Late Entry | Three Sheets Northwest

Bracing for winter

by Scott Wilson on 09/11/09 at 9:58 am

Three Sheets posted a good article last week about winterizing your boat.  It struck a chord because as the temperatures have dropped and the rains begun, rigging our boat to provide a safe and warm place to weather the winter has been at the front of our minds.  Winterizing as a live-aboard is a bit different, however, particularly if you don’t plan to entirely leave off on going cruising during the cold season.

In one respect, living aboard is a blessing for the boat during the winter months.  One of the best things you can do to preserve the interior in good shape, we’ve found, is to simply be there using it regularly.  Having the heat on, compartments opened regularly, making use of pumps and electrical systems, all serve to keep them dry and in good working order in inclement weather.  We’ve been fortunate that Insegrevious has historically been well-served in that regard.  She has been a live-aboard vessel before, and the previous owner had regular card games aboard her year round which ensured a good airing and warming up at least weekly.  Last winter, in fact, was probably the first in which she simply sat without anyone aboard for long stretches, and the wear during that season was as bad as all that had accumulated before put together.

We learned our lessons from last year, or at least some of them.  Here’s what we’ve done, or will be doing, this year to make sure she is ready for cruising as soon as good weather hits (or a little before!):

• Fixing, not tarping.  Most boats have leaks to greater or lesser extent in the upper decks.  A lot of people tarp up over the winter to keep the water out, and we have done so in the past.  This year, though, we’re tracking down what comes in and fixing it at the exterior.  Why shred another tarp when we can fix it so it won’t be a problem either tied up or out sailing?
• Keeping it warm.  A $60 electric heater from West Marine can keep the interior of our 33 footer pretty toasty, and with warmth comes evaporation
• Keeping it dry.  Heat only would just turn the interior into a sauna without ventilation.  We crack vents and storage compartments at least part of the time while we are heating up the interior, allowing the warm, moist air to escape
• Keeping it running.  Using water and bilge pumps regularly helps keep them from getting corroded or crudded up, and constantly draining and refilling the water tank keeps it flushed and clean.  Having the lights on and off all the time keeps the contacts from corroding.  Finally, starting the engine up once a month or so both forces you to check and maintain the fluids (always a plus for long engine life) and keeps the mechanical systems working and rust-free
• Circulating the air.  We have pretty good natural ventilation, but lazarette compartments along the hull are both extremely susceptible to forming condensation and difficult to have open while you are aboard.  We’re getting some small metal vent grids to install at either end of our settee compartments and midway along the v-berth compartments to allow air in and out even when we’re laying or sitting on top of them
• Insulation!  We’re planning on insulating the hull both above and below the water line (where it hasn’t been done already; and perhaps re-doing some of what is already there, as it is not as effective as we might like) to keep condensation from forming so easily and to keep in the heat

I’ve also been liberal with the Boeshield T-9 this year protecting any electrical systems not within the warm interior of the vessel (those in engineering spaces or hard-to-reach lockers).  Places I sprayed last year survived the winter without any corrosion to speak of, while I wasn’t as lucky in other places.

On deck we haven’t done very much.  I pulled in the cable to our wheel-pilot; no sense in leaving it out in the weather.  We secured the halyards to keep them from beating themselves toward replacement time, but we generally do that anyway.  I bungee’d the headsail on the roller furler; blasting winds can catch at little edges that might work loose and pull the sail out to flap.  We’ve also bungee’d our sail cover in place, in addition to its built-in snaps, after watch our neighbor’s cover slowly unzip itself over the course of a windy day.

We also stole an idea from a boat down the dock and coiled and secured our jib-sheets at the bow rail.  This keeps the sheets easily accessible for quick rigging when we go out, but up off the deck where they inevitably start to stew along the toe rail and grow things.  I also swapped them end for end, as I do each season, to distribute wear more evenly.

So that’s the plan this year.  We’ll see how it goes!