Spring Commissioning
Top Tips for a Stress-Free Spring Commissioning by Nathan Bickell
##If you took your boat out of the water for the winter, the spring is a great chance to inspect and improve parts of the boat below the waterline. Photo by Cassin Sutor
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s the weather warms up, we are all anxious to break out of our winter chill and get the boat in the water. The process of getting your boat ready for the season can’t be overlooked no matter how tempting it is to rush through and get on the water for the first time all year. Take the right steps this spring, and you will be set up for a long summer of care-free boating; do the wrong things, and you may spend more time in the marina opening your checkbook to pay for repairs that could have been avoided. With that we present our list of tips for a stress-free spring commissioning.
It all starts with the engine. The engine is priority number one. It has the most areas that need to be de winterized, and is the costliest repair if something goes wrong. The first step is to undo what you did during winterization. This means remembering to reattach hose clamps and drain the anti-freeze (or vodka) that was used to keep the engine safe during the cold months. Spring commissioning is also an opportunity to catch mistakes that may have been made during winterization. If you 54 April 2014 PropTalk
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