Marina

Oct 22, 2014
20,992
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
my first concern would be with the fuel system
How so? Fuel systems up here work just fine.
  1. Keep the water out of the fuel tank.
  2. Treat the fuel at each fill.
  3. Change your filters when needed
  4. If more than 2 months idle have a friend start your engine and give it a run.
  5. Change the engine Oil on a regular schedule.
Provision the boat. Jump in the boat. Go have fun... Nothing could be simpler.
 
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Oct 19, 2017
7,732
O'Day 19 Littleton, NH
I know insurance companies have a lot to say about insuring a house that isn't occupied for a significant amount of the year. What do they say about a boat that berths nearly 1000 miles from the owner?
For short term, like sailing around the Caribbean in legs and flying home for a season before returning to continue on, insurance companies don't have much they can say, but if that's the permanent situation, they may charge a higher premium or not pay out for unmitigated losses.
If I were to expect to maintain ownership in a boat so remotely accessible, I'd want to be certain my boat was covered with a good insurance policy.

-Will (Dragonfly)
 
Apr 11, 2018
71
Hunter 340 Dowry Creek, NC
jssailem: Here (East Cackalacky) condensation makes it impossible to keep water out of your fuel when you let it sit idle for months.
 
Oct 22, 2014
20,992
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
I can understand. I visited the area about a year ago and it was nearly impossible to walk outside and not feel I was taking another shower only hot and sticky...

New appreciation for why the restaurant was called "Sticky Fingers". Could have extended name to include my arms, neck, legs.. etc.

So if you get water in your fuel what do you do in your neck of the woods?
 
Apr 11, 2018
71
Hunter 340 Dowry Creek, NC
Routinely, I depend on the Racor, conditioner and biocide . I've also set up a cleaning loop using 3-way valves, another filter/separator, and an electric fuel pump I run now and then when under sail and sloshing fuel around in the tank. A couple of times, though, I've had to pump it out of the tank into containers, let it settle half a day, then pump it back in pulling it off the top and stopping before it reaches the level of water at the bottom. I don't want to have to do that a lot, so I try not to let the boat be idle for more than a few weeks at a time. Running the motor half an hour every week or so, even when tied to a dock, seems to avoid most of the problem.
 
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Jan 7, 2011
4,726
Oday 322 East Chicago, IN
We won't leave our boat in the water unattended even overnight, but she's our home and everything we own is aboard.
Realistically speaking, a lot of your systems will degrade rather quickly from a lack of use, in the water or out. Better to sell her and rent a boat when you want one.
I don’t get enough use out of my boat, and I certainly have to leave her for a week or more at a time...but I certainly prefer that over chartering a boat now and then...something about tinkering around and maintaining MY boat is so much better than renting one once in a while.

But my boat is not real expensive, is in pretty good shape, and I have some friends at the marina who keep an eye on her when I am not there.

Greg