Putting the boat away for the winter

Marc Blondin

Active Member
Feb 19, 2018
109
Michigan
Boat Info
2000 38' Sea Ray Sundancer
Engines
7.4 Horizen
Show your winter storage photos


2N7A9531 cl rd.jpg
20181015_141420.jpg
20181015_144905.jpg
20181015_145933.jpg
 
I envy you guys with the inside winter storage ......
 
Woody, I'm not trying to say the marina pulling your boat is doing anything wrong. I am just in the crane business. Was a crane operator for years and now operations manager. I see so many accidents in this field everyday (Facebook groups and in person) that I can't help but try to make sure things are safe. Most of the time it's not because someone is stupid, it's because they weren't trained or educated. Maybe everything they are using is good. I would just hate if someone or some boat got hurt because they weren't educated. I can't tell very well by the pictures but please ask them. How much weight is their rigging good for? What is the hook that is hooked to the D ring on top good for? What is the single cable above the hook, that is attached to the top of the hook rated for? This cable alone needs to hold the weight of the whole boat and the weight of the rigging attached to it. You can get different capacity cables depending on the type of steel used but, the ones i buy are rated like this and their the good ones 3/4" diameter =9600 lbs., 1" diameter =19,600 lbs., 1-1/4" diameter = 30,000 lbs., 1-1/2" diameter =42,000 lbs. So hopefully its at least 1-1/4 diameter. Like I said earlier, everything could be just fine. I just don't want any people or boats hurt because I didn't say something. I'll have my pictures up sometime after the 29th.....
 
Last edited:
Ezsteps I used to build oil tanks biggest was 500,000 barrels. We used a lot of cranes. I found anyone with a large crane knew what he was doing. But he relied on the riggers to secure the loads. We had same size pieces so rigging was set once we started. With boats each one is probably different. With boats one would hope the riggers are not the person doing the pressure washing. We never had an accident in 40 years and no one got hurt. But we took our time and shut things down when conditions were nor correct. As you indicate safety first. I always watch when out boat is taken out of water and if things are not correct I comment and it is corrected. One thing about boat yards no one seems to wear hard hats or safety glasses.
 
I’m pretty jealous of your indoor storage as well. Around here it would cost me about $5,200 for the winter alone. Maybe I’ll go for it if I win the next Megamillions drawing.
 
With boats one would hope the riggers are not the person doing the pressure washing
That's kinda what I'm getting at. They probably are the same. There's a lot to rigging that I wouldn't even want to try to explain here. All I can say is thank god for the 5 to 1 design factor.
 
I’m pretty jealous of your indoor storage as well. Around here it would cost me about $5,200 for the winter alone. Maybe I’ll go for it if I win the next Megamillions drawing.
There's not much for decent larger boat indoor storage right in the area I slip the boat, so on top of the actual storage costs I burn 250gal of fuel and add about 12 engine hours each year running back and forth between storage and where I slip the boat.

It pains me to pay the storage bill each year but I think it's best for the boat and I dreamed of putzing on the boat all winter long. I only live 130mi from the boat but I find I don't get up there near as much as I thought I would in the winter because the distance is enough that a productive trip really requires a overnighter.

This boating thing can get out of hand. I towed my previous boat home for the winter. Wanting better storage for it I put a foundation in one fall and the new building was put up in the following January. While discussing the 'someday we'll get a bigger boat' subject we decided to look at boats so we would know what we might want when the time came.

Looking at boats is much fun but a dangerous activity. Two months after I spent 80k to give my 280DA a better winter home we purchased the 420DA. How the hell did that happen?????

I guess in the end things are OK, we've got the bigger boat, and a nice building that's filling up with other 'stuff'.:rolleyes:
 
Woody, I'm not trying to say the marina pulling your boat is doing anything wrong. I am just in the crane business. Was a crane operator for years and now operations manager. I see so many accidents in this field everyday (Facebook groups and in person) that I can't help but try to make sure things are safe. Most of the time it's not because someone is stupid, it's because they weren't trained or educated. Maybe everything they are using is good. I would just hate if someone or some boat got hurt because they weren't educated. I can't tell very well by the pictures but please ask them. How much weight is their rigging good for? What is the hook that is hooked to the D ring on top good for? What is the single cable above the hook, that is attached to the top of the hook rated for? This cable alone needs to hold the weight of the whole boat and the weight of the rigging attached to it. You can get different capacity cables depending on the type of steel used but, the ones i buy are rated like this and their the good ones 3/4" diameter =9600 lbs., 1" diameter =19,600 lbs., 1-1/4" diameter = 30,000 lbs., 1-1/2" diameter =42,000 lbs. So hopefully its at least 1-1/4 diameter. Like I said earlier, everything could be just fine. I just don't want any people or boats hurt because I didn't say something. I'll have my pictures up sometime after the 29th.....
I hear you, I'm nervous every time they handle my boat. They assure me they're good for near 50,000lbs.
 
Pulled mine last weekend. Just finished up pre storage prep.

Shrink wrap tomorrow and spend the next 6 months missing it.

308BEBE2-75DE-4015-B875-C3A8755B34EB.jpeg
 
I’m pretty jealous of your indoor storage as well. Around here it would cost me about $5,200 for the winter alone. Maybe I’ll go for it if I win the next Megamillions drawing.
It is convenient and saves wear and tear because we are not getting a lot bilge work performed by people with varying degrees of interest in being careful and clean. Also nice to get the boat ready for launch in controlled temperature conditions. Cost is about 2600 for our boat, so somewhat reasonable. My main issue is how close together boats are stored. Makes some of the work unnecessarily difficult.
 
Started to winterize yesterday and finished up this morning, then shrink wrapped this afternoon for a long winter's nap. Just bought the boat last week so I get to wait 6 months to use our "new" boat.
IMG_1737.JPG
 
Question for those the shrink wrap. What does it do? Has it saved waxing, has it prevented damage, does it keep the inside of the boat dry. With shrink wrap is humidity higher in the boat, do you put heat in the boat for the winter, do you put a de humidifier in the boat. Has anyone ever seen a fire due to shrink wrap.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
112,872
Messages
1,420,835
Members
60,871
Latest member
cbrcassio
Back
Top