New question - when to take it out?

[RegalMark]

Hey - I am collecting my first boat in a few weeks and will have it inland in Yorkshire. Out of interest can you tell me what month people tend to sort for winter storage, and the put it back in the year after?

Cheers
RM

 

[dpb]

Up to you really, some use storage over winter, others just keep going.
Winter storage from Oct to March is not unusual but I don't think there is a right or wrong answer.
More about carrying out the right storage procedures for the type of storage regime you go for.

 

[Elessar]

Hey - I am collecting my first boat in a few weeks and will have it inland in Yorkshire. Out of interest can you tell me what month people tend to sort for winter storage, and the put it back in the year after?

Cheers
RM

i take mine out in the summer when cleaning the bottom of the boat is far more pleasant. Usually for an afternoon or sometimes for a weekend. I wouldn't wan't to miss lovely crisp winter days by having my boat laid up.

 

[Offshore57]

Cant speak for anyone else, but ours comes out in November, and back in last week of March or first one in April, depending on when our annual holiday finishes..She gets winterised properly, plugged in to power and dehumidfier keeps her dry. Every weekend once shes back in we are onboard so she gets used 7 solid months. We have twin V6 petrols and sterndrives so I guess the diesels / shafts boats would stay in a lot longer than that. My old Princess certainly did..

 

[Scubadoo]

Use mine over winter, you get some really good calm days sometimes better than summer. Mine comes out end of March for 5 weeks ish to antifoul, polish and general maintenance.

 

[scottie]

A lot will depend on where you keep the boat in a secure sheltered location coming out for a short time for maintainance might be appropriate as opposed to more exposed mooring you may end up six in six out

 

[rafiki_]

No simple answer to this. When I was on the River Severn, my boat came out every 2 years from Oct to March, so I could do all the maintenance on outdrives, antifouling and let the hull dry too. Now I'm on the Solent, my boat comes out just for the hull anodes, and when the props need cleaning, probably twice a year for a couple of hours. The hull is coppercoated so no need to antifoul.

 

[James L]

First thing is to check if your insurance has a layup period, mine is 1st Oct to 1st April as I keep it on a swinging mooring, I think this is the basis of the 6 month in 6 out routine.
I usually launch in May once the weather has picked up a bit.
If you have a secure mooring and no insurance clause, leave it in the water until you stop using it, if you find you're going to the boat because you have to or you haven't been on board in a few weeks, take it out. Then in the spring, put it back in when you feel like going boating. It's supposed to be enjoyable and everyone has their own definition of what that means.

 

[RegalMark]

Thanks for your responses, very useful - I love the idea of keeping it over winter for cold day use!

 

[Seastoke]

Thanks for your responses, very useful - I love the idea of keeping it over winter for cold day use!

you have to take precautions against freezing up, depends what boat and what engines and where you keep it ,ie do you have electric hook up.

 

[Mr Googler]

As I understand it...there is less risk of freezing in the water due to the thermal mass of the water around the hull.

Unless the water freezes I guess but no one where I am has seen that for 20 years plus

 

[Seastoke]

As I understand it...there is less risk of freezing in the water due to the thermal mass of the water around the hull.

Unless the water freezes I guess but no one where I am has seen that for 20 years plus

Well he is keeping it inland so it will freeze .

 

[Mr Googler]

Well he is keeping it inland so it will freeze .

Missed that

 

[Momac]

I keep my boat in the water unless out for outdrive service etc which U usually attempt to make a month at the most.
Over winter I drain the domestic water off and have frost protection heaters on and dehumidifier helps control condensation.
Inland Nottinghsmshire.
Last several winters have been quite mild. Light frosts are no threat with the most in the water. But always need to be ready for a frost.

 

[Momac]

Sorry for typos . Auto spelling is a pain and I cant edit ,only delete posts.

 

[RegalMark]

So yes it will be kept inland and the insurance allows it to remain in the water - having spoken to the marina quite a few boats stay in the water on electric hook up. Out of interest, what’s the issue with freezing and how likely is it?

 

[Elessar]

So yes it will be kept inland and the insurance allows it to remain in the water - having spoken to the marina quite a few boats stay in the water on electric hook up. Out of interest, what’s the issue with freezing and how likely is it?

Keep a desiccant dehumidifier running and the boat won’t freeze inside.
Freezing of outside shower head etc inevitable. Drain it.
Freezing of the water you’re floating in - this has happened to me on the Thames. I was in a still water marina. The boat makes alarming noises and I’d worry about gelcoat damage. Boats with background heating inside float in slush/water with a band around it not frozen. Whilst it was worrying it didn’t seem to do any harm to me even before I used heating.

As others have said the boat is warmer in the water than out.

 

[Momac]

Out of interest, what’s the issue with freezing and how likely is it?[/QUOTE]

The biggest risk is freezing of the domestic water causing damage.
The raw water in the engine may freeze and damage the engine. The risk of such damage seems to be greater with petrol engines.

 

[RegalMark]

Ah cool. I have bar heaters ready and it has an aircon system so that should help with dehumidifying.

 

[rafiki_]

I used to keep a boat on the river Severn at Tewkesbury. One winter we reached -19C, and the surface water in the marina was frozen for 35 days. During this time, several petrol engined boats, with direct cooing of their engines, hence freshwater in the cooling jackets froze up, and on thawing, sank as the water came into the boat via pipes or block.
My boat with twin diesels had indirect cooling, a sealed system like a car engine, with a heat exchanger to cool the coolant. I used 2 off 120W tube heaters to warm the engine room, and this was enough to prevent any damage. I drained down the domestic water system, but had to pressurize the calorifier with a bike pump to get rid of the final 10% of the water. The frozen water surface did no damage to the hull or the outdrives. being a sports boat, the interior volume wasn't too large so I used desiccant to keep the interior dry, and this worked well as I drained it regularly and regenerated.

Every other winter the boat was lifted and chocked for about 5 months. I was much more concerned about freezing as the air temp is always cooler than the water temp. Again the use of tube heaters and draining the domestics kept her fine.

Hope this helps?