Any suggestions for general boat maintenance?..

[roanoke4]

especially in regard to the engine/drive and the best way to care for and operate a boat (mine has a Mercruiser 3.0, FWIW) I bought my first boat last weekend and had a blast. But I really like to take care of everything I own so if anyone could point me in the right direction in regard to overall boat maintenance (whether its another post, link to an article, etc), I would appreciate it. By the way, two quick questions, if you don't mind. First, exactly how much water should you expect to come out of the drain when you take off the drain plug after boating for several hours on the lake? Roughly 20-25 oz. came out of mine. Is that pretty typical or should I be concerned in any way? Also, during the summer season, should I occasionally charge my batteries with some sort of trickle charger or can I wait until fall to do so? I'll be using my boat weekly until this fall so I assume I don't have to worry about charging it, but I'm not completely sure in this case.


Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[roanoke4]

Re: Any suggestions for general boat maintenance?..

Thanks but what/where exactly is the Adults Only post?

 

[IVAZ]

Re: Any suggestions for general boat maintenance?..

First, exactly how much water should you expect to come out of the drain when you take off the drain plug after boating for several hours on the lake? Roughly 20-25 oz. came out of mine. Is that pretty typical or should I be concerned in any way?

Unless that much water was splashed in and collected at the bilge, you have a leak. My boat is 21 years old and it?s completely dry in the bilge regardless of how long I was in the water.
As Bubba suggested go to the I/O section and get your manual. It covers routine service.
Here is a link.
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=288430