I'm already getting the itch for 2019

Stee6043

Well-Known Member
Jun 1, 2015
6,706
West Michigan
Boat Info
1997 Sundancer 400
Engines
7.4L Gassers
I've started plotting my first visit to the boat in January to get the hull washed and waxed.

February I'll swing out again to install a bunk in the aft cabin. I may also see how tricky it would be to remove the ice maker and bring it home. She started making a bunch of noise toward the end of the season this year.

And then....well....the impatience for spring will really kick in.
 
We have ours in an underground cave. It is pretty damp in there so we have 4 large Humid Dry buckets in there and I sprayed a bunch of Lysol before I closed it up. It's the same place we stored our 250DA and never had any issues but once you put it there you aren't allowed to go back down until after Jan 1st due to staffing. They have to take you back to your boat so you can't go in unattended. Anyway, after Jan 1st I'm going down to check it out and possibly replace the Humid Dry if I need to and spray more Lysol. Other than that not doing anything until we bring it home about late March.
 
Glad to hear I'm not the only one. I was really starting to miss the harbor, so we drove up there a couple weeks ago to take the dogs for a walk. Rainy, cold, grey, but it was great to be up there. This week I almost decided to drop the money and ship the boat down to Florida just so I wouldn't have to wait another 4 months to be in the water, but reasonableness prevailed. It is going to be a long winter here on the west side of the lake...
 
We have ours in an underground cave. It is pretty damp in there so we have 4 large Humid Dry buckets in there and I sprayed a bunch of Lysol before I closed it up. It's the same place we stored our 250DA and never had any issues but once you put it there you aren't allowed to go back down until after Jan 1st due to staffing. They have to take you back to your boat so you can't go in unattended. Anyway, after Jan 1st I'm going down to check it out and possibly replace the Humid Dry if I need to and spray more Lysol. Other than that not doing anything until we bring it home about late March.

My experience with Damp-Rid buckets is not good. I just pulled the ones I put in last fall from my travel trailer. All the hanging bags were completely full. The buckets, while indicating they had pulled in water, had virtually no water in them. It appears it had evaporated back out. So if you are there to remove the buckets when full good, if not use the hanging bags.

MM
 
We have ours in an underground cave. It is pretty damp in there so we have 4 large Humid Dry buckets in there and I sprayed a bunch of Lysol before I closed it up. It's the same place we stored our 250DA and never had any issues but once you put it there you aren't allowed to go back down until after Jan 1st due to staffing. They have to take you back to your boat so you can't go in unattended. Anyway, after Jan 1st I'm going down to check it out and possibly replace the Humid Dry if I need to and spray more Lysol. Other than that not doing anything until we bring it home about late March.

If you are in a damp environment you also must fight odors and mold. This stuff is amazing.

http://kanberragel.com/kanberra-gel/

My convertible had a haze of mildew one year, we cleaned throughly and use this every year when we store it. What a difference.

It is expensive but very much worth it!

MM
 
I've started plotting my first visit to the boat in January to get the hull washed and waxed. .

I am with you...this Christmas is the first time in a long time we will be home over the holidays ...and I am already thinking I am going to be bored as hell...so I am going to work on a drawer mount for a flat screen in the Master....this is the last TV to be replaced.... then like you its time to wax before spring... then wait...only 19 Fridays away :)

tvm.JPG
 
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I’ve had that itch since the day it came out.
I polished the hull along the sides and below the rubrails the weekend after it came out so I’d have that much less to do in the Spring.
I’ve got a list of things I want to do once it’s shrinkwrapped including pulling out the dash panels to modify some electronics connections and adding a Carling USB Charger in the one blank (Aux) space on the switch panel.
Changing the zincs on the motors and genny, installing new alternator and circulator belts on both motors (11 each), re-packing one of my rudder shafts and then tidying up the bilge a bit more.
Contemplating installing blue LED speaker rings to match the blue LED lights already in my arch behind the speakers in the arch and a blue LED strip light under the forward part of the cockpit seat then tying them in to the Arch light switch on the dash.
I like doing those kinds of things when the boat is wrapped because I feel more comfortable leaving things opened between work days under the shrinkwrap.
Hopefully we’ll get a couple of warm enough days in January and February to be able to work comfortably.
Don’t like to have it shrinkwrapped to much before the holidays. I feel like the shrinkwrap causes too much moisture under it, and we don’t usually have any serious snow until January anyway so the shrinkwrap isn’t that important to me until then.
 
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hmmmm. we stored our 250DA there for 3 winters and never had any issues but I always go down in January and swap the buckets for new ones.
They do have a climate controlled section but it's full. I'm on the waiting list for that section but I was #60 on the list. No idea how long it will take but I know there was at least 1 freed up...lol. A guy at our marina had a 2015 310DA that he stored there but just bought a 2017 350DA and no trailering that one...lol
 
Not me, I love the snow, Temps in the teens, ice on my windshield, doors froze shut at 5:30 in the morning. I hate boats, water, sun, warm temperatures and having to go to the marina every Friday night for the weekend. We'll Crap that didn't work!!!! Tried talking myself into not missing the boat. C'mon summer:cool:
 
Good to hear that I'm not the only one! I was fortunate to meet up with some dock neighbors last night for an early winter social.

19 more Fridays....that sounds almost survivable...:)
 
15 weeks and 1 day until my launch date(weather permitting of course). But who's counting?! Lol!
 
15 weeks and 1 day until my launch date(weather permitting of course). But who's counting?! Lol!

You launch in March? It seems like we've had pretty decent snowfall in early April the last several years. My canvas would be absolute toast with a good wet snowfall.
 
Last weekends Yacht Club party and dinner with boating friends helps. Fixing a few things on the boat helps. Getting things for the new boat helps. Closing on the old boat will help.

Helping isn't boating...

MM
 
IMG_2098.JPG
IMG_3806.JPG
tiara in the snow 01.JPG
You launch in March? It seems like we've had pretty decent snowfall in early April the last several years. My canvas would be absolute toast with a good wet snowfall.

We typically have snow on our boat when it is launched. These pix were shot in April. I leave the heat on when it snows and the snow does not build up on the canvas because it melts as it falls.
 
... including pulling out the dash panels to modify some electronics connections and adding a Carling USB Charger in the one blank (Aux) space on the switch panel.....

Smart man :)
 
Nope, with all of you as well. I will begin my weekly Saturday trek 1/19 to begin polishing/waxing. It's the one chore I have a love/hate (as I'm sure most people do who perform the task on their own) relationship with.

I’ve got the same relationship. I love the transformation, my nearly 65 year old back hates the labor. Working on, and moving ladders to do the sides adds to the pain.
I’ve been trying to work smarter though.
Sides get machine polished with my Makita when it comes out for the season followed by a coat of wax by hand, then a quicker spot polishing when the shrinkwrap comes off with two more coats of wax by hand before splashing,
I try to hold off doing the transom, topsides, arch, and cockpit until I’m back at my slip. They get done a few times during the season in sections to spread out the work.
That way I don’t have to squeeze all that work in to a short window of time.
Here’s a tip if you are looking for a Christmas present:
Picked myself up a compact, much lighter, Flex rotary that uses 3” pads a while back to do most of those areas. Great addition to the arsenal.
It’s much easier on the back and fits the smaller areas along the cabin sides and up on the bow much better. The only drawback is the 3” wool pads aren’t nearly the same quality as the 9” ones I use with the Makita. They’ve got to be changed more frequently while polishing, and they don’t last long, but they’re not that expensive and it’s a small price to pay for being able to use a really light machine in tight and awkward places.
 
Smart man :)

Like many great ideas that come out of this site, it originated with FrankW. He pointed to the Carling part number for the USB Charger that fits right in to that one last blank spot.
It’s a little pricier than an aftermarket, but IMHO will look much nicer.
 
We are going back down to Atlanta Christmas Day. Back on our new to us boat on 12/26. We are going to put the boat on a trailer on 12/27 and move it to the canvas shop. As soon as it is finished we will move the boat to dry storage in WV. Then the wait for March begins.
 
I'm actually looking forward to getting the boat ready for next season. The 250DA was in great shape but the finish needed a little more buffing each spring being 30 years old. It looked great but took quite a bit of work to get it there. Our new boat being a 2006 has a much better finish. Should just have to run the buffer over it real quick then wax. Maybe a day compared to 2 weeks with the old boat. Also had the bellows replaced before we put it in storage so that's already done. Planning on new canvas and hopefully a windlass this spring.
 

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