Lay-up Afloat

— By Paul and Sheryl Shard

"I would go to the marina on weekends to enjoy the solace of being aboard in winter and do the little tasks that you never get around to when you're sailing." Richard Asztalos, St. Clair Shores, Mich.

After cruising year round in the sunny south it was hard for us to imagine sailing again in northern latitudes where the prime boating season is three summer months at best. But on a recent visit home to Toronto, Ont., we talked to a group of hardy (some say crazy) boaters that actually winter afloat in the ice and snow and enjoy the benefits of boating all year too. We learned there are definite advantages to leaving your boat in the water for a northern winter if you find the right harbor and set your boat up properly for the weather.

Why Lay-up Afloat?

A major appeal of wintering afloat is eliminating the annual ritual and cost of hauling out, storing the boat for the season, then launching. Haulout and launch can be nerve-wracking events considering the risk to your vessel. Depending on the water your boat is floating in, you may be able to extend your time between bottom paintings, saving money and being kinder to the environment. When the time to re-do the bottom comes, you can have your boat hauled out for only a few days and then be back in the water again. [To organize your haulout refer to page 16.] In most regions, there is no substantial savings advantage in boatyard fees. Winter rates for outdoor storage include haulout, wash and launch, and range from US$17 to US$32 per linear foot. Fees for storage in-water vary widely, from US$42 per linear foot in Michigan up to CD$63 in Ontario (1998 prices).

If you choose to be a full-time liveaboard, living expenses are much less than maintaining a home ashore. In many areas, there are liveaboard communities in prime downtown waterfront locations whose living costs are significantly less than those of their neighbors ashore.

In you winter afloat, you'll need to notify your insurance company. Check your policy for "Exclusions" that concern ice and snow. Snow load can be an exclusion if you don't take adequate precautions.

Log booms keep large chunks of ice away from the hull and contain bubbled water.

Not Just Any Port

Finding a safe harbor that offers the necessary utilities and facilities needed is the first step towards successfully wintering afloat. Protection from surge and swell is particularly important when you are dealing with ice in the water.

Not all marinas or yacht clubs offer year-round services to boaters but those that do should provide reliable power for winter demands especially the constant running of electric heaters and deicers. Other requirements include snow removal services, a necessity on the docks, clean showers, washrooms and laundry facilities, and portable pump-out services. (Midnight runs to the marina washrooms can be depressing, not to mention dangerous, when the docks are icy.) Dockside telephone and cable TV services are also nice if you choose to liveaboard full-time. Getting recommendations from current winter boaters is the best way to find a good facility.

Leave some slack in the power cords and lash with cable ties to lines to prevent dropping in the water

Winter-Proofing

Once you have found secure dockage for wintering your boat afloat there are a few considerations when setting up the boat in its slip.

Strong nylon docklines and spring lines are needed to handle the fury of winter storms and doubling the lines is recommended. It's also important that lines don't hang down into the water. When the water freezes, the boat will be held rigid and lines could snap in strong winds. Power cords should have enough slack to handle strong motion without being pulled out of the receptacles but should not touch the water to avoid being frozen in.

When the boat is comfortably secured in the slip, some winter boaters choose to position a floating ice boom across the opening of the slip to prevent ice pans and flows from damaging the hull. Ice booms can be as simple as 2x4s secured across the slip opening or a chain of old tires strung together. The tires tend to dampen any swell as well. A deicer, which uses either a propeller (most common) or air to agitate the water and prevent it from freezing, is also needed. A 1/2-hp prop-driven unit will keep a 50' (15m) diameter area from freezing and is hung below the boat or attached to the side of the dock.

A deicer prevents surrounding water from freezing and damaging the boat.

If you decide to lay-up your boat in the water and are not living onboard, winterize your engine since you are not heating the boat on a constant basis. Since the boat is in the water, you can leave the automatic bilge pump turned on. The bilge water won't freeze as it would ashore. Condensation shouldn't be a problem because the water temperature will be warmer than the air in most cases. Close all seacocks and pour a small amount of non-toxic antifreeze (see "What You Should Know About Antifreeze" on page 55) in all thru-hull fittings. Be sure to periodically check your boat, more often when stormy, or have the marina check it and report to you.

For many years, Richard Asztalos wintered his 30' (9m) sailboat at Jefferson Beach Marine in St. Clair Shores near Detroit, Mich. He used a small electric heater and hung a 100-watt light bulb in the engine compartment to keep cockpit drains and shaft packing glands from freezing.

"I would keep the heat on low to minimize the condensation, and turn it up when I arrived on weekends," explained Asztalos.

Those living aboard are generally running heaters which dry out the boat. Asztalos, who lived aboard Charisma, an Endeavor 42, in the same marina, relies on three electric heaters, fans to circulate the air and two dehumidifiers placed below the cabin floor to reduce moisture. As a safety precaution, he closes all seacocks, except the sink drain and the shower pump. Remember last year's mother-of-all ice storms? It knocked out power in parts of Eastern Canada and the U.S. for a week or more. Loosing your power source means no bubbler and no heat. A portable generator is a wise investment for boaters choosing to winter afloat.

Mini shelter over companionway made of heavy-duty plastic secured with staples or drywall screws to a wooden frame.

A Proper Winter Cover

If you are living aboard or plan to be on the boat a lot, the next step in preparing for a comfortable winter afloat is to build a shelter over it. This gives you a snow-free space to set down supplies and remove wet coats and boots before going down into the clean, dry cabin. The shelter also creates an insulating air pocket above the cabin top which keeps in heat and reduces the heating bill. If the shelter is made of clear plastic it creates a greenhouse effect and is a warm place to work on boat projects without messing up the cabin.

A word of warning if you are using a fuel heater such as diesel: make sure you run the chimney out through the shelter so you are not exhausting into the shelter. But since you are at a dock, most winter boaters prefer an electric heater.

Doorways come in a variety of designs and all must be strong enough to hold snow when it accumulates.

Not everyone chooses to build a shelter. Some boats have a pilothouse that serves the same purpose. Owners of cabin cruisers may choose not to increase the upper windage by adding a shelter. Others don't want a shelter that, despite the cold, would prevent any opportunity to go boating when they get a rare winter weather window. Some choose to just build a shelter over the cockpit or companionway to prevent snow getting in down below.

A popular and affordable shelter construction is made of heavy-duty plastic sheeting stapled to a wooden frame made of 2x4s. The plastic is rolled several layers thick along the frame before stapling so the plastic doesn't tear out from the staples as easily in the wind. Some people stick heavy-duty duct tape along the plastic before stapling which serves the same purpose. For a boat up to 40' (12m) long the cost to build is about US$150. The wood can be reused if you plan well, but you'll need to purchase new plastic every year.

"When building a shelter of this construction it's important to avoid large expanses of open plastic unsupported by the frame," says Michael Guy, who has lived for many years with his partner Lise St. Germain aboard his steel-hulled schooner, Blue Dragon. "This creates a lot of irritating noise and vibration in the wind and doesn't support the snow load as well as small panels."

Some marinas or yacht clubs don't like this form of shelter due to the shanty town appearance they sometimes have. An alternative shelter, preferred by many boaters, is shrink-wrap (see "Building a Shrink-wrap Cover" on page 66). The cost is about double a plastic-wood cover but is clean, strong and private. A better, long-term cover is acrylic (Sunbrella) or canvas which lasts eight to 10 years but makes the boat very dark down below. When building any shelter be sure there are no hollow spots and allow clearance for stovepipes to eliminate a back draft. On sailboats, slope the cover away from the mast and securely tape it around the mast. To reduce the number of holes through the plastic cover for rigging, Asztalos recommends moving the lower shrouds to the uppers and securing them well with rigging tape.

About the authors: Paul and Sheryl Shard are the authors of Sail Away! A Guide to Outfitting and Provisioning for Cruising. Thew new second edition is now in bookstores or can be ordered by calling toll-free at 1-888-319-2365.