Winter Storage Tips For Your Boat
Whether you use your boat for leisure, fishing, or even as an alternative means of transport, you need to take good care of the boat if you hope to have it with you for a long time. Apart from regular maintenance and timely repairs, taking good care of your boat also means investing in its proper storage whenever the boat is not in use. The article below discusses a few tips for storing your boat during the winter.
Identify All Potential Problems With The Boat
Before you take your boat to the storage facility, it is important that you first inspect it thoroughly in a bid to identify potential defects that the boat may have. It is recommended that you take the boat for one last ride before storage and pay close attention to anything that needs to be repaired.
Some of the common defects to look out for include sticky winches, hull damage, cracks and tarnished bright work. The mentioned problems all have the potential to get worse during storage, and this is why you need to take care of them in advance.
Clean Your Boat Thoroughly
It is also important to undertake a thorough cleaning of your boat before putting it up for winter storage. You should immediately remove the boat's bilge drain before you scrub the hull and decks in order to get rid of slime, grime, barnacles and gunk. It is recommended that you clean all the thru-hulls in your boat and open its seacock to allow for drainage of any trapped water.
It is also important to ensure that the boat is absolutely dry before it is taken in for storage. You can make the boat dry faster by raising its bow as you continue with storage preparations. This allows for effective draining of water, hence the boat dries faster.
Keep Engine Trouble At Bay
Your boat engine will be idle during the entire winter duration. This makes it very easy for the engine to suffer various kinds of damage. In order to prevent this, it is recommended that you top off the gas tank and add a gas stabiliser, which reduces the rate of condensation during storage.
It is also important to have air filters replaced and the engine oil changed before storage. You should also use water to flush the boat's coolant system and add am anti-freeze if need be.
For more information, contact a company such as Budget Storage and Removals