Winterizing Virgin

[makkers]

Ok, so I am not new to having a boat at wintertime but the latest lady in my life will not be in undercover storage and now she is a diesel and she is coming out for the winter shortly. A couple of questions if I may to the experienced:

1. I have been advised by the chaps who are going to do the service / winterizing that the fuel tank can be either full or empty but full is preferred to minimise the condensation build up over winter, would this be the concencous?

2. I plan to re antifoul in the spring a month or so before she is relaunched, do I need to scrape off all the old paint before hand, or just rubdown or just wash....and whats all this thinner business about???

Advice muchly appreciated.

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[William_H]

Regarding antifouling youcan simply wash the hull clean it of all grouth and paint over however over a few years you will get a build up of paint which shows at the waterline and if it comes off leaves a marked styep in the paint. So I would recommend rub of as much old A/F as you can before adding more. If you are in a hurry or whatever then you can do less rubbing or stripping. Most people eventually feel the need to strip all the old A/F off. In my case I have usually rubbed most of the old A/F off after about 3 months while the boat is still in the water but then I also don't put much on and swim around the boat cleaning sometimes 3 times per week. (hows that for compulsive?) (the water is warm) regards will

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[Sea Devil]

I normally fill my fuel tank in order to reduce condensation - quite important really. When you haul they are almost certain to offer to 'pressure hose' off the hull - this removes the dirt and any loose anti-fouling.

Next season you can just put new anti-fouling over the old. Either use the same brand/type or make sure it is compatible. if you use a differant colour you will see how it is wearing.

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[snowleopard]

in case you are'nt familiar with antifouling, it comes in two main types:

'hard' contains chemicals which leach out so at the end of the season the chemicals are exhausted but the pait remains.

'eroding' wears away over time, constantly exposing fresh surface. by the end of the season the whole coating may have washed away in high water flow areas (around rudders, keels & near props).

hard a/f needs to be rubbed down and the build-up removed from time to time. eroding a/f need only be scrubbed clean before painting over. the thicker it is the longer it works.

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[Talbot]

If you clean the boat three times a week, why do you bother with A/F?

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