Boat Grills

Like everything else boat-related, you can spend HUNDREDS on a boat grill.  It's not that I have a problem spending money on something of quality.  I have a problem overpaying though.  Boat grills cost WAY more than they should.  That's pretty much on par for boat stuff though.  You know what BOAT stands for, right?  "Break Out Another Thousand..."

Being overpriced isn't the only problem I have with "boat grills" on the market.  The other problem is they all require some kind of mount.  That means drilling holes in the floor.  If there's one thing that shouldn't be taken lightly, its drilling holes in your boat!  They won't un-drill themselves when you change your mind.  Some grills use a railing mount instead of a floor mount.  The advertisments say you can mount your grill to any railing anywhere on your boat.  That's just code for scratching your railing.  

Rail mounts can get in the way of the mooring cover too.  My mooring cover touches every inch of railing.  If I had a grill mount, I'd have to unbolt or it would wear a hole in the cover.  Who wants to unbolt the grill every time you cover your boat?  Or, who wants to bolt on the grill mount every time you grill?  Neither are for me.

The rest of the grills use floor mounts.  A floor mount is a metal ring you screw to the floor.  Then you screw a metal post into the ring.  Then you bolt the grill to the post.  It's the same concept as the floor mount on your captain's chair.  If you look closely in the picture below, you can see the ring and post under the captain's chair.  The grill mount is the same, but with a longer post so you don't have to bend over.  This is a fine way to mount a grill if you want it to be permanent.  Just be aware when you don't want your grill on your boat, the ring will ALWAYS be there to bash your toes into.  By the way, no one wears shoes on a boat...

So, where do you store a grill that's bolted to a 3-foot post when you're not using it?  Your garage.  More important to the point, not your boat.  You do get to haul the greasy monster back and forth to the lake though.  Just leave your friends at home so you'll have space in the car for the gill.  This is a hassle you just don't need.  

I wanted a grill on our boat.  I also wanted it out of the way when it wasn't used.  I didn't want to drill holes in the floor.  I didn't want my railings scuffed.  I didn't want anyone tripping or smashing their toes.  Was this too much to ask?   

I thought about it off and on for over a year.  I came up with several ideas.  The simplest are often the best, right?  My solution is shown in the picture below. This is about as simple as it gets.  It's a board, with a grill on it, sitting on the ladder.

The grill is a Coleman "Fold N Go".  It uses the small green LP tanks.  I got it at Menards on sale for $35.  You can get it right now on Amazon for around $50.  

The base is just a piece of wood with two slots cut in it.  This lets the board rest on top of the ladder railings.  You can't see it in the photo, but I put 4 bolts through the bottom of the board, pointing up, so the threaded ends would just fit into the holes in the feet on the bottom of the grill.  This keeps the grill from sliding off into the lake.  That would not be good.  I countersunk the bolts into the bottom of the board so the bolt heads wouldn't scratch anything.  I put some Gorilla tape around the threaded ends so they wouldn't scratch anything either.  The LP tank isn't shown in the photo, but it rests off the back edge of the board.

The advantages are many:  No holes in the boat.  No railing scratches.  No tools needed.  The base stores easily under a seat.  So does the grill.  Set up is cake.  Just set the board on the ladder.  Set the grill on the board.

The slots in the board are just a bit shorter than the radius of the ladder handles, so the base wedges itself into place.  I can easily adjust the "tilt" to make the grill level at any time.  If we're on the water, I tilt it level with the lake.  If the boat is up on a beach at an upward angle, I just tilt the grill base forward a bit to level it off.  A grill on a post might never be level.

Here's another photo:

There are some disadvantages.  First, the grill is small.  It doesn't cook a ton of food at one time.  Four burgers fit easily.  Maybe 6 McDonald's sized ones.  Any grill cooks enough hot dogs to feed the planet.  If you take a lot of kids out, take hotdogs.  You do have to kneel or sit by it when you are cooking.  This isn't a big deal for me.  It might be as I get older.  I like to sit on the edge of the boat, dangle my feet in the water, and grill.  Our favorite sand bar has a gradual slope, and I can even stand in the water next to the grill and cook from there too.

The ability to store the grill on the boat 24x7 is an excellent trade off in my book.  This grill is very portable, so I can take it ashore and use it at the beach or a picnic table at a park.

I hope this idea might work for you.  If you're still contemplating whether you actually need to even have a grill on your boat, know this.  There's nothing better than a rib eye cooked out on the lake.  I don't know why, but for whatever reason, a steak is 10x better out on the water than anywhere else.  You'll just have to trust me on that.

Good luck and happy grilling!

Trailering Checklist

Here's a quick trailering checklist:

• Insert hitch into receiver and cotter pin it in place
• Lower the trailer onto the hitch ball
• Close the hitch latch 
• Lock the hitch latch with a cotter pin
• Raise trailer tongue jack (the swivel wheel) and secure it in place
• Connect safety cables or chains (from trailer to truck)
• Connect the emergency brake cable
• Connect the lights
• Check that the winch strap is tight
• Check that the boat safety chain is in place (boat to trailer)

Now walk around the boat and check the following:

• Turn the vehicle lights on and make sure all the trailer lights work.
• Rear tie downs secure (boat to trailer).  Use one tie down on each rear corner.
• Kick tires (a soft tire is flat)
• Boat cover is secure 
• Boat doors are shut
• Bimini is down and in the radar (trailering) position
• Check Bimini boot is zipped shut
• Ladder is secure
• Lower motor all the way down (put transom saver in place if you use one)
• Double check all the hitch connections:
• Latch is shut 
• Latch is cotter pinned
• Safety cables/chains are connected to tow vehicle
• Brake cable connected to tow vehicle
• Lights hooked up

 If you need mirror extensions on your tow vehicle, attach those before you leave.

Whenever you pull over, it's good to feel each hub on your trailer.  They will be hot, but if they are so hot they burn your hand, something is wrong.  A good rule of thumb is to compare all the hubs with each other.  If they are all approximately the same temperature, all should be fine (I mean, what are the odds?).  If one is hotter than the others, you may have a problem brewing with that hub.  

If you ever see ANY grease on your wheel, this is VERY bad.  You should never have any grease on your wheel.  If you do, some is getting out of a hub that normally should be waterproof.  If grease is getting out, water is getting in at the boat ramp.  Your hub will be shot soon if not already.

 

Drinks that Don't Stain

The vinyl seats on our boat are very plush to the touch.  Matter of fact, the vinyl is called "soft touch" vinyl.  And it sure is soft.  But they are also stain magnets.  Unfortunately, almost every kids drink out there contains coloring that will stain your seats.

Except for juice boxes and juice pouches!  Since you can't see through the box or pouch, the manufacturers don't bother to put coloring in these drinks.  Go look for yourself.  They save money that way.  This is perfect for your boat though.  No coloring = no stained seats!  

Who knew?  Now you do too!

So, for the kids at least, the only drinks we allow on our boat is bottled water and juice pouches (or boxes).  We like pouches like Capri Sun over cardboard boxes because pouches take up less space in the trash bag (they lie flat).  Boxes take up a lot of space, or have to be smashed down.  Plus, the pouches cool down quicker in the cooler since they are made of foil instead of cardboard like the boxes.

Gatoraid and Poweraid are bad as far as stains go.  Kool-Aid is bad.  Squeeze bottles of flavoring that you squirt into a bottle of water are REALLY bad because the coloring is ULTRA concentrated out of the squirt bottle.  Actually, anything that is colored is bad for boat seats.  Stick to the juice pouches and boxes.

303 Vinyl Protectant

So you just bought a brand new boat, and you want to keep the vinyl seats looking good as new.  What should you use?  303 Aerospace Protectant.

The sun is actually the worst thing for your vinyl seats.  It can cause it to dry out and crack.  Nothing is worse on a boat that cracked seats.  I've used 303 Aerospace Protectant since we bought our boat.  It's basically sunscreen for your seats.  Really, that's what it is.  It blocks UV rays from damaging the vinyl.  I use it roughly once a month.  You just spray it on, let it sit a couple minutes, then wipe it off with a dry rag.  It doesn't leave a greasy residue.  You don't even know you put it on.  But, it will protect your new seats.
 

You can find it on Amazon.  NOTE:  This company makes several products with names that sound very similar, and it is confusing, but they are NOT the same product.  One is for vinyl, the other is for fabric.  DO NOT GET THEM MIXED UP!  You don't want to use one on the other.

Also, try not to get the 303 on your carpet.  I don't think it will do any damage, but it sure makes the carpet slippery!  Does "slippery carpet" sound strange?  It does.  But spray some on your carpet and you will know what I mean.

$10 DIY Porta Potti

Every pontoon boat needs a potti for those "emergencies".  I mean, who wants to pull up the anchor and go back to shore just to find a bathroom?  I'm talking about "#2" emergencies here.  For #1 emergencies just pee over the side of the boat.  Or jump in the lake.  Anyone that asks to go back to shore to pee doesn't get to go on a second trip on my boat.

Here's a simple one I made from a 10-gallon bucket. The bucket cost $3.  Make two cuts as shown.  You want to cut the top off close to the ridge (the top section is the ring at the far right in the pic below).  Then cut another 2 inches off the top of the pail (see the middle ring in the picture).  You can throw this middle ring away.  The reason you need to cut this out is so the first ring will fit over the bottom portion of the pail (left in the picture).  The bucket has a gradual taper, so you need to take a small section out, otherwise the top won't slide over the bottom section.

Next, I glued a $7 toilet seat to the top section of the bucket.  I drilled holes in the seat, and used dowels to make "pins" to help hold the glue.  Flip the top ring over and you will see little chambers that give strength to the pail.  I filled these chambers with silicone caulk, then pressed the seat in place and let it dry.  The little pieces of blue tape were to help me know which sections to fill up with caulk.

Last, put a bag in the bottom section, then set the seat on top.  Your weight on the seat holds the bag in place.  You are now ready to "go".

 

Note that you can buy "sani-bags" which have a powder that soaks up liquids.  When done, tie off the bag and throw it in a dumpster back at the dock.

It helps if your boat has a changing room with a curtain.  Otherwise, make everyone get in the lake first!

Avoid a Dead Battery

I highly recommend having a second battery on your boat.  Then you won’t worry about running the battery down from playing the stereo all day at the beach or cove and the motor not starting when you are ready to go home.

The easiest way to prevent a dead battery is to have one battery to start the motor, and a second battery for the lights, stereo, etc (everything else except the motor).  The problem with two separate circuits is only the starting battery gets recharged by the motor.  The other continues to drain until its either dead, or you take it home and recharge it.

This is where the “Automatic Charging Relay” comes in.  It’s also known as a “Battery Combiner”.  This nifty little device is about the size of a coffee cup.  How it works is very simple.  Whenever the motor is running, it combines both circuits so charging current from the motor recharges BOTH batteries at the same time.  Then, when you shut off the motor, the Charging Relay or Battery Combiner senses the loss of charging current (technically, it senses the small drop in voltage) and separates the two circuits again, leaving the “house” battery isolated from the “starting” battery.  This keeps the starting battery fresh to start the motor when you are ready to leave.

The reason I like this setup is it’s a “wire it and forget it” solution.  It has worked problem free for me for several years now.  The best thing is I don't have to worry about the motor not starting at the end of the day.
 

I use the Blue Sea SI-ACR Automatic Charging Relay.  See photo below.

Below is a picture with the cover off.  Note the two large terminal posts marked A and B.  You connect the A terminal to the + terminal on the starting battery, and the B terminal to the + terminal on the house battery (the one that runs the stereo and everything else).  You connect the - terminals of each battery to each other (not through this relay, just ground both batteries).  You add a small wire to the ground terminal shown on the charging relay through a 15A fuse to one of the negative terminals on the batteries.  This is only used to make sure the internal relay operates.  Again, both negative terminals of both batteries need to be connected to each other.  And that's it!  The other two connection tabs are for extra features explained in the instructions.  You just bolt this somewhere to your boat near the batteries and wire it up.  Use heavy gauge wire for the A and B terminal posts.  This relay can handle up to 120 Amps.  They have a couple models and you want the one rated for more amperage than your boat motor alternator can output.  

Now you have one less thing to worry about while enjoying a relaxing day on the lake!
 

By the way, they sell kits that include a manual switch.  In my simple setup, I decided I didn't need the switch.  The switch can add another $40-$50.  And, adding a switch puts more holes in your boat!

Noodle Rack

Noodles are pretty much required gear on a pontoon boat.  Everyone loves floating with them in the water.  Or smacking each other with them.  Or blowing water through them like a fountain...

The bad thing is they are lightweight, bulky and they blow around easily.  They take up a lot of room inside a boat.  Especially when you have a dozen of them.  They are literally worse than herding cats.  Cats would at least stay on the boat. 

We used to put a strap around the whole group of them (the noodles, not the cats).  But that really only worked after everyone was done using them.  Practically speaking, if a kid can't turn off a light switch, would you expect him to strap in a noodle?  You get what I'm saying.  Noodles are such a great toy to have on a boat.  You HAVE to have some.  But they are a royal pain to keep organized. 

Then I came up with the idea for a noodle rack.  The noodle rack is barely visible in the photo below, but the impact is clearly visible.  A nice neat set of noodles!  The red strap at the top is just used once we are underway to keep the wind from blowing them around.  When we're anchored, the strap comes off, and kids can pull noodles off the rack, or put them back, as much as they desire. 

The series of photos below show how I made the rack.  I used 1/2 inch PVC.  The first photo shows a piece of 1/2 inch PVC with an end cap glued to it.  The PVC pipe fits loosely in the noodle, but the cap is snug.  Its the cap that actually holds the noodle in place.   

  

The picture below is the base of the noodle rack.  I used 90 degree elbows and 3-way tees.  And of course short sections of 1/2 inch pipe to hold everything together.  I think the whole thing cost less than $15 from Menards.  The back two holes are for PVC pipe that I zip tied to the fence on our boat.  The front two holes I ended up facing towards each other with a small section of pipe between them.  This was used as a place to put your foot to help hold the rack in place when you pulled a noodle off.  If you look closely at the photo at the bottom of the page, you will see what I mean.

 

The next photo shows the legs of the rack.  These are where the noodles slide on.  Note the long one in the back.  This is one of the two I used to zip tie it to the boat.  At the time I took this photo, I didn't have enough PVC pipe to put the second one on in the back row.  You can see the empty elbow if you look closely.

And, here's the finished product with noodles all herded neatly in place:

 

I painted the noodle rack black and zip-tied it to the fence and railing of our boat near the back of the boat.  Now when the kids are done, they just slide the noodle on the rack as they walk by.  It takes a little training, because it is slightly more difficult than a light switch, but they catch on pretty quickly. 

When we are all done swimming for the day, we put a strap on the top half of the noodles and wrap it around the Bimini leg so they don't blow over in the wind.

When it was all done, I filled it with sand (for weight) and painted it black.  Here's a photo of it installed on our boat. You can see the foot rest at the bottom.  You step on this to keep it from moving as you pull a noodle off.  You can also see the black pipe that runs up behind the noodles to the top edge of the boat railing.  That's where its zip tied to the boat.