I've been on the road for the last several weeks and unable to track our nonskid and gelcoat repair project. But, in my absence, I had some photos taken to track the progress and now I'm back at the yard.

We left off in part 4 with gelcoat Jim sanding away to prep the surface. Once the surface was down to fair and smooth, the boat had to get masked off to identify the new surface perimeter. Here are a couple of shots to see how that looked: (notice the blue masking tape)

Once the preimeter is defined, the whole boat is going to get covered outside the masked off area. Next will be the application of the new non-skid surface. I'll get that your way tomorrow, so stay tuned.

Happy July 4th weekend to all! This weekend is probably one of the busiest boating weekends in the US. Just about everyone that owns a boat is going to give it their best shot to get out on the boat for at least part of the weekend if not the whole weekend. Besides the boating fun, I also regard July 4th, or shortly thereafter as a time when we in the northern states of the US are approaching the midway point of the boating season. That means a little maintenance is also in order.

Several mid-season maintenance routines that I perform religiously can save you both fuel and extra work next spring.

Item one has to do with the bottom of the boat. If you haven't been using the boat regularly and launched before or right around Memorial Day weekend, odds are good that no matter what anti-fouling paint you used, the bottom is going to need a good cleaning. Growth happens, and it can slow your boat down and add aconsiderable amount of drag that will equate to decreased fuel economy. As the water gets warmer, the growth rate will accelerate. Now's the time to dive on the boat and give it a good scrubbing. If you're not into diving on your own, every waterfront community I can think of has folks around that will do it for a fee, usually around $50-$75 dollars depending on the size of the boat. Also, most marinas offer a "quick haul" and wash service where they just lift the boat and give it a pressure wash. That's going to cost a bit more (charged by the foot typically), but it'll give you the best job generally. The saving in fuel consumption will really offset this cost.

The other area I take a close look at won't apply to all boats, but it sure does on mine. If you have any varnished woodwork on the outside of your boat its time to give it an inspection and touch up any spots where wear and tear has nicked the finish down to bare wood. If you don't seal those nicks now, water will penetrate into the exposed wood and cause the wood to stain and darken. This will mean that you'll have to sand down the entire stained area next spring to get the wood back to it's original color. Water stains can really migrate deeply into the wood too, and it can often be quite a job to get the stains completely out of the wood. If your finicky about your brightwork like I am, cover those bare spots now! It'll keep the wood looking sharp, and save you a lot of effort come spring.

Have a great July 4th and above all, be safe!

Last week I was in Kansas City at the Skills USA National Championship contest, this week I'm here in Minnesota at Best Buy's Geek Squad University training about 30 members of the Geek Squad team in the nuances of marine electrical systems. One of the mandates Best Buy has put in place as they slowly expand their marine electronics business is that all of the Geek Squad technicians that are going to be working on boats must be certified by the American Boat and Yacht Council, (ABYC) in marine electrics. Additionally they will also be required to become National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) certified. This week we have students from all over the country in the group as Best Buy begins the roll out of their newest venture.

I have to say it, this company is doing it right! The techs I'm working with have already been highly trained in many areas of electronics such as home theater installations and calibrations, automotive audio system instalations and electrical fundamentals. Many of the techs have already been working on boats and now they are going to get the chance to expand their work even further. Each of the technicians I'm working with has been hand picked by their respective store managers to go through this training and I just can't say enough good about the level of professionalism and expertise I'm seeing. These folks are sharp! Within a matter of weeks we're going to see more Best Buy stores coming online with truly qualified marine electronics installation specialists. The company is carefully selecting traditional marine electronics vendors to provide product. Companies like Garmin, Raymarine, ICOM, Lowrance, Fusion are already on board, and more are going to be coming into the mix over the next few months.

One of the things Best Buy Marine is offering that is unique is flat rate installation pricing for their customers. Most electronics installers work on a "time and materials" pricing format, which means when the tech leaves the shop to come to your boat the meter starts running. When they are done, the meter shuts off. You pay for every minute, no matter how long it takes to do the install. Sometimes this can turn into a real horror show and statistically, I'll tell you that in a time and materials format, you are almost always going to end up paying more than the price you get quoted as an "approximate" estimate. At Best Buy, the price you get quoted is what you'll pay, not a penny more. I love the concept!

So, next time you're looking for on board audio, video, or traditional marine electronic navigation and communication gear, give Best Buy a try. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Yesterday Yamaha Motors came out with some really sound advice regarding running their engines in the Gulf of Mexico, more specifically what to do if you find yourself running through an oil slick. As far as I'm concerned, their advice will work for just about any makers engine. Here's the official Yamaha take on it:

"In the weeks following the BP/Transocean's Deepwater Horizon's oil spill Yamaha has received many calls from many concerned consumers who wish to learn more about the operation of Yamahaa outboard motors in crude oil contaminated waters. The conditions that currently exist in portions of the Gulf of Mexico are are unique and unusual. There is very little data to support any assertions for how the product might react when exposed to them.

While Yamaha does not recommend deliberate operation of it's outboards in oil contaminated water, we realize the outboards will be used in these conditions.

Yamaha takes some pride in the fact that so many Yamaha-powered boats are being used in support of clean-up efforts in the Gulf, and we have been monitoring dealer and consumer comments regarding the performance of these outboards. To date, few difficulties have been reported as a direct result of oil contamination.

For outboards that are used in crude oil contaminated water, Yamaha has the following general recommendations:

• Operators should use extreme vigilance in monitoring water pressure and temperature conditions of the outboard.
• Frequently clean the outboard lower unit, using a mixture of liquid dish detergent and water.
• Frequently clear debris from the cooling water intake intakes using a stiff brush.

Consumer questions regarding use in oil contaminated waters should be directed to Yamaha Consumer Relations at: (866)894-1626.

This all seems like sensible sound advice to me and again, my view is that this is good advice for all outboard motors running around the Gulf these days.

Today we completed the hands-on portion of the USA National Championship competition. The photo below shows one of the contestants totally engrossed in troubleshooting an electrical problem with a Suzuki outboard engine ignition component. Keep in mind that this was only one of 5 test stations as a part of the hands-on side of the competition. It was a long day as we had 27 finalists this year at the competition.

 One of the other stations in the competition had the contestants going through a predelivery inspection checklist on a new Cobalt bow rider. That's shown here:

So you may be asking yourself what's the boat tip here? That's an easy one for me to answer. These are the sort of young people we need to both foster and support in any way that we can. They represent the future of boat service at the highest level. Ask your boat service people if they have ever hired a Skills USA champion. That's today's tip. Again, if you are not familiar with Skills USA, go to www.skillsusa.org to learn more.