Winter Storage - What do you leave onboard?

firecadet613

Well-Known Member
May 10, 2007
5,253
Indiana
Boat Info
SOLD - 2007 Four Winns V358
Engines
Twin VP 5.7GXi V-Drive / ZF63s
As the thread title states, what do you leave on board over winter storage and how do you store?

My first year back in a big boat after taking a few years off. Went indoor cold this year (kicking myself for not thinking heated until it was too late). Can't recall many boats being stored with canvas/eisenglass up, but the 8 other boats in my building have them up, with only two being covered with plastic. Not planning on plastic as she could use a wash. Was just waxed a month ago.

I took all but my bimini top down (can't get it off the way it's sewn/slid into the track - too tight with it being cold out). Cockpit cover is on, strataglass panels laying on the forward berth and eisenglass at home waiting to be polished and put away. New to the whole strataglass - last boat had thin eisenglass all the way around, would just roll it and keep it in an oversized duffle bag at home.

Aside from canvas / glass - what else do you remove for the winter?
 
Last edited:
I used to take everything home. Batteries, canvas, tvs, electronics. If it wasn't tied down, I took it home. These days, I don't take squat home. Too much extra work. Haven't really noticed a difference.
 
I am inside heated and cover with plastic. The only things I take home are things I want to clean or work on. This year all canvas and polycarbonate will come off. I usually take carpets off to power wash at home but that's about it
 
Inside cold. All canvas and glass stays up, no covers, take off stuff that we want to take to Florida for a couple months like sunscreen, sun hats, fishing gear. Everything else that freezing won’t hurt stays.
 
IMG_4230.JPG
I always buy two aft curtains or a full cockpit cover if the boat has no hardtop. One aft curtain is on the boat when in storage or in the slip. It gets dirty after years of use and I don't care. Same thing with the cockpit cover if the boat requires it. The other canvas is used for cruising or overnighting on the hook. It always looks great. To answer the question, we store with the dirty aft curtain up and leave everything else on the boat in clean dry lockers. The boat is always put away washed with mechanicals serviced and the galley and head meticulously clean. Should add that our storage conditions are superb, clean, dry and no possibility of rodents.
 
inside a damp underground mine. i remove all canvas and all removable cushions. all ropes, life jackets, batteries, etc. Pretty much everything that isn't bolted down. I put a few buckets with mothballs in the cabin and cockpit as well as Damp Rid in a few places.
 
Store on a lift in boathouse. Winterize motors, genny, fresh water, head, sump, etc. Remove liquids and things that should not freeze. Isinglass, unrolled and stored flat inside house, good coat of wax on outside, cabin, fridges, drain hoses cleaned and ready for spring season. All linens off boat. Cabinet doors open and small fan running to circulate air. Also have cabin and bilge heater set on "freeze protect" that keep things from getting too cold. Cockpit covered with mooring cover and seat cushions partly off to prevent moisture buildup.
 
If I were inside cold I think I'd take more home. I've always done heated and leave just about everything on the boat. I take home the bedding and the carpet runners for cleaning but everything else stays.

This year will be my first year covering the boat with plastic. Previously I've left it inside with just the canvas up. Never really had any problems but I have new canvas this year and want to keep the dust/junk off it as much as possible.
 
So the marina shrink wrapped my boat before I could do my last minute clean up and swapping of my isinglass. I kept my old scratched and foggy isinglass when I replaced it a couple years ago so I could swap out the nice stuff for the old and leave it on when shrink wrapped over winter. Keeps the boat cleaner even with the wrap. But I was away and they wrapped it early so I can't swap it out now. Oh well.

I also did not get a chance to take out my life jackets. So they will probably need a good cleaning in the spring. No matter what I do, they seem to get a bit of mold on them if I leave them on the boat. Same with cushions (I did get the cushions off the day I winterized). The fabric curtains don't seem to, but I periodically spray them and the fabric mattress with Concrobium Mould Control, including in the fall before layup.

I make sure to prop up all the vinyl cushions and mattresses in the cabin so they are exposed on all sides and prop open all closets, storage and fridge,icemaker as well. None of the vinyl removable cushions, or carpet stay in the cockpit. They all go below for winter.
 
I'm in indoor cold storage. I take pretty much everything off... towels, linens, paper goods, toiletries, cleaning supplies, tools, etc. Canvass is stored in the original duffel bag in the front birth. Two dehumidifiers... one in the cabin and one in the cockpit, mooring cover on.
 
The boat makes a great storage container.
Anything we can eat or drink comes home so it doesn’t attract anything or freeze.
Linens, towels, sheets, blankets come home, get washed then stored in space bags. Space bags go in plastic storage trunks and the trunks get stored right back on the boat.
Everything else stays on the boat.
Once I get back to my dock in the Spring I take all the dish ware, glasses, utensils, etc. home. They get run through the dishwasher and put back on the boat that night or the next day.
 
Ours stays outside, under cover, but no heat outside. Inside is heated so we leave everything inside the boat. Our last cruise of the year will be the Christmas lighted boat parade on the first Friday and Saturday in December. Then the first cruise of the year is usually New Year's Day (weather permitting).

After that we head south for awhile.
 
One of the main things to take off is any liquids no matter if they will not freeze. They will sweat with changing temperatures. I leave the boat just as it is at dock. The Sunbrella is worse off when in sun and wind rather then sitting in a covered building. Even leave isinglass up never had a problem. I do put moister containers in the boat and baking soda in the ice maker and refrigerator.
 
Outdoor shrink wrap in Minnesota. Mitigating factor is that it's at the marina and the parking lot is the winter storage area, so we get back in the water within a couple of weeks of ice out, at least a couple of weeks before off site storage.

I remove all bedding, towels, etc, defrost fridges and put hanging damp-rid in them. I bring my sad carpets home to scrub and dry. Floaties and fenders go in the aft berth. All food and anything that might have the remote chance of freezing is removed.

I leave two tubs of damp rid in the cabin and the marina puts a couple inside the cockpit just before shrinking.

I'd love heated indoor, but it would probably jack up storage by $2,000. Offsite enclosed unheated added a $1000 last year, but since I was having work done there it was impossible to do anything else.

I did make sure my insurance coverage had a frost rider. My marina has been winterizing and storing boats for decades and AFAIK, they don't have any issues, but the frost rider is there in case they do. I'd rather file a claim and let the insurance carrier sort it out.
 
I used to take everything home. Batteries, canvas, tvs, electronics. If it wasn't tied down, I took it home. These days, I don't take squat home. Too much extra work. Haven't really noticed a difference.

Same here. I used to take entire pickup truck loads of stuff home. Last year, I was just too busy and didn’t do anything. The boat went into heated storage and I went home empty handed. I didn’t step foot on it again until I launched in the spring. I’m using that method from now on!
 
Same here. I used to take entire pickup truck loads of stuff home. Last year, I was just too busy and didn’t do anything. The boat went into heated storage and I went home empty handed. I didn’t step foot on it again until I launched in the spring. I’m using that method from now on!

I'm quickly going into that camp. Too much darn work to take it off the boat and running out of safe places to keep it at home, away from the dogs and toddler. All food/drinks were taken off before it left the slip and I think I'm leaving bedding on. At this point - too much of a hassle to strip the main berth and wash the sheets we slept in a handful of times. I'll be up there a few more times getting misc projects completed before the temps really drop.
 
The one thing I recommend is either pulling the main stateroom mattress off the platform or putting something like a milk crate underneath to allow air to get under it … I pull the mattress in the salon and lean it on the couch right before its wrapped and all my tubs of Damp rid are in place … Ive see n some nasty marine mattress's

just a thought

Rob
 

Forum statistics

Threads
112,948
Messages
1,422,804
Members
60,930
Latest member
Ebrown69
Back
Top