Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Thanks to everyone who has been so helpful on these forums! My wife and I launched our new SF214 Lowe over the weekend. We live about 45 mins from the area lakes (Hillsdale, Clinton) in Kansas, and after doing a lot of thinking, we decided we would try a slip rental for a year at Clinton near Lawrence. They will also provide dry storage for the trailer, and then during the winter can keep it locked up at their site. We would have loved covered with a lift, but ended up just going with uncovered w/o lift to see how we like it. We figure we will keep it covered up with the snap cover when not in use. For about $60 more a month we can do this option instead of outside at a storage facility. I figured for a year this is worth trying and then we could invest in a lift.

Couple of questions:

Would it do any good to spray the cover with Scotch Guard? Would that help with repelling water, or would that void the cover warranty (Lowe cover).

Any idea where to find a used dock box? The marina will sell and install one for us for $625, which i about went nuts on, but then looked them up and realized they aren't cheap.

Several people seem to leave their trolling motors mounted on the front, my thought would be just store it in the back behind some seats so it's not so inviting for others to want to grab.

A slip sounds like a great idea, and being new boat owners, even better. This will get you out on your boat to enjoy it more often, guaranteed. Plus, you can drive a vehicle to the boat that gets a bit better fuel mileage, if you have one, without towing the parachute, I mean boat, to the lake each time.

I don't know what scotch guard will do to a cover. I know you can use some 303 Aerospace protectant on it, and it will prevent it from fading so bad. Not sure you're ever going to get the cover to be 100% waterproof though. Look at it this way though. Everything that is exposed on your boat, is made to get wet. The only thing I would worry about really is bugs and mildew with the wetter climate. Then, just make sure you take the faceplate off of your stereo each time you leave, and other valuables. A dock box would be good for this, but I don't see why you couldn't use a deck box, and just fashion it to be lockable. Screw it down to the dock, and it's going to be much cheaper than an actual dock box.

Thanks for the tips....I agree with the fact they aren't 100% waterproof, we've noticed in the starboard side stern, there is a little water that pools up, from here I've read about beach balls or PVC to make another post to keep that out. I do have some 303, I might spray it down with that.

I'm wondering if they will allow the actual deck box, the folks at the marina said it had to be "approved," which I certainly understand.

My other issue is a should I go with a solar panel charger or a power trickle charger for the trolling motor battery? We've got power at the slip, but it's shared among three other slips.

And yes, parachute seems to describe it. I'll haul it back to KC to get some warranty work done on the motor after 10 hours and such, but just keeping it up there seems to make more sense, as we can take the wife's escape up there instead of my explorer.

Most of the covers already have a water repellant on them. I sprayed 303 fabric protector on Surlast, and it splotched badly. I'll never use that stuff again as it didn't get any better when I washed it in a big washing machine.

I looked in Northern Tool, and their Jobox's are quite expensive--$1K + in many cases. I don't know what the marina uses, but it too might be very costly.

I have my toon in a covered slip without a lift at El Dorado.

If the Marina where you're at has a covered slip available without the lift, I'd bet you'd like it better than an uncovered slip.

We don't put our cover on as the covered mooring seems to take care of most of the issues.

It seems to be about 6 to one, half dozen to the other when it comes to cleanup. Those who put their covers on inside the covered slip still get spiders, webs, and the like. And while it cuts down on the bird droppings on the boat, the covers get filthy with it. Our boat has vinyl flooring and the marina has water faucets. Periodically, I use a rag, a brush, some simple green and the hose and clean up the boat.

As for a storage box. At our marina, they have the nice ones that are high dollar, but allowed the Rubbermaid ones that are cheaper. Ours has lasted last year, the winter and is still in decent shape. The jury is out on how long it'll last compared to the expense of the metal and/or fiberglass ones.

Given the cost of Rubbermaid, if your "Used" option is in pretty good shape? I'd take it.

I'd look for a deck box as well. I have Lifetime on my swim dock and it sits under an eave, so it gets a lot of rain. So far it has stayed dry. Since the marina has to approve of the box, take some screen grabs of ones you are interested in, along with dimensions, to get a pre-approval.

I haven't too many deck boxes that could be sat upon by an adult. So don't plan it for seating.

I have a full top that is left up all summer I use a gallon of 303 every year to keep the sun from fading it ( 7 years old ) my marina don't like Rubbermaid. I have my own power at my slip and keep a dehumidifier on the boat to keep the mold out. lastly I spent 350 bucks on bottom paint. the money I saved on a lift will pay for my slip for 3 years am really glad I did that.

get a deck box at lows or home depot. it is a lot cheaper than getting from a marine supplier

We keep our cabin up all season. And we slip it with the motor down. No problems yet (this is our second season).
Of course we use it EVERY weekend. We've been out 6 weekends so far.
Don't need a dock box, because we store everything aboard.