Two-Day Haulout Planning Guide

— By Peter Doherty

For boat owners along the West Coast and seaports south of the Chesapeake, the myth of the annual two-day haulout lives on, perpetuated by most local boatyards which include “two days on the hard” free with the cost of the Travelift round trip.

Many years (and one boat) ago, our first-ever two-day haulout turned into a frantic week’s work with the discovery, after the boat was securely chocked in the yard, that we had some non-structural but significant osmotic blistering in the hull plus a massive blister on one side of the encapsulated ballast keel. Further probing of the blister revealed several gallons of sea inside the ballast cavity as well. We had no repair materials, no tools, no experience with fiberglass repair work (that was remedied before the week was out) and no budget to deal with something this major. But for an understanding employer, some banked vacation time and a fairly clean credit card, we might have spent months in the yard at $30 per day!

Our most recent haulout included all the usual stuff plus some planned, major fiberglass repairs. We’d organized ourselves well (so we thought) and everything went like clockwork — right up to the morning of the relaunch. All that was left to be done was to reinstall the propeller and zincs. With the prop securely bolted and pinned in place, I dived into the spares locker for the zincs and found...none! Panic stations! With the scheduled launch only a couple of hours away, the scramble began. All but the last of the eight chandleries I visited had 20 or more different types and sizes of zinc anodes in stock — all but the one we needed!

Thus was born the resolution to be even better organized in the future and to create a haulout checklist so that, henceforth, such panic scenarios could be avoided. The checklist that follows is based on our experience with sailing vessels, but I’ve tried to include all items that would be applicable to both sail and power.

Getting Ready

1. Review your to-do list — you do keep one, don’t you? Extract all items that can only be done when the boat is out of the water. Call this the “A List.” Make a second, or “B List” of those jobs which are easier to do with the boat out of the water.

2. Inspect the boat to determine what other work needs to be done and add to your lists. Survey the hull inside and out — get out your wet suit and snorkel or hire a diver for the underwater survey. Items to be checked are divided here into three categories: external (underwater), external (topsides) and internal.

External (underwater)

•Gelcoat or planking condition

•Antifouling paint

•Transducers

•External heat exchangers

•Rudder fittings

•Propeller for damage — will it need shop attention or replacement?

•Cutlass bearing — if the shaft moves 1/8" (3mm) or more, it’s time for replacement.

•Grounding plates (if you have them)

•Strake runners and the underside of the keel and skeg — remember that grounding you had last summer?

•Bow thruster impeller and bearings for damage or looseness

A prop puller makes removal almost effortless.

External (topsides)

•You’ll need to wash and wax for sure, but check whether you need cut-polishing too. (Repainting is not a project for a short annual haulout.)

•Dings and scratches to be touched up

•Name or registration numbers to be touched up or replaced

Internal

•Thru-hull fittings for weeping or corrosion

•Seacocks for ease of operation and watertightness

•Condition of propeller shaft seal — is repacking needed?

•Shaft log — is the short length of reinforced hose that retains the shaft seal sound, or does it need changing?

•Rudder shaft seals and bearings

3. There are a number of administrative matters to be taken care of prior to the haulout:

•Make an appointment with the yard — especially if you’re doing this in the springtime, like everyone else!

•If your boat is approaching 10 years of age, arrange for a surveyor. Most insurance companies now require a survey 10 years after a boat’s initial launch, and every five years after that.

•Check your lists and add anything else that comes to mind.

•List all the parts and tools that will be required. Have them on hand before the haulout day (see sample list below).

•Arrange your A and B lists for an efficient work flow. For example, if the sealant you’re using to rebed underwater fittings needs 24 hours for its initial cure, do this job as soon as possible — don’t wait until launching day!

•Pump out the holding tank and fill the water tanks. Most yards have washrooms, but they may be a block or more away from where your boat gets parked.

•Get a ladder and a theft-proof cable lock to secure it when you go home for the evening. We had one stolen a couple of years ago and lost a day’s work hunting down a replacement!

•Line up helpers if you need them. Even if they’re not technically inclined, it’s always handy to have at least one “gofer.” Treat the hired help well or they won’t be back next year.

•Pack or arrange meals and refreshments.

Mechanical versus manual: The yard time saved when you use a power buffer will probably pay for its cost.

4. Special Tools (in addition to standard hand tools)

•Packing nut wrench(es) and packing extractor hook

•Propeller and cutlass bearing pullers

•Oversize wrenches to remove thru-hull fittings

•Hole saws the right size for new thru-hull or transducer fittings

•Sander and/or grinder

•Electric buffer and buffing pad; buy, borrow or rent one if you don’t own one!

•Extension cords

•Duster brush, shop vacuum

•Power-drill paint mixer to dig the sediment off the bottom of the tin of antifouling paint

•Caulking tools (for wood boats)

•Welding equipment (for metal boats)

•Heaters or heat lamps if you’re doing fiberglass or epoxy repairs in cool weather

5. Materials and Parts

•Primers, paints and varnishes (for antifouling, topsides and brightwork)

•Sandpaper — buy twice as much as you think you’ll need. (Use open-coat paper when sanding antifouling paint.)

•Paint scraper(s) with extra blades

•Sealants to bed new or replacement fittings

•Shaft packing

•Fiberglass cloth, mat, resin, catalyst, fillers and gelcoat

•Lubricants

•Paint brushes, rollers, roller trays and liners

•Paper towels, rags and drop cloths

•Solvents

•Rubbing or polishing compound and wax

•Lapping compound for old-style seacocks

•Waterproof grease for seacocks and removable transducers

•Masking tapes

•Duct tape

•Talcum powder (for the rubber gloves)

•Zinc anodes as required

•New or replacement thru-hull fittings, transducers etc.

•Hose clamps and hose

•Fastenings and oakum (for wood boats)

•Replacement planking (for wood boats) or plating (for metal boats)

•Welding rods and fluxes (for metal boats)

•Coveralls (or old clothes), disposable caps, rubber gloves and dust masks

•Safety glasses or goggles

•Ear plugs, if you’re doing a lot of work with power tools

•Rubber boots, gloves and an old foul-weather suit (if you’re doing your own pressure washing)

•Barrier cream and hand cleaner

•Liniment and aspirin!

Before the Boat is Blocked

•If the rudder has to come out for bearing or seal renewal, ensure that the boat is blocked high enough to allow the rudder to be lowered. If you forget, the yard might reposition the boat at a nominal cost. On the other hand, it might be cheaper to hire a backhoe to dig a hole!

•Ensure support pads and blocks don’t interfere with any planned work, such as removal of the lower rudder fitting, installation of a new transducer or thru-hull, repair or replacement of strake runners, or repairs to the underside of the keel or skeg.

Before Pressure Washing

•Close seacocks. Omit this step and you may find your galley and head spattered with dead sea beasties and salt scale!

•Remove or mask anything that might be damaged by the high-pressure water, such as speed transducers.

•If you’re doing your own washing, wear rubber boots, old foul-weather gear and safety glasses. Remember that metal-based bottom paints are highly toxic.

Murphy’s Law No. 15: If you leave a pet aboard during haulout or launch, close the ports!

The Actual Work

•Pressure wash the underbody. If you used soft-sloughing antifouling paint, the pressure washer will strip it down to the primer. Watch out for osmosis blisters; although a pressure washer can be used to strip away blister-damaged material, if the jet is too strong it can also cause unnecessary damage to sound laminate adjacent to the blisters. Also take care when pressure washing a wood boat — get the water jet too close and you can strip out two feet of oakum in the blink of an eye!

•Do a close-up inspection of the hull to see if you missed anything during your underwater survey. Amend your A and B lists as required.

•Remove any hull-mounted equipment that requires shop work, such as the prop, rudder or instruments.

•Rebed thru-hull fittings (if necessary).

•Install new thru-hull fittings, seacocks and transducers (if necessary).

•Disassemble, clean, lubricate and reassemble seacocks (if necessary).

•Scrape and/or sand old antifouling paint (if necessary). Wear protective clothing, a mask and goggles.

•Do fiberglass and gelcoat repairs as required. Again, wear protective clothing.

•Replace cutlass bearing (if necessary).

•Replace external heat exchangers (if necessary).

•Recaulk or refasten planking (if necessary).

•Mask hull and apply new antifouling paint.

•Remove masking tape before paint is fully hardened.

•Complete any remaining A list items.

Before Relaunching

•Reinstall transducers.

•Ensure all hoses are reconnected and seacocks are open.

•Have extra antifouling paint and applicators ready to touch up the hull when the boat is in the slings and the support pads are removed.

•Pay the yard. Most yards have a “No cash, no splash” policy and you may lose your turn on the lift if your bill is still unpaid at launch time.

•Confirm launch time.

•Spend your waiting time (if any), working off B list items.

In the Water — before Removing the Slings

•Start the engine and ensure cooling water is coming out the exhaust.

•Check all new and rebedded thru-hull fittings, transducers, shaft packing and hoses for leaks.

Get wet — an underwater survey lets you prearrange propeller and shaft repairs and add shaft zincs to your shopping list if you need them.

Back at the Slip

•Clean up the mess. (You don’t have one? Give me a call, I’ll sign you up for my own haulout next year!)

•Again, check new and rebedded thru-hull fittings, shaft packings and hoses for leaks. Repeat this check daily for the first week. (Sealant failure on a new transducer resulted in a burned-out automatic bilge pump and nearly sank us a couple of years back.)

•While your memory is fresh, take a couple of minutes to note any glitches that occurred during the haulout so you can avoid them next time.

•Buy your work crew a drink (or dinner) and celebrate a successful haulout.

•Invite your work crew out for a sail next weekend.

About the author: Peter Doherty is an avid offshore cruiser and past commodore of the Bluewater Cruising Association. He and his wife, Glenora, currently live in Vancouver, aboard Wanderlust V, a Reliance 44 ketch which they built from a bare hull and on which they completed a shakedown cruise to Mexico, Hawaii and Alaska several years ago with their two teenagers.