Everything You Need to Know About Owning a Boat (Part 2)

Owning a boat is hard work and expensive.  If you start out with a great boat it can be easier and less costly.  If you saw our last post about what boat you should buy you hopefully have some insight into what boat you want and how to make sure it's the right boat for you.  So now you've made up your mind on what boat you want, you have the model, size, and year picked out, or maybe you have the exact boat picked out.  Now what?  Take a Coast Guard Auxiliary boater safety course.  There are lots of options at different times of the year and the cost is negligible.

Check it out at http://www.cgaux.org

1.  I want it, how do I get it?

You found the boat, and you had a survey and sea trial and everything looks great.  If you don't have the outright cash to pay for the boat you'll need a loan.  Your local credit union or bank may finance you but there are specialty banks that deal in boat loans like boatbanker.com or Google others.  Depending on the size of the loan it may take some time to do this.  Certain size boats are considered second homes so the process is more like a mortgage than a car loan, also talk to your accountant about tax ramifications.  The bank will probably want to see the survey and know who the insurance company will be.  We've had good luck with Boat US but there are other companies out there too, you might even already use them, like GEICO and could get a discount on your other coverage.  Talk to your insurance broker before you agree to purchase a boat.  In fact it's a good idea to find out what your insurance will be before you start looking.  They might not actually cover the full value of the boat, so know what your coverage includes, especially if someone gets hurt on your boat.  You must have insurance.

Check regulations in your state HERE

Now that the insurance and money are set you will probably either meet the owner or broker at the boat or meet at an escrow company, just like buying a house, and do the exchange.  If the boat is anchored or docked it is your responsibility to get it to where you want it.  If it is on a trailer you'll probably also buy the trailer and need to find a vehicle to tow it if you don't already have one, and a place to store the trailer when the boat is in the water.  You may even need to replace your vehicle to tow the boat if your vehicle isn't capable enough.  Remember you will be towing the boat, the trailer, all the stuff inside the boat, the people inside your vehicle, and all the junk you'll take with like coolers and floaties.  The previous owner may be willing to get it to where you want it if you don't have the right vehicle to tow it or if you aren't buying the trailer.  But it's now your boat!  If something happens it's on you, not the previous owner.  All the paperwork needs to be submitted to your state for the title transfers of the boat and trailer, the license plates on the trailer need to be transferred too.  Oh, and if you are towing make sure your vehicle has the proper lighting connectors before you go to pick it up, you may need an adapter depending on the trailer and your vehicle.

Boats are a good excuse to buy that truck you've always wanted. Or use a U-haul like this one.

2.  I got the boat and my tow vehicle is good to go/ it's already in the water, now what?

If you've never launched a boat at a ramp before find someone who knows what they're doing to go with you and teach you.  As you back the boat into the water remember to put your hand on top of the bottom of the steering wheel, then whatever way you move your hand is the direction the trailer will go.  Search YouTube for "boat launch fails" for fun viewing sometime, and don't be that guy.  Before your boat gets near the water PUT THE DRAIN PLUG IN and unplug the lighting connector!

Ready for launch!

So the boat is in the water, now what?  Again, we recommend taking someone you trust who knows what they're doing.  If you've never run a boat before here is what you need to do.

First, do you have good life jackets aboard?  Check them, are they in good shape and do they float?  How about flares?  Are they expired (they do every three years) and do you have a distress flag, non-mechanical bailer, marine radio, etc?  Check your local regulations on what you need to have aboard your specific type of vessel.

Hopefully the previous owner went through your particular boat's starting procedure with you but if not there are a few proper steps to take. 

1.  Turn on the blower.  This is usually a switch on the helm that turns on a fan to remove the air from the engine compartment and replace it with fresh air.  This is primarily so gas fumes don't collect inside and explode when you start the engine.

2.  Make sure the battery connections are good and tight, the oil level is right, and if you have a closed circuit cooling system that the level is correct.  Check the transmission oil level too.  Check to make sure your bilge pump turns on if the float is raised.  If you have an outboard motor or drive lower it into the water, never start a boat engine unless it's in the water or properly hooked up to cooling water for service.

3.  Check to make sure you don't have any lines (ropes) or anything or anybody in the water around the boat.  Never let someone swim or be in the water behind your boat while the engine is running (water sports excluded but that's a whole other thing).

4.   Engines differ but you may need to set a choke manually on an outboard or by putting the drive selector in neutral and pushing the throttle forward all the way on an inboard.  If it is fuel injected you don't need to worry about that, but make sure you are in neutral when you start.  Most boats have a lock-out that won't let you start it in gear, but older boats may not.

Learn what everything does from someone who knows.

5.  Start the engine(s) and wait for them to warm up while keeping an eye on the oil pressure, voltage, and especially the temperature gauge.  It's best to let the engine warm up to temperature fully before you take it out the first time, especially with an older boat.  Know what temperature the engine should be at by asking the previous owner or checking the manual for the engine.

6.  Once everything looks good it's time to untie the lines and properly store the fenders and push off. select the gear you need to get out of the slip or launch and move as slowly as you can away from the dock.  Watch out for wind, current, and prop-walk pushing you.  The wind may be strong and you'll be amazed at how much it will push your boat away from where you want to go.  In certain boats prop-walk is caused by the rotation of the prop and causes the boat to move in one direction (sideways) that may not be optimal for slow speed handling.  You'll hopefully get used to it after a while.  Slowly maneuver the boat away to open water.  Remember to obey NO WAKE zones.

Two Wrights back in the day, miss you!

3.  We're on the water!  Now what?

First you need to be respectful of others.  If you are in a NO WAKE zone obey it.  You'll be surprised at how many boaters don't know what NO WAKE means.  It literally means NO WAKE.  For most modern boats you will be cruising at idle speed, nothing more.  If idle speed on your boat is 800 RPM as indicated on your tachometer than 900 RPM is too fast.  Technically the rule is the slowest you can operate your vessel to maintain control.  This doesn't mean you can't use a bit more engine speed if you are in a strong head or cross wind but 99% of the time you will be at idle speed only.  This isn't just because people don't like rocking around in marinas it's also for safety.  In a marina someone may be on their boat trying to make repairs, or carrying children, or doing whatever people do on their boats.  While in a marina you don't expect a wake, so any bit of movement that is unexpected can cause injury to someone or damage to something.  If you make a wake that causes either of those things you are responsible financially.  We can't stress enough how important and how completely disregarded this is.  Don't be that guy, the trip out of the harbor may take 45 seconds longer at idle than 1100 RPM but you and everyone around you will be safer.  If your bow lifts at all you are going too fast.

"Southsider" demonstrates proper NO WAKE speed.

Once you reach the water where you can open her up you need to pay very close attention, especially when entering or leaving a harbor since many other boats may be trying to occupy the same space.  Make small movements on the wheel and wait for the boat to respond to those movements.  Often we see people driving their boat and constantly turning the wheel back and forth just to try to keep a straight course, we sometimes have to do it too in waves and wind, but remember the boat takes a little while to respond to the inputs, especially at low speed.  Once clear you can throttle up (or begin to raise the sails) and try to set a course for an open area where you can practice driving your boat.  Think of how long it took you to learn to drive a car and remember boats steer from the back, not the front, it'll take some getting used to.  Spend a couple hours getting to know the boat, how does the steering feel at different speeds?  Is the throttle touchy?  Does the engine die out if you pull the throttle back too quickly? (You should always ease the throttle forward or back to keep things from breaking, by the way)  If it's a sailboat do the lines move easily and the sails operate as they should?  Test everything multiple times.  If you are in calm water you might want to try tossing a floaty or PFD into the water and maneuvering your boat slowly around it.  Can you back the boat up to the object?  Backing boats is very hard.  Add wind, weather, and current and it can be nearly impossible at times.  Practice, practice, practice.

Practice can be fun!

Once you think you have a feel for the boat take it back to where you dock or trailer it and practice again.  Find an open dock where you practice docking into or with the wind (put your fenders out!) and try backing into the dock.  You won't get it the first time.  It may take you years to master this.  Don't be ashamed, it's totally normal to have a hard time controlling a boat in small spaces.  There are other factors at work.  Once you know what your weak points are spend some time on YouTube and look at videos on how to dock in wind and current.  There are a lot of great lessons to be learned.  If your boat has two propellors there are lots of ways you can maneuver the boat using the engines and not the rudders or drives.  Learn what these ways are.  Most twin engine boat captains never touch the rudder and use forward and reverse thrust from the props to turn and maneuver at slow speed.  Single engine boats, especially inboards like ski boats are very difficult to dock, especially in reverse, so practice as much as you can.

Docking is much harder than you think it is.

4.  I'm exhausted from all this practice, I'm done for the day, now what?

Congratulations, you made it back to the dock or trailer and are done boating for the day.  If you are docking make sure you have good quality fenders of the right size with the proper size line to hold the boat from hitting the dock.  Fenders are a vinyl tube or ball that hang from the boat or dock.  Bumpers are built into the dock and can be made from vinyl or rubber.  The names are not interchangeable, you'll notice almost every new boater calling fenders bumpers.  Fenders are not bumpers, nor are they buoys.  Have your fenders out and tie your lines so the boat moves as little as possible.  There are many schools of though here but the minimum is to have a line on the bow and the stern holding you from moving sideways and a spring line somewhere in the middle of the boat stopping you from moving forward and backward in the slip.  

Different fenders for different purposes. Cygnet needs big ball fenders at River City to keep from banging into the dock poles but the smaller black cylinder fenders are sufficient almost everywhere else.

Turn off your engine and blower (some people don't use the blower after the engines are started but we do) and check everything.  Is there oil sprayed through the engine compartment?  Are all the fluid levels where they should be?  Is there more than just a little water in the bilge?  Did anything inside fall over or break?  Clean up and start closing up the boat.  If you have a battery charger or shore power cord plug in the boat by first making sure the main switch in the boat is off, then the switch on the pedestal is off.  Then plug in the power cord at both ends and turn on the breaker on the pedestal or dock.  Then turn on the breaker on your boat. Never do it any other way.  Make sure you have power to your boat by checking the power panel.  You can turn off power to unneeded items like the stereo but make sure your battery charger and bilge pump have power to them.

Close everything up, replace any canvas covers you have, and you are good to go.  Take one last look at the boat to make sure it's still sitting right in the water and you don't see anything wrong like the bilge pump running a lot or a rainbow sheen on the surface of the water from a leak and you are good to leave.

If you put it back on a trailer make sure the winch is locked and it's a good idea to use straps to hold the boat on the trailer too.  Before leaving the launch area plug the trailer lights back in and remove the drain plug.  Test all the trailer lights, if you're alone you can turn your headlights and hazard lights on to know that all the bulbs are good, you'll have to assume the brake lights work too.

Nicely tied up and closed.  You can tell this owner cares for their boat.

Once you get home double check all the paperwork, taxes, registration, etc are submitted and in good order.  Congratulations, you are now a boat owner!  We recommend more days of practice before you take out a group.  If you love boating it can be as fun by yourself as with a party so don't be afraid to get comfortable with the boat first before showing it off to people.  

Next time on a very special Water We Thinking:  I want to party and show off my boat!  What do I need to know?