How to Prepare your Boat for the Cold Winter

We all like a happy boat as it sits for the winter.  In New England we pull our boats this time of year, and then they sit for about six months. Yup, we only get six to seven months of use due to our harsh winters.  So half the year they sit for the long dark, cold winter months.

I have over the years developed a system of how I put away my boats, since it is critical to their long-term health.  When I see local boat yards with boats that are exposed to the harsh winter on the edge of the water, with boats getting covered in frozen salt-water spray, I cringe.  We need to choose our winter storage locations carefully, to make sure our boats are well protected from the elements if you store outside.

The mast could be its own post to cover all the details, in this post I cover the hull. But for the basics I pull the rig, remove spreaders, standing rigging, electronics, sky halyards, inspect everything, clean, dry, and store the rig out of the elements. 

For the hull store inside if you can, I know it is more expensive, but I think in the long term it is worth the cost.  If you store inside cement floor is best for composite boats, and dirt floor for wooden boats.  The cement floor pulls moisture and helps keep the boat dry. You do not want to put a wooden boat on a cement floor; it will dry them out.  Dirt floors are great for wood boats since it will help keep them moist, just make sure you cover them so no fresh water gets in the boat, which will rot her prematurely.

Next step is to remove all the sails, rinse them with fresh water, let them dry properly, inspect them, remove the battens and brick them for storage.  I bring any sails that need repairs to my sailmaker in the fall, giving them plenty of time to fit the repair in their busy winter schedule.  I do the same with all the gear that has been on deck all summer. It needs to be removed, fresh watered, cleaned, and repaired as needed, and it will thank you in the spring.  For storing this gear I pick a warm dry spot, not in my damp basement.

Once all the deck gear is removed, I remove all gear from down below.  This is a lot of work, but I want to keep mold out of the boat and all the loose gear, so I clean, dry and store anything that is removable. I choose a warm dry spot for the winter.

At this point the boat should be stripped and empty down below.  This lets me reassess what is on board, inspect all the gear, repair what needs work, and be ready for the spring commissioning.  Sometimes there is a gift, and I find the one thing I have been looking for all summer, this gives me a good laugh.  It also lets me update the inventory and helps me remove excess gear, so I will know where everything is for the next season.

With the boat empty below I open every compartment including the bilge, keeping all the hatches below on edge. Then I put a powerful dehumidifier below (only if the boat is composite, not a wood boat), close up the boat tight, and run the dehumidifier hose out a transducer thru hull, with a bucket under it.  I let the dehumidifier run at its lowest humidly setting on high power for days. Each day I check to make sure it is running well, and record how much water is in the bucket on the ground.  High-end race boats do this daily to keep them light, and smart sailors do this every winter to dry out their boat.  I just did this to Kincora and thinking the interior was dry, I still had one gallon of water in the bucket after day one, and the next day was 1-½ quarts, next day ½ quart, forth day not enough to measure.  I feel this is worth the effort, pulls all the moisture from the hard to reach locations, and a dry composite boat is happy.

My next step is to clean every surface down below and on deck, bow to stern.  I use a thinned out boat soap cleaner, with rags, white 3M scrubby on the stubborn areas.  I just mist on the cleaning rag to wipe down, and then buff it dry with a dry rag.  I make sure everything is dry after cleaning.  It is amazing how many items I spot in need of attention by this step.  Since I am cleaning every surface, at the same time, it is a full inspection of the boat below and on deck.  In my back pocket I keep a small pad with pencil to write down the areas that need attention, since I know I will forget some of them unless it is written down.  Starting to see the pattern to my madness?

Once the boat is dried out and cleaned, it now depends on your storage options.  If in a damp environment look into the wide range of dehumidifier options that help keep the boat dry for the winter.  Just search Boat Dehumidifier for winter.  I am fortunate enough to be in a heated shop, so I just open the hatches.

At this point the boat is prepped for my winter work list.  It might seem like a lot of work. But I find hidden problems, mold will be gone, and the boat below is dry, and all boats except wooden boats love to be dry below.

The next step is to winterize the engine, and all the systems, unless you store in a heated shop.  Even in a heated shop you have to prep the engine and systems for the winter.  But that is for another post.

If you made it this far here is a video of my winter 2017/2018 prep work.

Make the most of every day and enjoy the fall weather,

See you Soon, Paul