In our first installment of Charlie's Boating Tips, Haven Harbour Managing Director Charlie Petosa provides proven practices for readying dock lines and life jackets in preparation for the boating season ahead – and how to make them last far beyond your expectations.
Over the course of a boating season, and especially while tucked away for winter, our dock lines and life jackets get stiff, musty and can even fill with mold. My favorite way to refresh them for spring is to make a trip to the local laundromat with lots of quarters, good old-fashioned Tide detergent (not the fancy high-efficiency stuff), and plenty of your favorite liquid fabric softener.
Put your dock lines in one or two of the larger front-loading machines. You mustn't put them in a top-loading machine with a center agitator as this will create a big mess of your lines. Run the load on a long, hot water cycle with lots of Tide and plenty of fabric softener. When the load is complete, they will come out in tangles. Straighten and lay them out to dry. Do not put them in a dryer as this will stiffen them back up again.
For your life jackets, put one or two (no more than two) at a time in a large washer – again one without a center agitator. Be sure the buckles are snapped, but loose so that the soap can get in all cracks and crevices. Add plenty of Tide and fabric softener here too. Run the load through a normal but slow, or "no spin" cycle. A high spin cycle will damage the jackets. When the load is complete, hang the jackets to dry, or put them one at a time in a dryer with a few fabric softener dryer sheets and on a low heat setting.
I have been doing this to much success with my current dock lines and life jackets for over 15 years, and they still look and perform like new.