Northwest Reel Life March 2024 Volume 3 Issue 5 - Flipbook - Page 28
same order they came
off the shaft. This makes
reassembly much easier
and remember that most
thrust washers have a right
way and a wrong way to
install them. Look at the
propeller, if the blade edges
are showing an excessive
number of nicks/dings, now
might be the time to send
it off to be rebuilt. Even
slightly damaged blades
will affect performance
and running a boat with
severely damaged blades
can lead to all kinds of
shaft/seal problems down
the road.
Each spring, be sure to
top off the batteries with
distilled water. It’s a good
idea to get them on the
appropriate charger for
your battery type and bring
them up to a full charge.
If you find corrosion on
the terminals remove the
battery from the boat and
clean it off with a mild
solution of baking soda and
water. Once everything is
clean, it is also a good idea
28 | NWFISHING.net
to use one of the various
corrosion guard offerings.
As long as you have 12-volt
wiring on the brain you
should also go through
the rest of your electrical
installation and look for
loose connections and
damaged wiring.
Mice and other rodents
can cause a lot of damage
during the off season.
Check all the switches and
breakers to make sure they
are working. Then hook
up the fish finder, VHF
chart plotter, VHF, trolling
motor and any other
major electronics you are
running to make sure they
have power. Check all the
lights to make sure they
work. Electrical gremlins
are difficult to trace and
best investigated in your
driveway.
Independent of the
weather, my retirement
job has me on the water
running a small boat as
many as 6 days a week.
The winter weather is not
forgiving and often rattles
or jars nerves and electrical
connections loose. I have
lost the radio, wipers, tilt/
trim motor and the bilge
pump while running in
winter chop. I just deal
with things as required but
you don’t want to spend
your precious fishing time
troubleshooting electrical
problems.
After all things electrical are
functioning as expected,
hook the engine up to
the garden hose (be sure
to familiarize yourself
with the manufacturer
recommendations) or dunk
it in a livestock trough and
start your baby up. If your
rig has water pressure and
temperature gauges check
them now. Make sure the
tilt and trim are working.
Check the steering,
especially mechanical
steering, to see if there are
any problems. Also, before
you shut the engine off pull
the kill-switch to make sure
it works.
