Kemah & Clear Lake, Texas · Marine & equipment lubrication

AMSOIL for Kemah boats and equipment.

Clear Lake holds one of the largest recreational boating populations in the country, and a lot of those boats are slip-kept and lightly used — which is its own problem. An engine that runs a few hours a month and sits in Gulf humidity the rest of the time deals with moisture condensation and acid buildup, not wear from running hours.

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What we see in Kemah

The three problems worth planning around.

Moisture condensation in engines that sit slip-kept between short runs

Ethanol fuel phase separation during long idle periods

Acid buildup from short runs that never burn off condensation

Typical equipment here

Slip-kept cruisers, sailboat auxiliaries, sterndrives and PWC

Common questions

Storage and layup, which is where most damage happens.

Should I change my boat oil before or after winter storage?

Change it before storage, not after. Used oil holds acids, fuel dilution and moisture, and leaving that mixture sitting against bearings and cylinder walls for months is where a great deal of off-season corrosion damage happens. Draining it and refilling with fresh oil before layup means the engine sits with clean oil and a full additive package. On the Gulf Coast this matters more than in cold climates, because our layup periods coincide with high humidity rather than freezing dry air.

My boat sits on a lift for months at a time. What is that doing to it?

Extended idle time in Gulf humidity does more damage to most engines than running them does. Each temperature swing cycles humid air through the crankcase and fuel system, condensing moisture that pools in low spots, and without running hours to burn it off, that moisture stays. The engines we see with the worst internal condition are almost never the high-hour ones — they are the low-hour boats that sat. If a boat is going to sit, the two highest-value interventions are fresh oil going into storage and fuel treatment to keep ethanol from separating.

All marine questions

Kemah customers

Tell us what you run and where it sits.

Engine make and model, roughly how many hours a season, and whether it is trailered, slip-kept or on a lift. That is enough to give you a specific answer instead of a catalog page.