We see all shapes and sizes come through the shop.
Sure we get the new high end boats, with the new gadgets that do all kinds of things. We also get the older boats that have been around for 30+ years. Some are even older and pre-date fiberglass hulls, and belong in a antique motor shows.
One thing that needs to be done to almost all of them is they require maintenance to the surface of the boat it self. About the only one that does not is the metal aluminum Jon boats, but it would help with their color fading and chalking.
We have seen plenty of fiberglass boats with a dull, chalky appearance. It’s the result of oxidation, which is the slow degradation of the gel coat’s surface due to interaction with air and sunlight. A fiberglass maintenance regime including lots of wax is the best way to prevent it, since wax creates a protective barrier for the gel coat.
- Resale Value
- Hull intergradation
- and Looks
Are all primary reasons for WAXING your boat.
Did you know a boat’s hull will literally become weaker due to UV damage? That hull will become weak and brittle and easily crack…..yep, nothing last forever but you speed up the break down by doing nothing.
WAX IT!
Wash the boat first. Get all the containments off the hull, and apply a good marine grade wax….
Our customers use a variety of products, but I have heard the name “Collinite” more than once, along with some 3M products. In reality if you’re doing it more than once a year, it’s better than nothing. If you can only do it once a year use the higher end brands.
Weather you do it yourself or get some helpers, you need to wax it …
You work fervently on your boat to keep it in like-new condition. You wash and wax it, touch up any chips in the gel coat and polish the chrome, but your boat trailer often goes untouched.
Many trailer problems stay undetected until there is a failure and 99% of these failures occur on the road. It only takes a few minutes to check your trailer. A highway breakdown could destroy your boat, and at the very least involve a long delay and expensive repair.
Trailer tires present the most common problems; flats or loose lugs. These are simple to check; look at the tread wear, if it appears uneven check to see why. Uneven wear could have various
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Not a pretty site
This customer complained about low power with his outboard.
He told us he just rebuilt his carbs, installed new plugs and replaced all fuel lines.
Still his motor did not have full power and had poor idling quality.
In this case he would have done himself justice to take a fuel sample as part of his due dalliance.
Our advice is to install a glass or clear in-line filter to keep check on water in the fuel system.
This makes for cheap insurance.
At Stone and Sons we cater to do-it yourselfers and will help you the best we can with any technical support you might need to perform your own repairs.
It’s easy to forget the simple things.
Removing your outboard propeller to check the shaft for line is one of the easy things you can do to help protect your motor.
Below, this customer ran over a jug line.
He thought he was doing the right thing by cutting off the line, but he failed to remove the prop to inspect the prop shaft. This photo shows the result of not the properly doing the right maintenance. The rope melted into the prop shaft seal and removed the seal from the seal carrier letting water into the gear case. The result was a larger repair, and big hit to the wallet.
Don’t forget to remove your prop often to inspect for “God knows what” might be wrapped around your prop shaft.
More often we see fishing line doing the damage. Fishing line is everywhere we take our boats, and it causes damages to hundreds if not thousands of boats every year.
TAKE THE TIME TO REMOVE YOUR PROP FOR AN INSPECTION AND WHILE YOUR AT IT CHECK YOUR LOWER UNITS OIL CONDITION.
We want you on the water and not in the shop.
