In or Out ?

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BrightAngel

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I have a 35 foot fibreglass yacht launched in 2003 and it is berthed at a well sheltered South Coast marina. The boat has been in the water since she was launched except for a few days for routine anti fouling etc. What are the pros and cons of continuing to keep her afloat rather than wintering ashore? Is water absorption through the gel coat an issue that is really improved by wintering ashore ? Any thoughts from members of the forum will be really helpful /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif <font color="blue"> </font>
 
If you are going to get chance to use her over the winter keep her in. FWIW, my own opinion is that boats are safer in a well sheltered marina then propped up ashore, and they are far less susceptible to frost damage. They were designed to float, not stand on poles.

Modern gel coats are reckoned to have far greater resistance to osmosis etc. Plan to get my hull surveyed before the 5yr warranty expires, so we'll see how things look then.
 
I agree with Stugeron Steve - keep her in the water as long as possible .... and go sailing.

APart from the boat being well protected, leaving her in the water enables you to get more value from the investment.

Some of my favourite days have been during the winter months, including between Christmas and New Year last year. ALso, a few of us have been known to go for a night away somewhere, in the middle of February.
 
Mine has been kept in the water since I bought her in 2000, I beach her or dry out on a slip to clean the hull.
IMO lifting a fully laden boat on a couple of strops puts a lot of 'squashing' strain on the joint around the hull and the 'lid' and can cause gel-coat crazing.
 
I'll make it three of us, I agree!

The shape of a hull is distorted sticking it on poles, can't be good for them. You only have to visit a yard in winter when its blowing old boots, you can often feel the wind vibrating through the boats hull, that should be absorbed by the boat moving in the water.

With the money you save front lift out/back over the next couple of years, instal heating and go sailing.
 
Why lift ?

Mine stays in apart from essential out that is possibly every 3 yrs or so.

She may come out this winter - to fit some gear and repair deadwood .... but otherwise I leave her in.

Winter sailing can be beautiful ...... cold but rewarding ....

Why waste those days .....
 
How right you are. When I used to look after a couple of yachts for the old Plymouth School of Maritime Studies the powers that be ordered that they come out each winter and purchased expensive cradles for them. The following year they would take anything up to six weeks to re-assume their proper shape and sail equally well on both tacks as well as the doors closing again.
This was a regular occurence for the seven years we had them.
 
Thanks everyone....The answers posted are in tune with my thinking BUT I hear of surveyors who test boats for moisture and think it's a good thing when the moisture content reduces whilst the boat is out of the water over the winter. Does anyone know anything about this ? or have any views ?
 
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