Depth - Draft 92 ts6m

[ott]

Just bought a 92 TS6M and looking for a place to dock it in my city. There aren't many choices left and one has only about 3 ft of depth on the way out. Does anyone know how much water the TS6M needs. I read the draft is 2 ft, would this include the driveshaft and prop? Any help is much appreciated!

[Zim]

3 ft should be plenty for that boat.

[cjtpilot]

You should be fine with 3 ft.


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[Jetlink]

Are you leaving it in the water all the time or is it going on a lift or trailer when not in use?

[crystal waters]

At dead stop your official draft is 22 inches.
Then allow for additional weight ie: passengers
Enjoy!

[ott]

Thanks all.

Was planning on leaving it in the water. It's at a marina in a bay so should be pretty safe. The depth he quoted was the minimum depth in the channel out, not in the where it's docked.

[Jetlink]

Please think twice about just leaving it in the water. Not from a protection standpoint but a maintenance stand point. Overtime, your boat is going to absorb water into the hull and start carrying around extra weight. Have a friend who's boat did just this because he kept it in the water all summer. Boat would run fine when first hitting the water, by July...it could barely get out of it's own way.

[ott]

Please think twice about just leaving it in the water. Not from a protection standpoint but a maintenance stand point. Overtime, your boat is going to absorb water into the hull and start carrying around extra weight. Have a friend who's boat did just this because he kept it in the water all summer. Boat would run fine when first hitting the water, by July...it could barely get out of it's own way.

That's bizzarre. Where would it go? I think the 92's don't have any wood in them. Has anyone else had this problem?

[Jetlink]

It's not a wood vs. composite issue, it's the nature of gel coat and such I believe.

[Zim]

I don't know about "absorbing" water, but the bottoms can develop blisters and the hull will never be the same. Not only that, but the crap that dirty's the bottom of your boat will make it difficult to plane out with any extra weight in the boat. I'd keep it on a trailer unless you have a lift. These boats are not designed to be left in the water full time.

[Jetlink]

When we took his boat out end of the season, the trailer was fully slammed with bulging tires. Pulled the plug, no water came out. Parked it in his driveway with the stern downhill and we filled a five gallon bucket in fifteen minutes. No punctures in the hull, no water in the bilge. After sitting there for two months, it finally dried out and so did the driveway. Did the same thing the very next year.

[Zim]

What year was his boat? How many 5 gallon buckets did it fill? 5 gallons of water isn't that much, and a lot of times a boat sitting "level" on a trailer will not empty out. I know mine doesn't, the bilge pump definitely doesn't sit in the right place. I can drain a lot of water out of mine after sitting it on a hill too, but that doesn't mean my gelcoat is absorbing water.

A direct drive and vdrive boat will take on water sitting there anyway. Unless it has a dripless seal, it's not water tight.

[Jetlink]

After emptying the bucket five times, we stopped placing it under the drain plug and just let it bead out. We are talking a little wet spot, the whole driveway just behind the boat was constantly wet for two months. And it was a '97-98.

[Hagman]

I don't know about "absorbing" water, but the bottoms can develop blisters and the hull will never be the same. Not only that, but the crap that dirty's the bottom of your boat will make it difficult to plane out with any extra weight in the boat. I'd keep it on a trailer unless you have a lift. These boats are not designed to be left in the water full time.
What your are refering to is called osmosis if your boat gets this you will need to find a sucker to sale it to.
Osmosis is the process of moisture seeping into the fiberglass laminate, either through the gelcoat layer or internally from the bilge areas. As moisture migrates into the laminate it fills voids, becomes trapped and creates an acidic blister fluid. Still seeking to dif*fuse equally throughout the substrate, the water between the laminate and outer surface places pressure on the gelcoat. The resulting blemishes or blisters that form between the lami*nate and the gelcoat affect the appearance and performance of the boat. As excessive moisture is the culprit, blistering usually only occurs below the waterline.When blisters are left unchecked they will progressively extend deeper into the laminate and affect the struc*tural integrity of the hull. The term used to describe the chemical reac*tion between polyester resin
lami*nates and water is hydrolysis. Over time, blister fluids attack the resin in the laminate, severing the chemical bond between the resin and lami*nate. As it progresses, the bottom becomes spongy and delaminates. Unfortunately, this condition is not reversible but can be repaired once it has started. Any hydrolyzed lami*nate on a boat must be removed and the bottom relaminated. This usually requires the services of a profession*al. Good luck

[Jetlink]

Hagman, thanks for the lesson. I knew there was a term for this and yeah, after two summers like that he found a sucker who really wanted his boat and is now doing much better and keeping his boat in a lift instead of just sitting in the water.

[chris young]

I haven't had any personal experience or done any research on the topic, but my understanding was that osmosis was really only a concern for boats that sat in the water all year round. Lots of ski clubs (mine for sure) leave their boats in all summer, and I'm sure there are year round ski operations that do the same. Personally I would say that 4 months sitting in the water and 8 months drying out is fine for these boats. In the case of the boat mentioned here, that was certainly not osmosis. Likely the foam was absorbing water around through hull fittings like the exhaust and swim platform. I have my boat in all summer, and it's very easy to see if it's taking on water by keeping track of the waterline. I've got photos from the day it went in this spring so mid summer I'll report back.

[Hagman]

Osmoses is not talked about vary often. And I believe that most boat buyers don’t know to check closely for this. It can be repaired but most of the time it’s on a older boat that is not worth the money to make the repair. If you find it in one place it’s likely every where but not visible yet. I have helped friends look at prospective boat buys and have run across several boat with this in the last couple of years. I have asked the owners about the storage history (ski lake ,boat house and boat slip) always come up. When I tell the owner of what is happening with there boat it freaks them out. I say good luck. Google it and walk away. Bottom line leaving any fiberglass boat in the water for extended amount of time raises the chance of this happening . If your boat gets this it will lower the value just as a stringer job would. Isn’t grate being a boat owner.14601

[haugy]

Hagman's right. It's not common but can happen.

My current Supra spent it's first two years in the water with no issues. A boat should not be absorbing anything from the outside in. If it is, you have problems.

As for the OP, leaving your boat in the water should be fine, but be aware of a few things:

1) Check your driveshaft seal regularly. If it's too loose, it will continue to drip while sitting and slowly fill the boat with water.
2) Maintain your bilge pump and auto-pump feature as well as your battery. I can't tell you how many times I've seen boats that were under water from just sitting there. No bilge pump auto or the battery was dead.
3) Your bottom hull will get covered in serious crap. If you do leave it in the water, try to get it out and running as much as possible. Running around on the lake will help break off a lot of the larger gunk growing. A good preventative is to put about 2-3 coats of serious wax on the bottom before you put it in for the summer. But it will only slightly slow the affect.
4) Cover, make sure your cover breathes. Sitting in the water and outside will be a perfect breeding environment for mildew in your cover. Make sure it's able to get air flow and breathe.

[cjtpilot]

That's really odd that it soaked up water by sitting?? Growing up our boat sat in the water from April until Oct or Nov and never did that in the 40 years we owned it


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[Zim]

In the manual for my boat, it even mentions that blisters caused by leaving the boat in the water too long were not covered under warranty. I'd say this is reason enough to not leave it in the water, as even the boat manufacturer is saying that leaving it in the water is not good for it, and will not be covered under warranty. Page 80, #13

http://supraboats.com/library/downloads/SupraOwners_2006.pdf

[Moor]

I can't say i have ever come across this, very odd. I leave my boat in from may to october and have not had a problem in the last 5 years. Just to claify, The link for the owners manual above never states that leaving the boat in the water for extended periods is not good. They do reccomend painting the under water part of the hull with a marine paint, and they do state that any blistering will not be covered under warranty( page 68). It never states that its not good to leave the boat in the water though. I maybe be completely wrong, but i equate this to buying a new car and leaving it outside for extended periods instead of sitting in the garage. Yes inside is hands down a better way to store it, but leaving it outside will not void your warranty, unless u park your car under a pine tree and the sap ruins the new paint. this sounds like a CYA clause slipped into the owners manual. I can't imagine someone paying for a new boat they can't leave in the water

[ott]

Thanks for the feedback - I'm certainly going to swap out the bilge and make sure to get one with a float switch. It currently does have two batteries, but I might look at a cheap solar charger.

On the topic of blistering - a good friend of mine works at a boat dealership (not Supra). He discussed this with one of the mechanics. I thought I'd share as this is the first I'd ever heard of anything like this. He said in his experience, it's quite rare that a boat will blister. He also suggested that if blisters do form they tend to be a defect and if they happen it's usually in the first couple of years of the boats life.