Winter checklist

Winter checklist
saynomore, Wed Oct 08 2008, 06:04AM

here is a chance for all you mechanical sailors to share your knowledge and helping the club members witha checklist of things to do when pulling your boat out of the water for the winter.

1. desalinate the engine shaft. (connect the ears to a waterhose, and place over the water intake. the hose is connected to the ears via an engine cleaner agent. Turn water on, turn engine on and let the fresh water and cleaner go through the system. Takes about 20 minutes.

2. Clean and wash down your sails. Or take them to a sailmaker to be washed and hung.
You can use a park or big back yard, or drape over garage to scrub and hose down.

3. big bucket of fresh water, put all your lines in and rinse them out.

4. Wash down the boat, where does salt hide… you want to get in there with brush and good marine soap.

5. Check your hull do you need fiberglass work… Spring job yes… get the list going!!!

Ok keep it up Captains and Stokers

Re: Winter checklist
Delphinus, Wed Oct 08 2008, 05:35PM

pulling? boat out of water???

Are you kidding me??!

Leavin her mooored at Harrison and absolutely intend to make a few overnight trips out to Long Island and do some “winter camping.”

Having said that, we are going to try some of the products in the latest PY mag re controlling dampness and mildew to keep things as dry as possible. Would love to hear from other intrepid folks who intend to do some winter boating.

In Spring, will pull her ouot and bottom paint her…being a scuba diver, will jump in a couple times over winter (yes I have a dry suit!) and acrub her down.

Re: Winter checklist
singlesailor, Wed Oct 08 2008, 10:17PM

My dock neighbor meticulously rinses the Honda 50 on his 26X every time he uses it. Last fall he he winterized the motor, gave it the usual fresh water flush. Unfortunately he left the motor tilted up. The fresh water in the leg froze and broke the casing. Good lesson……leave the motor down over the winter. It will also shed and drain rain water better.

Re: Winter checklist
Windchime, Thu Oct 09 2008, 01:20PM

Here is what we do with Windchime (2000-26X)
* thanks to many tips from other Mac’ers and sailors.

Exterior
– unstep the mast
– remove, dry, fold and flake all sails and store in the house.
– remove roller furling role and bring in house (new ideas I’ve heard is to store in a PVC tube to keep straight, might try it this year)
– wash everything with soap and fresh water. Including tough to get spots like the anchor locker, inside the mast, and the keel pivot bolt under the hull.
– remove all running rigging, dock lines and painter, and rinse with fresh water and store in house.
– remove both anchor lines from rode, rinse with fresh water and store in house. (rode chain stays in anchor locker)
– remove all loose blocks, block and tackles (main sheet, boom vang) running cars, etc. rinse and store in house.
– clean all chrome; stantions, bimini & doger frames, standing rigging, (with chrom e cleaner, also leaves a light film to inhibit rust)
– lube all fixed blocks and moving parts with winch spray.
– remove all canvas (sunbrella sail covers, bimini, dodger and extension) clean, fold, and store in the house.
– the trailer gets a good rinse. In the spring it gets a wire brush scrub and touch-up no-rust paint. But spring is another story

Interior
– mold is our biggest fear.
– we remove the cockpit cushions, settee/ dinette/berth cushions and store in the house.
– remove all food stapels and store in house.
– everything (bilges and all) gets a good old fashion scrubbing with bleach/water solution and lots of elbow grease.
– the head gets additional Lysol germ disinfecting.
– set out three moisture traps. One in the head sink, galley sink, and aft berth near transom. Need to be refilled once a month.
– good ventilation is essential but also lets potential unwanted crawling, flying and/or slithering, friends in, so it’s a trade of.
– remove all storage covers, open galley drawers and cupboards, open head cupboard and door.

Covers
– once the mast is unstepped:
– we have a deck cover that goes over the length of the deck
– put on pedistal cover
– we put a 30′ X 20′ heavy plastic tarp that is held down with bungees and total closed at both ends.
– we loosen all life lines to help with snow and water run off
– we put tennis balls on top of the life stanchions to stop chaff of the tarp.
– the trailer hitch and wheels get plastic garbage bags over them it to prevent rust
– put on outboard cowling cover and put engine in down postion (new tip thanks to Larry)
– I have seen some photos on http://macgregorsailors.com of a PVC frames to keep the tarp shape, so snow and rain runs off, but have not tried it yet.

Engine/Mechanical
– gas tanks and lines. leave gas in lines and fill tanks full. Still not sure best way is as there are two schools of though. One is to leave gas tanks full so no water can build up, and leave gas in the line so it will not freeze. The other is to remove all gas from tanks and lines and fog the engine.
– remove all three batteries and store in garage on trickle-charge.
– flush both engines extremely well with fresh water.

Darry & Leisa
Windchime

Re: Winter checklist
Kermie, Thu Oct 09 2008, 08:53PM

store mine in the driveway so I can litterally strip it.
I remove all things that can absorb or collect moisture ie cushions, mats, curtains, bedding etc. and store them in the garage. Sails are removed and stored in garage also as are all docking lines and other lines not used. By the time I am finished the boat is empty. (amazing how much stuff we haul around) The furler foil should be kept straight so perhaps disconnect it from the mast and store it under the spreader tied along the mast. You can even put a couple of PVC conduits over it if you wish. Maybe remove the furling drum and store in garage. I put a 30′ x 16′ tarp over it and bungee it down. You can put old tennis balls over the stantions and slack off all life lines to reduce water pooling on the tarp. Since I can run an extension cord from the garage I also run a small heater fan in the bow berth to blow warm air through the boat during the winter every few days. With the tarp covering the boat I can open the hatches a bit to facilitate air flow. So far it has not had any mold or mildew accumulate through winter.
The engine is another topic for those more mechanically inclined. I often just leave a half tank of gas connected and run the engine for 15 minutes every weekend throughout the winter and although it is onerous it seems to suffice. In spring I change the oil or if required, take the boat and engine to a Honda dealer for servicing. Alternatively I have also run the engine in the autumn until it runs dry with gas line disconnected to completely empty the gas and left it until spring and then serviced. I change the gear oil bi-annually.
Others can add their procedures for engines as mine is minimal.
If I think of someting else I will edit.

Re: Winter checklist
Kermie, Thu Oct 09 2008, 09:00PM

Steve,
I take my whole boat & trailer with engine to the Honda Center at 1st and Boundary for servicing. I book an appointment and then drop the boat off befoere going to work, then pick it up after work. They move it in and out of their tiny lot. Have done this several times now.

Re: Winter checklist
NautiMoments, Fri Oct 10 2008, 08:47PM

We purchased gasline antifreeze and a spray that coats the inside of the cylinders from the local Honda service centre and never had a problem over the winter. We also rinsed the engine after every use over the season. We always kept 2 drizairs and heat in the boat over the winter to keep it dry and mildew free.