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| I have a 14 foot aluminum row boat with a small horse power motor on it. I also have a dock to tie it up to. I can be away from our cabin for as much as a month at a time.
If I put a boat cover on the boat and hook up a bilge pump to pump out any water that can get in, will this be enough to keep the boat afloat at the dock while I am away?
I'd rather not put it in and take it out every time I go up there and it seems silly to buy a lift for such a small boat. Has anyone tried anything like this? The concern, of course, is that rainwater will accumulate in the boat and sink the boat and motor while I am away.
I would appreciate any thoughts or ideas.
Thanks. |
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Posts: 5874
| You could probably get away with it, but I wouldn't.
If you do, make sure you have a fully charged battery, and have a cover you can raise up to shed water. You don't want a cover that sits flat over the gunnels, or it will strecth, and fill with water.
How about pulling it up on shore? Shouldn't be too bad, if you have the shore for it. A small winch can be afixed to a tree to help. |
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Posts: 333
Location: menasha wi 54952 | I agree with Shep. If you must leave it in make sure you have the transom as close to shore as possible. That way if the boat sinks it will rest on bottom and the motor will be above water. Learned that lesson the hard way 
MR |
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Posts: 1260
Location: Stevens Point, Wi. | I would definitely pull up on shore and lock both boat and motor to prevent theft. Too many dishonest peeps out today. |
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Posts: 462
Location: Syracuse, Indiana | In my bs (before Stratos) days, I had a 14' aluminum Sea Nymph as my primary boat. I built a "lift", consisting of two sets of auger posts with roller bars mounted between them, and a 5th auger post at the nose as an anchor post. I could winch (or push) the boat up on my "lift", pull the plug, and not have worries about water accumulation. That said, pulling it up on shore would still be my first option for long term storage. |
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Location: Athens, Ohio | wow, Dave, great minds must think alike! Was also thinking of a lift system for this situation. If it was my boat I wouldn't leave it, too much can go wrong. When it does, there goes the time you set aside for fishing trying to correct the problem. In my experience, bilge pumps are some of the most fallible equipment on a boat, sure wouldn't count on the pump to save the day. m |
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| Looks like I better buy a trailer and pull it out every time I leave. How much does a small trailer like that run? |
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| Looks like I better buy a trailer and pull it out every time I leave. How much does a small trailer like that run? |
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Posts: 2091
Location: Stevens Point, WI | My inlaws live on the Wolf River and the water really flucuates there so we built a ramp with angle iron and tube steel so it basically looks like a bunk trailer. The "trailer" has four metal wheels and rides on a track like a train. We buried a post deep with concrete and attached a trailer winch so all you have to do is crank it up or down the track. The boat can come completely out of the water onto shore this way. If I remember I will take a picture sometime in the next week or so when I go there.
Edited by MuskieMedic 6/2/2005 2:39 PM
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Posts: 5874
| I think if you look arround, you can find a trailer for this boat fairly reasonable. Look in the clssified, put an ad up here, and other sites. Somebody has a trailer just laying around.
You might want to look into building that ramp. I see tham at resorts all the time. If you can weld, well, that would be a piece of cake then. |
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Posts: 393
Location: Kawarthas, Ontario | If you can, put the trailer in the lake and use it as a marine railway. Simply attach the boat to the winch and and pull it up close (or on shore) and you're done. You don't even need a good quality trailer.
That said, I have a lift myself. My old tim boat sat on a steel lift, but my new tinny sits in an all nice aluminum lift. Just remember to pull it out of the lake before the ice comes. |
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Posts: 1335
Location: Chicago, Beverly | Not 100% on this but a Jerk Ski lift might be able to handle a 14' row boat... Depending on when the boat was made it should have flotation under the seats so it should not sink all the way....but that still isn't good.. |
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