Winter 2014/2015 Update

Its been a mostly mid Autumn, but winter is creeping in. We know all of you are all doing your Winter preparation projects for your boats.  Likewise, we are working on maintenance for the piers and Community areas.

New piling caps are going on so that the piling will last as long as possible.  More sand is being added at Fishing creek so the little beach will be ready for Spring.  We will also be adding more and better gravel to the walkway and adding larger rocks to the wall to prevent erosion within flooding.

Here are some tips for winterizing your boat, compliments of skippertips.com

Seven Steps to Winterize and Protect Your Boat

Are you sure that no water has become trapped in the hoses aboard your small cruising boat? Have you gone through a seven-point-checklist to protect your small boat diesel from damage over the cold months?

Add extra years of quality sailing life when you follow the advice of author John Vigor. In his book, “The Practical Mariner’s Book of Knowledge“, John V. goes into great detail on how to winterize your boat–the right way! Follow these seven steps to give your boat the best protection possible…

Ice can expand and do lots of damage

1. Think “Water Trap”

Open up hatches and access lockers. Look behind the head. Any water line with a low bend can trap water, allow it to freeze, and crack the line. John Vigor recommends you add “a 50/50 solution of vodka” to your water lines that come from the water tank.

2. Cover and Ventilate

Rain water, sleet, snow, and condensation combine like termites to find any opening, crack, or crevice. Use covers to divert the water overboard. Allow ventilation through the cover to keep the boat dry and problem-free.

3. Attack the Hull

Scrape the bottom before it dries. Those bottom residential crispy critters will dry like epoxy unless you remove them the moment your hull exits the water. Next, plug up all thru-hulls, such as the engine raw-water intake, transducers, and seacock openings. Remove vents and cowls from the deck and replace them with tight fitting covers. This keeps dirt, dust, and insects out of your lines and interior.

4. Replace Metal Protectors

Remove and replace all zincs from the bottom of the hull. Even if they look alright, do it anyway. It’s cheap insurance and you won’t need to fool with it in the spring. Next, replace the pencil zincs in your small boat diesel raw water system. Call your engine manufacturer if you are unsure where they’re located.

5. Work Through this 5-Point Engine Check

Follow your small boat diesel manuals winterization process. If you are unsure, or you find the manual unclear, follow these seven-points…

Drain the raw-water system.

Add fresh coolant to your fresh water system.

Change your engine oil and engine oil filter.

Spray lubricant over your engine body (**see note below).

Squirt oil into the air intake manifold to protect pistons and cylinders.*Note…
Take care not to get any spray on your hoses or belts;
lubricants like WD-40 cause rubber products to soften.

6. Make a Warning Sign

Prevent damage to your small sailboat diesel in the spring. You don’t want to start her up until you remove the plugs on the intake. Use a magic marker and poster-board and make two signs: “DO NOT START ENGINE UNTIL ALL PLUGS ARE REMOVED”. Post one on the engine hatch cover and another next to your starter button. This will insure you against costly engine damage later on.

7. Remove and Charge All Batteries

Take the house and engine-start batteries off the boat and store them in a dry room. Hook up a battery charger and check them once a week to make sure they maintain a full charge throughout the winter.

Also, with winter will come extremely low tides.  So if you boat is in the water, you may need to check its lines.

Fishing Creek Pier February 2012

Hope everyone has a warm, safe and happy 2015.

Fall 2014 Piers Update

This has been a great summer of wonderful weather for Oyster Harbor boaters.  The cool temperatures, low rainfall and minimal storms made for many fun days on the Bay and our Creeks.

We saw a lot of people tubing, skiing, fishing, kayaking and paddle boarding. They all seemed to be having lots of fun.

All the slips were rented again this year, and we have over 14 boats on the wait-list for slips.  We do still have space available on the floating docks for small dinks and kayaks. These spaces are good for kids or elderly folks who find it harder to get a small boat back and forth to the water.

We continued to do maintenance on our piers and hope to keep them in good shape for many years to come.  Here is a list of Piers projects we completed this summer:

• Moved floating dock to Fishing Creek from Booker, as more people wanted spaces there
• Added a fish cleaning station to Fishing Creek pier
• Cleaned up Phragmites around the docks
• Added an additional kayak rack at Fishing Creek
• Added a kayak rack at the Beach
• Added a kayak rack at the Washington Boat ramp
• Repaired the posts in the Fishing Creek lot (underway)

We are still working out what is needed for a dog wash at Fishing Creek, are looking at some additional transient dock space for people who wish to tie up their boats for a night or two.

If you have ideas for other projects, please fill out the suggestion form on our website.

We wish everyone a happy Autumn and hope the great weather continues as long as possible.

Summer Boating update

Summer is almost here!  After this long and cold winter, I for one, am very happy to see some warm weather.  Our boats are ready and we have already had some nice adventures on the Bay this season.

The fish are biting, the crabs are starting, and I have already seen a load of kids being pulled in a tube on Fishing creek.  The water seemed a bit cold to me, but it didn't seem to bother those kids much.

Slip leases went out, and most of you have paid for your slips.  For those who didn't, I guess I have to put on my Collections Hat and start chasing folks down.  Please send in your checks and signed leases, ASAP.

The Wait List has grown, and we have not had many slips come available.  I will reach out to people as slips open up.

We have some minor repairs scheduled on the piers and may add a third floating dock to Fishing creek in the next couple weeks.  We'll send an update once we have that nailed down.

We'll also send updates as we know about storm trends, flood tides and other weather and community related boating issues.

As always, please observe No Wake areas, and be courteous of small boats, kayaks and moored boats in our creeks.

Hope everyone has a safe and happy boating season.

All the best,
Eric Epstein
Piers and Harbors Chair

2014 Slip Leases

Slip Leases are coming up for renewal

Slip Renewal time is here.  Like last year, I found that by sending a pre-renewal email to everyone asking their intentions, I was able to save a lot of time and effort for the volunteers (me and some poor intern) who create and track all the slip leases.  Everyone with a registered email should have received an email by now.

I am asking everyone with a current slip to reply with their intentions on renewing for the next period of May 1 2014 to April 30 2015.  If you have a slip and are renewing, I will send you a new lease and payment instructions by email.

We also have a few people waiting for slips, so this is a way to not keep them in anticipation as long.

Pricing remains the same at $24/foot/year ($2/month/foot*12 month).

We hope to have a fish cleaning station at Fishing Creek pier in May.  We have done qute a bit of repairs to all the docks, and plan to put on new piling caps at Fishing Creek later this spring.

We are also planning on adding some transient slips for people bringing their boat over for a weekend or for short stays.  Those will be first come first serve, with no charge to use them.

The link to get on a waiting list for a slip is on the OHCAPiers Blog at http://ohcapiers.blogspot.com

More Kayak Racks are coming...

As for Kayak & small boat racks, we are adding additional kayak rack pace to Fishing Creek, a new rack at Washington Boat ramp and a new rack on the Beach.

Please feel free to email me with any questions you may have.

Hope this spring brings a safe and happy boating season for all.