Colorado Inspections & Decontamination

[arms_str8]

I'm not sure if there are any other members that have gone through the Colorado inspection & decontamination process, but it's a real time killer. The last two weekends we've gone out with our new-to-us 2005 SANTE and it's taken ~45 minutes both times to go through the decontamination. They use a a fake-a-lake and pump hot water (120-140F) into all the ballast tanks and then the engine. They inspectors seem to struggle to get a good fit with the fake-a-lake and I'm concerned about burning out the pumps while they are messing around with trying to get a good fit. Same issue and bigger concern with the engine flush. I haven't hooked up a fake-a-lake at home to our Nautique, but in the last 2 inspections, no water has come out of the exhaust, so I told the inspector I was concerned and shut the engine off. I know with our previous boat (MC), it didn't take long for water to come out while hooking up a fake-a-lake with a garden hose.

Anyway, looking to see if anyone else is feeling the pain of these long inspections and experiencing similar issues with the fake-a-lake not getting a good fit on the thru hull ports. I want to keep the waters clean too, but they have to come up with a better system.

[HS]

Has your boat been out of state?

[nukemustang]

dumb question, but do you have the flush connection on the stern? Do they (Rangers) have the ability to hook up to a hose connection? It seems it would be worth the 60 bucks or so to install that, so you would know they are not damaging your motor/exhaust. I have run the boat in the driveway a few times on my stern flush connection and always have gotten water relatively quickly out the exhaust.

[swankster]

So are zebra mussels the concern?. How many lakes do you go to that have them?

The process sounds painful. For the engine you could hook up a winterize kit and use it for dual purposes. For the tanks, I would have them put the hot water in the overflow drains and run the pumps in the drain mode.

[arms_str8]

My boat hasn't been out state this year. The previous owner would make an annual trip to Lake Powell where I believe there are some zebra mussel issues?? Zebra and quagga mussels are the main concerns and are not in all the lakes in Colorado, but the State is being very proactive in trying to prevent them from spreading. I'll have to look into a winterization kit or flush connection for the engine. I believe they are going to want to flush through the hull ports incase the mussels have attached there, but I'll ask if they can fill the tanks through the overflow drains.

If you go back to the same lake each time, you don't need to go through the decontamination process, so I guess we'll just need to find a lake we like.

Any recommendations on a flush kit or winterization kit?