A mid-winter boat check will avoid a nasty spring surprise
This time of year I’m always compelled to do some kind of reminder-story about checking on your boat to make sure it’s getting through the winter OK without having ice forming in places where it shouldn’t and causing damage to hoses, tanks, bilges, blocks and other such parts.
Just because our boats have been basking inside a garage, a shed, or under a big blue tarp for the last few months, is no reason to believe they still don’t need a mid-winter check-up.
As a matter of fact, considering the wide range of temperatures we’ve seen since the start of this new year, I’d say that it’s more important than ever for boat owners to climb aboard their vessels now and give them a thorough going over.
While ice and frigid temperatures can wreak havoc with a boat and its equipment, spells of relatively warm damp weather can be equally destructive to a vessel that’s not stored properly to handle such conditions.
On one of the few warm days last week I did just such an inspection on my own boat and was surprised at how damp everything was in the cabin.
Not that I had any overhead leaks, it was just that since the boat had been closed up for a while, the warm humid weather allowed moisture to accumulate on everything. It was like the inside of a car after the windows have been left down overnight or on a foggy day.
A little bit of that is not going to hurt anything, but when boat experiences prolonged periods of such moisture, things inside are eventually going to start corroding, rotting, or at least growing a crop of mildew.
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It’s tough to say what constitutes a “normal” winter anymore. It seems that during the last decade we’ve seen such a range of highs and lows that it has become unclear just how frosty this mid-Atlantic region is supposed to get during the bleak months.
During cold winters, moisture inside our boats is not as much of a problem because freezing temperatures mean less humidity in the air. We’ve certainly had our share of freezing temperatures this winter but recently they seem to be offset by an equal number of warm and sometimes rainy days, which is no joy to our fiberglass friends.
On a sunny day, as long as it’s not bitter cold, boat owners should do what’s necessary to let their vessels “breathe” and dry out by taking the opportunity to pull the covers back, open cabin doors, windows and hatches.
Cushions, bedding, canvas, lifejackets, rain-gear, rags, tackle, charts, magazines, electronics, tools and anything else that can be taken out or off the boat and allowed to dry should be.
If possible, such items shouldn’t even be put back on the boat if there is a better and drier place to store them such as in an attic, garage or shed.
With as much as possible off the boat, it’s easier to clean and dry the cabin, engine room, and other interior compartments. After that, interior doors, hatches, and drawers can be left open to facilitate further drying and allow for better air circulation.
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Sometimes boaters will opt to leave a fan or small ceramic heater running in their boat to ward off future moisture problems. Of course, leaving such a device inside an unattended boat can lead to an electrical fire, so it should be done only with extreme care and good quality components.
Those boaters who are inclined to throw a tarp over their vessel and then forget all about her until spring are sometimes horribly surprised by the condition they find their trusty friend five months later.
A periodic inspection and little preventive maintenance now can go a long way to help ensure a trouble-free start when the boating season returns.