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How to Prepare Your Boat for Spring
Aug 30, 2020
For boat owners, there will always be a time in the year where the boat needs to be taken out of storage and sent back onto the water. This is usually during spring. However, there is the matter of proper maintenance. If you just store your boat and send it back to the waters without any preparation, you’re likely to reduce its lifespan and you’ll have a rickety, dangerous boat instead of a safe voyage.
If you want to avoid the hassle (and potential life-threatening situation), here are some tips on how to prepare your boat for spring.
Get Ready for the Upcoming Season
It’s not just the boat that needs preparation for spring. You might also want to see if you are ready for the season ahead. For starters, you might want to sign up for a boat safety course. This is the perfect time to obtain a boating certificate if you don’t have one yet.
Next, you should take the time to sit down and brush up on your familiarity with the boat, especially if you haven’t used it for a long time. The best way to start is by bringing out the boat’s owner’s manual and consulting it for the manufacturer’s recommended maintenance procedures. Furthermore, you should check the boat itself and refamiliarize yourself with its components and any features it may have.
Get a Technician or Mechanic to Perform a Maintenance or Tune-Up
It is always a smart idea to leave things to the professionals. In the case of preparing your boat for spring, you can opt to hire a technician or mechanic to take a look at your boat, just to see if there are tune-ups or repairs needed. Make sure you hire one who is certified by the American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC) or a similar accreditation board. There are a number of things that need to be considered before you leave the dock:
- Inspection of all the safety equipment on board, which includes flares, personal flotation devices, fire extinguishers, first aid kits, etc.
- Checking if all the important parts of the boat are functioning, such as the lights and the motor.
- Checking for any issues with the electricals, and whether the battery is functioning, charged, and properly secured.
- Ensuring that there’s no excess water in the bilge.
- Checking of the fuel levels, and inspection of the fuel tank for any leaks or dents.
Practice Getting In and Out of the Water Safely
It may sound simple and unnecessary, but many lives could have been saved if the boat owner only spent their time practicing getting in and out of the water safely. This includes the proper observation of launching, checking the engine temperature and mentally preparing on what to do in case it is overheating, and training oneself and the boat passengers on safe boating practices. Make sure you go over these before the boat even touches the water.
Always Remember That Every Boat is Unique
To get your boat water-ready in time for spring, you also need to remember that each boat is unique and each one will have different needs and requirements, whether due to its size, manufacturer, model, etc. Make sure you have access to all pertinent information and keep it memorized in case the information becomes necessary during the trip. Once you have everything prepared, it may finally be time to enjoy a fun and safe boating season.
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Dangerous distracted driving continues across the U.S., and it might have increased in the busy post-pandemic period, as one new study shows. Commercial drivers are part of the problem, as well as a key to the solution, according to the trucking insurance company that performed the survey. Are you back to driving on the roads POST-PANDEMIC as part of your employment? If you are, you are most likely feeling STRESSED, PRESSURED and CONCERNED about meeting your employers’ expectations. Recent reports are showing that 30% of drivers are feeling more anxious and 54% of drivers are feeling distracted and aggressive while driving. A risk survey from Travelers suggest that work-related pressure might be leading to distracted driving. Expectations are high and so everyone is feeling pressured. Here are some helpful ideas for employers and employees: Communicate with your boss. 68% of employers report that they have official driving/texting/phone usage policies in place. Find out the expectation. Encourage Best Practices. A full 56% of consumers admit to reading a text or email while driving. Decide before you get behind the wheel what you are going to do. Speak Up. Only 11% of passengers have actually spoken up to co-workers when they feel unsafe due to a driver’s distraction. Let your employer know what to expect. Lead by Example. Don’t call or text your employees when they are driving.
If you are like us, we are grateful to be in business and have the opportunity to serve our community. General Insurance Services is always looking for opportunities to support other small business owners and we wanted to let you know that Mercury Insurance does too! Mercury proudly offers a variety of insurance protection specifically designed for business owners. Mercury has policies to help with your Commercial Auto, Apartments, Residential Condominium HOAs, Commercial Buildings, Restaurants and Small Businesses. The affordable insurance offered by Mercury offers best in class coverage and allows for peace of mind. Working together, we can support each other. General Insurance has been serving the small business community over 75 years now. Let us know how we can help you.
Our neighbors work hard at maintaining the front yard of their property. It’s beautiful to look at and always decorated for the Holidays. Just after Christmas the yard was still decorated for Christmas but it was also filled with dirt, pipes, mud and a tractor. It was concerning. We tried to help. We brought Dinner, helped take down the Christmas decorations and even helped level the ground once the broken pipe was located and repaired. It was an opportunity to be a good neighbor but we could have been a better neighbor if we had spoken to them earlier about the Service Line Protection Endorsement offered by Mercury with their Homeowners Policy. Did you know that it is Your responsibility to repair or replace any service lines on your property that connect with municipality lines when the damage occurs on your residence property? Did you also know that your Standard Homeowners Policy does not provide coverage for these lines and they can be costly to repair? Service Line Protection, a new enhancement to the Mercury homeowners policy offers coverage for service lines to the insured-owned, exterior and underground Water piping, Sewer piping, Ground loop piping, and power lines that provide electrical service. The best part is that it costs just a few $$ per month. Be a good neighbor, be a good homeowner, talk to us, your MERCURY AGENT about how we can help. Ask us about Service Line Protection.
There’s a lot to think about when teens begin to drive. As local insurance agents and the parents of 7 children we know a little about the best way to help those teens get safely on the road. Mercury has given us a few tips to consider when teens get behind the wheel. Establish a pre-start car routine that includes adjusting mirrors and driving position. Practice. Practice. Practice. Keep calm. Talk to your teen as you drive. Burgers, Instagram, texting and anything else that can distract you while driving can wait. Go to drivesafe.mercuryinsurance.com to learn more. If you are looking to keep your teen safe AND save money here are a few more tips. Teens can do their part by doing well in school and maintaining a 3.0 grade point average or better. No tickets, no accidents Drive a vehicle with a smaller engine Enroll in a driving class Bundle your policies to get a discount Reduce the number of miles you drive Increase your deductible to lower your premium; and Install an anti-theft security system on your vehicle. As your local Mercury agent, we can help you find out what it will cost to insure your teen. Give us a call and let General Insurance Services help you, and them, get started 949-661-2201
What Can We Do For You? We Have 2 Main Objectives in Our Office: 1) To be of service to you. 2) To match your insurance needs to the best policy available at the best price available. We are a multi-generational family owned Insurance agency. Barbara’s father, Herb Brown started the business in 1947 in the basement of Barbara’s childhood home wth the same two objectives. We would love the opportunity to show you why we are still in business nearly 75 years later. Give us a call at 949) 661-2201 and you will always reach us directly if you call M-F between 8:30 A.M – 5:30 P.M. You can also see more of our story on our web site www.gen-ins.com
Vehicle Safety Tip This is a simple one and will take less than 5 minutes to complete. When you are done you will have one less thing to worry about! Want To Try It? Get a penny, place it Head First into your tire several tread grooves towards the center. If you see the top of Lincoln’s head, your tread is shallow and worn. It is Time to replace your tires. If part of Lincoln’s head is covered by the tread, you have depth remaining and can wait a few months to try the test again. Easy! One less thing to worry about. Now you have extra time to call us and see what we can do to save you money on your Auto Insurance. We would love to talk to you, we have been in business almost 75 years and we are good at what we do. Callus at (949) 661-2201.
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629 Camino De Los Mares Ste 306
San Clemente, CA 92673
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