360 Express Maintenance - need input from 360 Owners

[sel1005]

OK, my 360 is 4 years old now and starting to show its age. Would love to hear from other 360 owners on how they address these items. Jeff and the folks at GW have been awesome, as always, but would like your input on the monthly maintenance fixes that work for you:

a. 2 inch rubber stripping that lines the cockpit, covers the line between the cockpit floor and vertical sides; discolored, looks really nasty, nothing will clean or bleach it out. Anyone found an answer other than replacing?
b. keeping wasps, dirt daubers, etc out of the mesh netting where we keep PFDs over the helm. They seem to just love that space
c. mold on the hardtop above the helm, inside the cabin on head liners, etc. We use hanging dessicant packs but in the hot FL sun and humidty, its a constant battle
d. sealing all the myriad gaps, joints, etc on the transom around the motors and plates to be sure no water gets inside

I find the 360 overall is a very easy boat to maintain (OK, except for climbing on the hardtop to wax and scrub the top, which I'm way too old to do safely but do it anyway.....)

While I wish there was just a little more room in the hull to clean sea strainers, or the live well sea cock was NOT under the mid berth floor, overall its not bad to maintain in tip top shape.

Any ideas on the above would be very appreciated, thanks!

 

[Fishermanbb]

I've always used Roll-Off or Spray Nine on the white rubber moulding. If you have mold that has gotten into the rubber itself the only way to get it out may be to use an abrasive sandpaper, then treat with bleach, then a finer sandpaper to wet sand it smooth.

Put a moth ball in your mesh or try some coffee grounds

Airflow is all that will stop your mold issue down there. Try some fans at the helm and in the cabin.....You may be able to find solar operated fans if you don't have dockside power......You need to move the air around in those areas or you will get mold.

 

[sel1005]

thanks for the input, chemicals had not worked on the moulding but I had not thought of sanding it down and bleaching. That will be my weekend project.....

I've tried the West Marine fan, supposed to keep the temp above the dew point or something like that. Works fine in the winter but summer is another issue. We have dockside power, fans are not an issue but I can't leave the boat / hatches open. Do you run fans in an enclosed space just to move the air, or ??

thanks again for the ideas, thats one of the reasons I visit this forum as someone always has innovative approaches to solve problems.

 

[Fishermanbb]

If you really want to knock it out run a small fan and a small dehumidifier and empty the dehumidifier weekly. You have far more problems wit hit in Florida than we fo up here but I think that might take care of it for you.

 

[NOTHING ELSE MATTERS]

I always had/have a fan in my cabin and also the "hot rod"and never developed mold or anything like that. NY summers are not like Florida summers though.

 

[ocdansar]

I have a fan that sits on the floor and runs 24/7 when we are not on the boat, almost 5 years and no mold or mildew, boat is in fort pierce in the water

 

[sel1005]

you guys have convinced me, I will put a fan in the cabin tonight.

 

[Strikezone]

I've had great luck using the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser sponges on the rubber molding and the bottom side of my hardtop. These things really work well & I just make sure to rinse it off when finished.

 

[JiminGA]

Just curious-----

I frequently see larger cabin-style boats/yachts in marinas with the A/C running (I see the water discharge coming out of the thru-hull) and they are obviously NOT occupied.

Wouldn't it make sense to run the A/C on the 360 off shorepower and just set the thermostat at a high temperature, say 85 or 90 degrees?

Seems like this would be the perfect dehumidifier.

 

[ElyseM]

Just curious-----

I frequently see larger cabin-style boats/yachts in marinas with the A/C running (I see the water discharge coming out of the thru-hull) and they are obviously NOT occupied.

Wouldn't it make sense to run the A/C on the 360 off shorepower and just set the thermostat at a high temperature, say 85 or 90 degrees?

Seems like this would be the perfect dehumidifier.

you should have a humidity cycle on your a/c. bottom left hand corner of the control panel (at least on mine)

 

[sel1005]

A/C would be a great help but mine is in a lift, thus the A/C won't work. Not bottom painted, keep 5 ft or so out of the water. We will hopefully have good results from the fan in the cabin.

How does the Magic Eraser work? I tried one, maybe didn't read the instructions correctly but it seemed just like a sponge to me. Wet it, scrubbed but nothing to speak of. What did I miss? I thought it came with soap or liquid embedded in it but didn't get any suds or anything from it when wet.

what did I miss in how to use it? lots of folks swear by it for under hardtop mildew or bird droppings but I must not know what to do with them.

 

[sel1005]

OK, here's a thought: I realize GW won't / can't do this but what if:

Someone came up with a single post, listed maybe the top 12-15 areas of a GW that needed maint and provided product recommendations for each? I have no links to any providers / dealers / vendors, but I could see it would be very helpful for the rest of us that maintain our boats.

Something like:

Alum, outriggers, steering rods: Woody Wax
Above the rub rail: clean with Aurora Boat Scrub, wax with X, etc
Cabin floor teak: .....
Walking surfaces: use blah blah blah.....

Everyone has favorite products but I could see something like this being a helpful primer for GW owners to keep our boats in top shape...

 

[ElyseM]

OK, here's a thought: I realize GW won't / can't do this but what if:

Someone came up with a single post, listed maybe the top 12-15 areas of a GW that needed maint and provided product recommendations for each? I have no links to any providers / dealers / vendors, but I could see it would be very helpful for the rest of us that maintain our boats.

Something like:

Alum, outriggers, steering rods: Woody Wax
Above the rub rail: clean with Aurora Boat Scrub, wax with X, etc
Cabin floor teak: .....
Walking surfaces: use blah blah blah.....

Everyone has favorite products but I could see something like this being a helpful primer for GW owners to keep our boats in top shape...

the manual gives a pretty good rundown of maintenance items and GW suggested products. take another look at yours and you may see somethings you missed while standing in awe in front of your new boat.

 

[NOTHING ELSE MATTERS]

the manual gives a pretty good rundown of maintenance items and GW suggested products. take another look at yours and you may see somethings you missed while standing in awe in front of your new boat. [/quote]

You know something, i never, ever opened up the manual of ANY of my GW's. The way the bag was given to me, i gave it to the next guy. I will open it this weekend, thanks.

 

[ElyseM]

Just curious-----

I frequently see larger cabin-style boats/yachts in marinas with the A/C running (I see the water discharge coming out of the thru-hull) and they are obviously NOT occupied.

Wouldn't it make sense to run the A/C on the 360 off shorepower and just set the thermostat at a high temperature, say 85 or 90 degrees?

Seems like this would be the perfect dehumidifier.

you should have a humidity cycle on your a/c. bottom left hand corner of the control panel (at least on mine)

it's the lower right. it looks like a little dew drop. sorry about that

 

[ElyseM]

the manual gives a pretty good rundown of maintenance items and GW suggested products. take another look at yours and you may see somethings you missed while standing in awe in front of your new boat.

You know something, i never, ever opened up the manual of ANY of my GW's. The way the bag was given to me, i gave it to the next guy. I will open it this weekend, thanks.[/quote]

brace yourself. after reading the FP manual (and getting thru the german to english translation) i was ready to have them remove the genset before i even used it. first time for me with a genny and the "suggested" maintenance was more than the boat itself! :shock:

 

[sel1005]

LOL, I also have never looked at a manual. I think they are still in a bag somewhere.... And never heard of a humidity control. Always learn something on GG

 

[grady 306 bimini]

I found this on line its called moldaway if you google it it comes up the first result and there is no space in between mold and away
PS i havent tried it yet