Why do people lift boats for the winter?

the pox

Barnac1e said:
I would like to be able to afford to winter ashore but instead stay afloat all year because the minimum marina contract is a year and I would have to pay extra for a hard standing.

The reason is that I have a suspicion that the adage about all GRP boats eventually develop osmosis, it's just a matter of time, has some truth in it and a few months to dry out can only be beneficial. Any material will inevitably absorb water over a long period of time and polyester resin is no exception.

Perhaps epoxy-based resins are less prone to such pessimistic thinking but my boat is from 1981 when such expensive options were just not there.
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The slug is damn near 50 and not a sign of the pox - so not sure that is true

as for staying afloat I love it

there are a couple of films on the front page a website somwhere not a million miles from the end of this message

mind you, this winter so far has been a stinker - not so much because of the sailing but the getting to the boat

D
 
There is always a discussion what to do, floating or ashore.
I keep my boat always afloat and the ice which is 15 cm thick is not a problem at all. Once in 3 years the boat goes ashore for 2 weeks for antifouling.

Not sure if keeping boat ashore prevents osmosis but to my experience it there is no correlation.

When the boat is afloat you can do everything, ;last year I took out my engine for overhauling plus a lot more. Last year in the netherlands is was freezing from december to march so antifouling was not possible, so why keep ashore during winter?
 
My 1984 Sadler has only ever been out of the water twice (other than between tides); and the mast also only down twice. For the last 15years it has wintered on it's swinging mooring.

Savings on lift-out/storage/etc will by now be nearing the present value of boat!

....and no signs whatsoever of osmosis (I did epoxy it from new).

Vic
 
MoodySabre said:
I think some of this is driven by the notion that plastic boats like to dry out - some hope of that in an English winter!
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I have seen several surveys which mentioned high levels of moisture in the laminate below the waterline, and the surveyors did recommend drying those boats over winter.

As a point of information winter in the UK is the time when the air has the lowest relative humidity (is dryest basically) and so a boat is more likely to dry out in winter than other times of the year. This will be aided by running a dehumidifier in the boat and by ensuring there are no ways rainwater can make an ingress.


Boo2
 
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My Father had a catamaran on a swinging mooring on the Beaulieau river for 15 years. We took it out once, to do the sail drive gaiters. To scrub and antifoul we just put it on the shingle bank each spring.

When it came to sell the survey showed the hulls were wet. A price adjustment was made for the treatment of (back then) 6k.

If you take the cost of a winter package for a big cat at about a grand per winter, we were about 9k better off from leaving it in the water!
 
Personally i think both options have their troubles. So do whatever suits you.

I move my boat from her swinging mooring and into the marina from Oct 1 every year.
Driving home tonight, the temperature was -13. Far better for the boat in rather than out, in these extreme temperatures. Wouldn't you agree? The water is actually keeping her warm in these extreme conditions believe it or not.

However here are some issues i had last winter while in the marina.
I needed a new set of dock lines after 1 night when a gale went thru. And I had a cleat damaged. And not from a lack of care when cleating off. Luckily I went to check the boat as i do most evenings and averted a further crisis. So, living within an easy reach distance is probably better for a winter in the water to be able to tend to such matters promptly.
Like some other yachties here, i also run the engine in gear for maybe about 30min. Or a good motor around the harbour in settled conditions.
I usually haul her out for essential maintenance in the month of June, (2-3 weeks maybe) and only if the weather is nice. This short time, its better than a whole winter ashore in these climates in respects of drying her out etc.
And the huge advantage to all of this is, the yards are quiet, if i need work done, it gets done, and when i want that all important crane for hauling and launching, I'm not no. 125 in a Que that never seems to have organisation...........

And as someone else on here already pointed out,the best thing of all is, I get to go Sailing during the winter!!!

And i almost forgot to mention, every 3rd winter I dry her out for the whole winter, just so i can get my moneys worth on that dam road trailer i bought :-)
 
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I only once left my (previous) boat on its mooring overwinter and it got damaged by another boat broken free from its mooring and the chain and strop became totally entangled by a 12ft peice of tree brought down by winter floods.

The wooden boat I had previously I frequently put in a mud berth or dock for the winter (to prevent drying out), slipping between spring tides in the spring for antifouling during the intervening neap. However the fibreglass yacht I've got now I've stored ashore each winter, fin keels and mud berths don't go together, though I did wait till the end of November this year.
 
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Boo2 said:
I have seen several surveys which mentioned high levels of moisture in the laminate below the waterline, and the surveyors did recommend drying those boats over winter.

As a point of information winter in the UK is the time when the air has the lowest relative humidity (is dryest basically) and so a boat is more likely to dry out in winter than other times of the year. This will be aided by running a dehumidifier in the boat and by ensuring there are no ways rainwater can make an ingress.


Boo2
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The surveyors advice would only be usefull with another set of readings after the winter.

We had a log burner as our only source of heating. Logs stored in an open sided, purpose-built log store would dry out beautifully over the summer. Then absorb moisture over winter. Logs put in any later than September never dried out.
 
dylanwinter said:
The slug is damn near 50 and not a sign of the pox - so not sure that is true
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Nor am I, Dylan. But I do believe there may be some mileage in it. And having experienced the problem once I am ultra-sensitive to the issue.

In 1981 I bought a Trapper 500 less than one year old and kept her for 24 years - always afloat other than a week every second year for anode changes and antifouling. After 12 years the blisters appeared and I spent a lot of money having a professional treatment. Blisters started re-appearing again after the five-year guarantee had expired.

Having had the problem I read a lot on the subject and found many conflicting opinions, but one site that impressed me was that of David Pascoe on the subject (here), although I note that he no longer seems to promote the theory of resin quality as a prime cause of osmosis that he did so vociferously earlier, blaming the steep rise in resin prices after the 1972 oil crisis prompting many builders to use inferior products.

But one irrefutable fact remains (from Pascoe's site):
"What is a blister? First, let's understand that all fiberglass hulls absorb water to some degree because both the gel coat finish on the exterior, and the fiberglass reinforced plastic is porous. Since water is a solvent, it will react with the plastic resulting in the water and solvents in the plastic mixing to create a weak solvent solution, usually with styrene. This then softens the gel coat somewhat and, combined with a bit of gas or fluid pressure, results in the blister."​
With reference to the Slug's pox immunity - can you confirm, hand on heart, that the almost 50 years have been spent afloat? I suspect not. Even a drying mooring gives daily respite to the continuous immersion and consequent water absorption.
 
My Hillyard stays afloat each winter, and has done so for the 11 years I've had her.
She's on a sheltered marina berth and sits there quite snug, and she lies off to the prevailing wind.
I run the engine about once every four to five weeks (or just give a few swings on the handle, if I can't be bothered to start it up!).
I live within a three minute drive from the boat, so keeping an eye on her is no problem at all.

Haul out time is usually April/May time, and can last aything from four days to a month or so, depending upon the jobs that need doing.
 
winter

As liveaboards we stay afloat in winter, and we are there to look after our boat.
Often there are many neighbours which have been left for the winter.
We have seen them get ice damage, occasionally severe. Occasionally a live-aboard has to turn out to deal with flapping covers on an abandoned boat, to deal with tree trunks caught up in rudders and also intruders.
Mostly the owners are unaware of what they owe to others who do not leave their boats unsupervised during the season of bad weather.
About 2" ice will cut into a GRP hull quite nicely if the water surface is disturbed by passing large craft. In a cruising boat which has the internal plumbing low down, you do not get internal freezing of pipes. If you haul out and do not make sure that any ball-valve type skin fittings have been fully drained, you may find that the water in the Ball freezes and splits apart the skin fitting. This is quite common and is not funny. (It depends on the quality of metal in the fitting. )
If your boat is in a tideway and the water freezes on the surface you will find you have moored in a sort of horizontal bacon slicer.
Good luck
Boating is fun.
 
Sea_Spray said:
Then I believe you're just not seeing the delamination. I don;t see how the lamitate layers can rebond after the epoxy or poly resin has cured.
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Nobody said it had rebonded, just the bumps have gone down......

Now can we for once stop with the bored pendantry?
 
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Had my last boat out for the winter. Affect on hull moisture levels (Tramex meter) was zero. High on haul-out, high four months later. Tried to do various jobs on the outside of the boat during January (max 10degC)...waste of time. Boat was dislodged in cradle by 50kt winds, minor (but some) damage. Was concerned about water systems freezing, boat got filthy dirty in boatyard. Since then, I feel far more comfortable with the boat afloat on a marina berth during the winter. We'll come out in March when sensible outside work CAN be done.
 
Given the size of the industry, and that it has been established for best part of half a century, I am amazed at how little seems to be known about the dreaded 'O' word. Some people take it as fact that hulls dry out whn not immersed, others disagree. People also disagree about at what a ge a hull is most likely to show symptoms.
Being thoroughly confused about all of this, but having boat a boat of which there are 3500 examples none of which are known to have had osmosis, I have decided to stay afloat this winter. And it's cheaper too.
 
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