Winter Layup

After a season of fun in the sun, the time came for us to pull the boat out of the water for winter storage. It’s quite a sight.

First the mast was removed. This is done with a crane – the top half of the mast is grabbed with a rope and the whole thing is lifted off the boat. Then dropped down and wrapped up for winter storage on a rack.

Then the boat is moved into a slip where a lift with two slings is brought over top of the boat. The two slings are brought under the boat, one on the front part of the boat, one on the rear part of the boat and then the slings are hoisted up lifting the boat out of the water. The boat is then put on its stand and the stand with boat and all is moved into its final position for the winter. Sigh – a sad sight.

Here’s a bit of advice for those of you who have great dreams of getting large amounts of work done on a boat over the winter. Don’t make too large a list! (“The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.”) I had grand plans of refinishing everything, replacing just about everything, installing this and that – the list was pages long. Well I managed to get the essentials done – the stuff that if I didn’t get them done … the boat: she no float. I finished replacing all the thru-hulls, replaced the old knot meter and depth sounder and finally finished with a rather large and unexpected hull repair. More on that next time.

We finished with painting new waterline stripes and a fresh coat of bottom coat paint. Bottom coat is interesting stuff. It goes on real thick and heavy but does the job of keeping marine growth off the bottom of the boat. I guess that what ever is in the paint is a poison of some sort that does not allow stuff to grow on it. It even stops zebra mussels from growing on the boat. Anyway, she does look fine all cleaned up and shiny, just waiting to plunge back into the waves.

Up next – Unexpected hull repair.