DaySailer.org Forum

My first season of sailing my Ospray is about ended and I am wondering the best way to put her away for the winter. Obviously I will cover her with a tarp but was wondering what other owners in the Northeast do. Do you take the sails in for inside storage? If so do you remove them from the boom and fold them or keep them secured to the boom? How about lines, is it better to store them inside in a basement? I have no garage. same question with spars, should I leave the mast on its crutch as a tarp support as I did in the summer or should I bring the mast into the basement for safekeeping? Obviously the motor and battery will come inside.

Mice love to nest in the sails so you definitely want to bring those in. I roll mine so that there are no creases. I put the jib on top of the main and roll them together. It makes a pretty neat package. I use the mast in the crutch for the ridge pole of my tarp/tent. I also add a couple of PVC pipes bowed over the cockpit to help shed rain and snow. So far I have not had problems with mice or squirrels trying to nest in the boat so I leave my lines on board.

I do jack up my trailer, put it on blocks, and take the tires off to help preserve them. Take the covers off of your flotation tanks and let them dry out thoroughly.

For me, that's about it.

It's hard to believe that the season is over, I had a lot of fun sailing this summer and I'm hoping to get a few more sails in before winterizing.

KC

I live not far from you and I usually don't haul my boat 'til late October, (last year on Halloween day). Aside from this week, I'm sure they'll still be plenty of beautiful sailing days left in the next 6 weeks or so.

When I do finally put it away, I bring my mast, boom and sails indoors. I have a garage so the mast and boom hang on ladder hooks on the wall.

I dry my sails, if necessary, remove the battens, fold them up and store them in sail bags.

As far as the hull goes, last year I removed the drain plug, and then laid some scrap planks across the cockpit, spaced about 6 " apart. I then covered the whole thing with a vinyl tarp, bungeed to the trailer. The planks keep any accumulated snow from applying too much pressure on the tarp, and also prevents water from pooling on the tarp and eventually leaking into the cockpit.

Last winter, the old tarp I used was a little porous, so in the spring I found a good 4 to 6" of filthy water in the cockpit. Even with the drain plug removed, the hole eventually got blocked with leaves and other accumulated dreck and the water couldn't drain properly.

This year, I've got a new tarp and I may build a bit more elaborate framework over the cockpit, this time with a boom tent-like peak, to allow any snow to slide off.

I've seen other boaters do it using PVC piping. Cheap, lightweight, and effective.

I definitely would store your sails and lines inside building as suggested above. Also your safety throw cushions and life vests. I store my mast and boom inside my garage but that is not necessary. It can be left on the boat. I place the tiller and rudder in the boat.

I keep my DS outside. It is very important to keep the water out of the hull. Freezing water expands and can cause major damage. Tarping is good but you must make sure that the tarp is cushioned where there are potential chaff problems. Places where rigging is attached to the hull and anywhere the deck is not smooth should be cushioned before tarping. Once a hole is breached in the tarp water will get in. If you leave your mast stored horizontal on the boat you can place your tarp over it like a tent. Again, make sure that anything on the mast that could wear a hole in the tarp is cushioned.

After your tarp is installed check it periodically to make sure it stays in serviceable condition. If it wears through in a spot or two put some cushioning on the spot and put another tarp over the top. Brad

I remove everything from the boat, except the mast and its supports. Then I make a tarp tent using the mast.


[Click image for larger view]

A tarp lasts me 2-3 seasons. The white ones don't seem to decay as bad as some other colors, so the previous tarp can be used to double up.

I leave the halyards in the mast. It I remember, I try to cover them.

GreenLake, it looks like you might get a little snow up your way. Do you only support your mast at the ends, or do you have intermediate supports? That would be a long unsupported span for such a heavy snow load.

With my boat and mast stowed on the trailer, I just noticed a bit of sag in the mast. I don't think it is a permanent bend, but we had an unusually snowy winter (~ 9 ft. total, a lot for central Va.). I'm thinking intermediate supports would be good this year.

I disconnected my upper spreaders and tied them to the mast so they would not poke holes in the tarp. My boom, sails, PFDs, and other stuff go inside a shed that so far appears to be mouse proof.

I turn my mast, so the upper spreaders point down (probably should remove them altogether - that's a separate discussion). As it is, they (gently) touch the tarp - haven't had a failure. Instead, they help prevent the rain from creating a "pocket" in the tarp - those can be ugly, especially for an unsupervised parking location.

Snow loads. Well, that snow lasted for a week, so it's not something that hangs around all season. And no, while we can get heavy snow, it's something that's reasonably rare. I've not seen any bend in my mast, but there's a slight "prebend" that goes sideways. As if someone had a stay failure on one side but was lucky not to break the mast.

There's no obvious effects when sailing, so I tend not to worry about it.

Heavy frost is also rather rare here, but it can happen, and last time it sank three yachts of perhaps a dozen that were left at their mooring near the launch I use. (None of them have been raised). It never pays to be complacent...

Speaking of boom tents, (but a bit off topic for this thread), I just want to give a positive shout out for the Intensity boom tent I bought this past spring.

I had a few extra bucks that I intended to spend on a new jib, but seeing as my original boom tent (which came with the boat) was in such bad shape, and being sick of having to bail out just about every time I wanted to go sailing, I thought it would make more sense.

For under 200 bucks, it's pretty impressive. It's a heavy Sunbrella material and comes with heavy, vinyl coated, hooks that slip over the rub strip.

The hooks are attached to the tent with elastic shock cord, so when I pull the boom up tight (I use the main halyard as a topping lift), the tent is taut and wrinkle free.

At the front, it has a collar that wraps around the mast and fastens with a tie rope, and three snaps that close it off all the way down to the cuddy top. The rear ties off at the end of the boom and is open to allow for ventilation.

Granted, we've had next to no rain this summer, but what we have had just runs off over the gun'ls and away from the cockpit.

I think I've only had to bail it out once all summer, and that just a minor amount. It's a good product, and I recommend it.

Here, I'll add the usual disclaimer, ie: no connection to the vendor, yada, yada, yada.

Although I could find a way to employ it while storing the boat this winter, I think my cheapo vinyl tarp will do the job by itself, saving additional wear and tear on the tent.