Must she come out for the winter ?

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Albert Ross

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Does an 8 year old fibreglass boat need to be dried out ?

Some people say that if you leave a boat in the water from season to season she will slowly absorb water and get the dreaded pox.

But if you lift her out .. it costs a lot of money, things tend to get broken when they take the mast down ... and of course you cant go sailing.

We scrub her twice a year and re-antifoul on the piles at Itchenor and she hasnt been lifted for the last two winters.

Does this matter? Advice please.
 
I have thought about this for some time. It seems to me that the trick must be to arrange good drying to the inside of the hull. The grp skin has gelcoat and maybe epoxy on the outside, so whether the boat is afloat or ashore, the inside is the surface where water vapour will escape from. So:-

Arrange ventilation into lockers, under the setees and in the bilge and engine space.

Dont let bilge water stand - pump it out and dry off the bilge surfaces.

Keep the inside of the hull clean, so it doesn't attract a film of moist gunge.

If you keep the boat in a marina, use a dehumidifier. If you don't, have good deck ventilators and use her often.

Having said all this, I still have my own boat lifted out every winter because I collect such a big list of jobs that need doing! One day, though ...........

Cheers! Neil
 
Here in the Med very few boats come out for the winter and don't seem to suffer. Osmosis isn't a terminal illness anyway, and if you are getting more use from the boat and reducing annual costs by not lifting her out, you might be better off even if the worst happens, which it probably won't!
 
No...

No, there's no need. And I reckon it's optimistic to expect much in the way of drying-out over a typical British winter! My boat's in the water all the time except for 1 week every second summer.
 
If you are talking about losing any meaningful moisture content from the hull then AFAIK you have to shave one of the surface coats (usually the outer one) and either leave for a very long time or apply loads of outside heat.

I have never thought that taking a boat out for the winter is a sensible option.
If you want to take the boat out for drying the hull surely summer is the time to do it?

The only thing I would do (have done) is remove as much soft furnishing, books, clothes etc as you can as these things can be badly affected by the extra moisture present in winter.
 
Don't suppose you know whether the hull has had preventative epoxy coating done at some time?
You say Itchenor...I would be more concerned with the security of the mooring and the boat,if you aren't in a marina basin.
You are right about the risk of damage to the rigging when removing the mast-especially the toggles ,turnbuckles,aireal and masthead light,and the spreaders when manhandled..

On the other hand there is an argument that you are prolonging the life of the rigging by not leaving it up vibrating in winter storms...
Just think of all those fine winter days when others sre out for a pleasant daysail!
 
Allegedly my Elizabethan 30 1972 was wintered ashore all her previous life, she has osmosis, the plan for me is to lift her out in October for a few weeks, do the required jobs and get her back in the water, with a re-naming! With the current weather patterns we might have a very late summer?
 
We'll be 4' shorter and still enjoying some winter boating - even if it is just a sit on the boat in the marina for lunch ....
 
I don't think it matters that much. I get my boat lifted out for a week in late spring each year for anti-fouling, anodes etc. Apart from that she's in the water for the whole year. I don't like the thought of my boat in a cradle ashore exposed to the winter gales. I think she's safer tied to a marina pontoon cushioned by water. I don't actually do much winter sailing between mid November and end of February but usually sleep on her for winter club functions.
 
I agree with all the other posters - no harm should come of leaving her in and having some winter sailing. Perhaps I can add one note of caution: check that your insurance allows this; some policies seem to insist on some time out of the water during the winter.
 
Over time a damp hull will affect the value of the boat, and will cost money to put right....

However if you want to save the money year on year, then dont mind spending a lump sum to get the boat lifted, blasted, dried, treated, filled, faired and re-painted then it's probably the option...

There is alot to be said for lifting the boat for a couple of hot weeks in the summer rather than in the winter, as it's usually cheaper, the weather is nicer so working on the boat is easier and a couple of hot weeks does alot more for drying that many cold weeks of rain and frost /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

There is another side to things /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif Hope it helped!
 
But even if you dry the boat, doesn't it just get wet again once you put it back in? Unless you are doing remedial work such as epoxy coating to stop the water getting back in, it is all a bit of a pontless exercise.
 
Good posts, thanks for bringing the subject up. I have only owned my boat 2 seasons and came out last winter. I want to find somewher to keep her on the water this winter. Particularly as the summer has been so crap and I lost time at the beginning of the season.

I was looking at Sparkes but they have not released their costs now they have been taken over by MDL. Any suggestions?

The days are shorter so I would not want to be restricted by tides for access on my swinging mooring. Even an hour or two out on the water is a bonus.
 
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