Finding somewhere under cover to work over the winter .... Yes I know it's only May .

[Durcott]

Hi Forum folks,

I had my boat on an open standing over the winter months. I'd never dried out before for any significant length of time; I had planned a bit of a spruce up for the old lady.

I was amazed at how much time I lost to rain, wind, cold, flu, thefts etc etc. I actually got very little done in the end. It was costing money to have her standing, so I had her back in the water in April, and still I've not quite finished getting her into a sea ready state.

I'd like to plan things a bit (OK - a lot) better this year, and find somewhere to work on her under cover.

I was wondering where one might start on looking for space? She's a 23' bilge keel, so doesn't need an enormous shed.

Better still, does anyone happen to know of, or even have a suitable space?

The boat lies near Weston-Super-Mere, and I live near Bath, so anything vaguely North East Somerset would be the thing.

Any thoughts much appreciated - I guess it will be too late to think about this in October!

Jeff

 

[vyv_cox]

Building yourself a substantial cover will almost certainly be your best option. You can use scaffolding poles for the frame, buy on Ebay and sell when the job is done, or timber if you have a good source. The cover can be a reinforced plastic tarpaulin. There are three boats under covers like this in Milford Haven, one of which is very substantial, for long term work on a wooden boat. At least you need a roof and walls half way down but walls all the way will raise the temperature inside a little.

 

[Daydream believer]

I wanted somewhere to keep my Stella for the winter & i just got in the car & visited on some farmers until i found one with some space in a barn. They all know each other & i got lucky on the third visit
A £ note job up front usually does the trick

 

[rob2]

A farmer's barn would be great, although they are often full of feed and gear during the winter. Possibly more important would be to get her close to home so you can walk home for that forgotten tool and take advantage of a half day's good weather without planning a trip to the boat. Wouldn't it be great to be able to get a coat of varnish on when the missus says dinner will be in about an hour?

Rob.

 

[Highndry]

I went down the farmer's barn route but I'm lucky enough to live on a private lane owned by the farm at the bottom. I was amazed how much spare space a mostly arable farmer has under cover through the Winter. The harvested grain had been sold out of the dryer by the end of October and I had it pretty much to myself until April.
If you have the boat on a trailer a farm is definitely the way to go.