Of all the tasks you should do at the end of the season when you put your boat away, this is probably one of the easiest ones to do and also the easiest to forget. If you’re like me your boat has a number of portable electronics that have their own dedicated batteries. On my boat its things like my i-Pilot remote for my trolling motor, my line counters from my Scotty Downriggers, my SOS Distress light and more.

For most of us the environment these devices operate in is pretty harsh. They are exposed to a wide range of conditions that aren’t good for batteries long term. Wide temperature fluctuations, moisture and even ice are guaranteed to do bad things to batteries.

Last season I forgot to switch out my batteries on my i-Pilot remote and paid the price. About mid season this year it started acting up and quickly quit working. Upon investigation, I discovered that one of the AAA batteries had leaked. Sometimes you get lucky and you can just pull the batteries in clean up the mess and replace them. Unfortunately, I wasn’t so lucky and it cost me $200 to hopefully learn from my mistake.

So here is a friendly reminder at the end of the 2023 season. Take those batteries out of your portable electronics. It easy and only takes a few minutes.