unload a bunch of stuff and worrying about heavy rain, security, etc... doesn't save time or money, and is less convenient than towing/launching.

[littlebailey]

DONT DO IT! Your lower unit will hate you, you'll lose all your boats speed, you'll kick yourself in the forehead while trying to clean the prop/ lower unit and to top it all off theres salt! It will, i repeat will eat your lower unit away! ide pull it every week for a pressure washing. Good luck!

[ppickerell]

Thanks all for excellent info. I think I will look hard at the hydrohoist option. What do you think a 21ft champ with 225 Opti weighs?

[DeltaDan]

ppickerell ~ You have a PM in your inbox.


If you can't find it -- ask again.

[DaHawg]

I have a lift for sale if needed, 10,000 lb. Hydrohoist. Way more than what you will need, but it will save you a ton off the price of a new one, I will let it go cheap if interested. Feel free to give me a call 209-321-1868 Neil

[RichThiel]

Thanks DDan, I use the one here at Russo's if need be. And Mike is right, I don't take much sh....t from Low Lifes. They found out in the first 3 months here. In the last 3yrs....No Problems within the marina itself.

Lead may fly at night. Getting to old too be Rambo.

For low life's on this Island to begin with. Between the CHP, County Sheriff's and Oakley Police Dept. They've clean this Island up pretty well since they built and finished Delta Cove. Lunbergs is know closed down, so the crack head's are know gone for what was left of them. Boats behind Connection Island was say ALL Burnt out. Wonder How that happen?????.

[DaHawg]

I never really left my bass boat in the water too long just couldn't stand to do it. However my other boat which is more of a ski boat/cruiser type was left in for about a 3month period and I ended up with all kinds of nasty stuff stuck to the hull and motor.

Some of it was stuck real good (hard chunky stuff) and ended up dropping about 7-10 mph off the top speed. If you take the boat out of the water every 10-14 days and give it a real good scrub down, you should be okay.

I believe they also sell some inflatable types which look almost like a rubber raft underneath the boat, but I've never checked cost.

Good luck with it.

[Dan McKenzie]

If you are talking about leaving your boat "in" the water, and not on a hydrohoist or boat lift I personally would never consider that as an option. The wear/tear towing and fuel expense will be a drop in the bucket compared to the loss in value and damages you will likely sustain doing so. Now consider having to haul it out and clean the hull every couple of weeks. I don't see the benefit.

[Burke]

Definitely put a cover on your boat or you may find yourself cleaning otter crap out of your boat. My buddy had a tight cover on his boat, but the otters loved to get on top of it and do their thing. He bought a looser cover so that he could put a tent like pitch to the cover and that has kept the otters off his boat.

[crawdaddy]

The advice you are getting is good. I would tell you the worst thing for a boat is......WATER...... Lower units have seals that will age quickly in brackish water (that seems to be what the Delta is becoming). Finishes of all kind will diminish quickly as well. Not to mention the critters that will make a living room out of your rig (cats, rats, birds etc..). I would say to keep hauling it home. It aint the most convenient thing to do but your boat will last longer unless some a-hole runs into it on the freeway.

[ppickerell]

I left it in the water less than one day! Took me an our to haul all the gear off, plug it in, put the cover on, obsess about the docklines etc. Pulled the jackplate all the way up, tilted the motor and went home. I stressed about it all night and this morning drove back and put it back on the trailer. Russo's was great about it. Nice meeting you Rich!