I like free boats

[TDurand]

Hello Forum! My name is Tyler and I'm in Marina Del Rey, CA. My boss decided he no longer wanted his 1992 Maxum 2300 SCR (or at least that's what he thinks it is and from what I can tell, that's right), and he decided it was time for a bonus. So? Free Boat! And "I like free boats!" And under the annual exclusion amount for gifts = no taxes.

So I'm off to a good start expense-wise: $0. He said he had about $4,000 of engine maintenance done about 6 months ago. Everything in the engine bay looks pretty clean to me. He did not have the boat covered, so everything seems pretty filthy, although he assured me it cleans up nice. Kind of like me: camping, off-roading type, but can rock a suit & tie like a boss. I'm thinking to have someone come out and compound & wax and interior detail the boat as first step. Any suggestions for covers or DIY storage tips would be helpful. I need to learn proper pre-launch checklist items and post-reloading checklist items to go back into storage.

The batteries are dead from dry storage. Question 1: Can I jump it from my car or does it make more sense to remove and get them charged at the local West Marine if they even do that? Maybe there's someone that can come with a commercial charger? I wouldn't want to run the engine very long on the trailer as it obviously wouldn't have any way to cool itself, but I'd like to know it runs fine before it goes to the water.

I'm excited, but do not want to get ahead of myself. First thing is boating safety courses and learning how to operate the boat itself both safely and efficiently. I welcome any inputs you all have!

Lastly (for now), I have a 04 Jeep Wrangler unlimited rated at 3,500lbs towing capacity. I noticed that my boat would be about 5,000 - 5,500 loaded/gassed up. I don't plan on doing any significant trailering, just for storage. Think I'll be ok pulling it out in 4Lo and just pulling it over the parking lot to my spot?

Looking forward getting to know anyone in my area!

P.S. how can I upload some photos? I can't seem to figure that out for you all to see what I'm talking about.

[mmwjr]

Welcome aboard

This is the best looking free boat I have seen. Interesting the outside looks better then the cabin. The boat has a breaker for a battery charger so if you can hook up to shore power you can use that to see if the batteries will charge. If not take them to an automotive store to load test them to see if they are good or not., WM cannot do this to my knowledge. Jumping with your car is possible. Do not run the engine without water, either hooked up to a hose with muffs or floating else you will destroy the raw water impeller in short order. Hire someone to take you out as well there are such companies as the classes only teach rule of the road. IMO using your jeep to move the boat across the marina parking lot should not be an issue.

[shrew]

Welcome aboard TDurand!!!

Your batteries need covers on the terminals or be placed in boxes. It also looks like someone took a single battery and added a second in parallel. However the terminals on that main battery look a bit overloaded.

[TDurand]

Thank you! I'm going to go through the boat today and see if maybe something like a switch was missed that there was no power. I'll also look into modifying the battery setup for protection of terminals and the electrical system in general. I've modified my Jeep with a dual battery setup, so it should be pretty straightforward to clean it up safely.

I'll post more pics as I get her cleaned up. Lucky for me it also looks like I get to give her her first name!

Any "must-do" modernizations/modifications you would recommend from experience?

[mmwjr]

Be sure to inspect the bellows for signs of cracks between the folds. Also take temp readings of the exhaust system with an IR sensor as scale in the cooling passages become blocked leading to overheating, crack and water ingestion of the engine resulting in $$$$.

[Phillbo]

Start with fresh batteries so you know what you have.