The best winter storage location for your boat is a sunny, tropical place with palm trees swaying at the shore, turquoise water gurgling in her bow wave, and you ensconced at the helm. But if your boat lives where winter delivers ice and snow, and if sailing south to avoid the elements isn’t an option, then the boat must be put to bed for the dark and cold part of the year instead.
Choosing an ideal spot for her hibernation deserves careful consideration. Stowing your boat on a trailer or stands in your backyard can be an obvious choice if your boat and yard permit. If not, options break down into two general categories: in-water marina storage, and on-land boatyard storage. There is no easy or best choice here. Both options are usually viable, and both offer distinct advantages and risks.
In-Water Storage
The combination of water salinity and tidal currents keeps many northern harbors ice-free all winter, even in much of chilly northern New England where the bigger tides compensate for the colder temperatures nicely. In-water boat storage is not advised in ice-prone lakes, rivers, and brackish harbors. Bubblers can keep water open in places like this, but a power outage or a broken bubbler can leave your boat at extreme risk from ice damage during a cold snap.
In places where wet storage is an option, this choice has many advantages. The boat is supported more evenly in the water than she is on the pressure points of blocks and stands ashore. This uniform support will prevent unintended loads on standing rigging, bulkheads, and cabinetry while also allowing the keel to hang all year long, reducing the chance of a keel-smile and associated keel problems from developing.
Ironically, your boat stays drier in wet storage. The seawater she sits in keeps the boat cooler during the day and warmer at night. Reducing the daily temperature swing reduces condensation aboard. Relatively dry conditions are even maintained under water; small moisture pockets inside the rudder won’t freeze if the rudder stays submerged in saltwater. The expansion caused by such a freeze is what opens microscopic cracks in the rudder, allowing more corrosive water in, a cycle that will ultimately lead to rudder failure. Keeping your boat’s rudder in the water all winter will help keep its innards dry, corrosion-free, and strong.
Winter projects often go more smoothly on a boat floating in a marina slip. Electricity will usually be more conveniently accessed in a slip than from a distant, overloaded power post in the boatyard. Boarding your boat in a marina requires no ladder, and her cabin and decks will stay cleaner when those who work on her in the winter aren’t climbing aboard with boots covered in boatyard mud.
That said, while you won’t need to worry about a fall from a ladder when working on a floating boat, you probably will have to contend with slippery, icy docks at one point or another, and a fall into the water at this time of year can be deadly. So it’s important to keep your wits about you on the docks and when boarding and leaving; and equally important to let someone—such as the marina staff—know where you are and what you’re doing.
Wet storage clears your boat from the risk of a storm-felled tree or a domino- style boat row collapse on the hard. It also clears you from the risk of lost sailing days. When your boat is stored in water, you will be in full control of the winterization and commissioning dates and be able to extend the sailing season on either end as much or as little as you want. You won’t be at the front of a stack of boats in the yard and pressured to splash early in the spring. And you won’t be stuck in the back of the stack of boats and forced to wait till early summer before your boat gets launched.
Wooden boats definitely benefit from wintering over in water where they won’t dry out and open up seams below the waterline. With the same general premise applied in reverse, I’ve heard people claim their fiberglass boat needs to come out of the water in the winter to dry out after soaking up water all summer. That’s a myth to be ignored. Fiberglass boats in good health don’t soak up water all summer and they don’t need to dry out.
If you do decide to go with wet winter storage for your boat, choose a marina with 360-degree protection from evermore powerful winter weather. Doubling up dock lines and adding chafe gear is essential for this season.
On-Land Storage
To a large degree, your winter work list may dictate your choice. It’s worth noting that bottom painting goes more smoothly when the boat is out of the water, not in it. Other near- or below-the-waterline projects like painting the boot stripe or replacing a seacock or cutlass bearing will also require the boat to be on the hard. Some winters it’s nice to have access to all of the boat, not just above the waterline.
A boat stored in water equipped with a good winter cover, and fortified by proper winterization, has the same risk of developing a seawater leak in the winter as she does in the summer. This is a risk you can manage but cannot ignore completely. Stuffing boxes can weep in all seasons. Boats can break free from their mooring lines and collide catastrophically with one another or the shoreline in any month. A boat stored on land will not develop a seawater leak and will not end up submerged on the bottom of the harbor.
That said, sinking is a concern to be aware of no matter where you store your boat. An insurance person once told me that more boats “sink” on land every year than in the water. Rain and snow can find their way into the cabin from a deck leak or a failed scupper hose or hatch. Condensation and rainwater entering through openings in the mast will compound the problem. The resulting freshwater flooding from above can cause just as much damage as can the ingress of seawater from below. Sailors tend to become complacent about the sinking risk for a boat stored on land, and that is a mistake.
A high-quality, well-fitted cover will help to minimize risk for boats stored both in and out of the water. It is also crucial to maintain the functionality of the bilge pumps throughout the winter. Proper winterization of the bilge, bilge pumps, and associated pump hoses with non-toxic antifreeze will prevent ice-up. To maintain the auto function of your electric bilge pumps, the boat batteries should stay aboard for the winter and must be kept charged. A solar panel can manage this job when an alternative source of charging power is not convenient. The need to remove batteries from boats in winter is an old wive’s tale to be ignored. As long as they are kept charged, your boat batteries will do just fine in your boat all winter just like your car battery does just fine in your car all winter.
Regular inspections are key no matter where the boat winters over. If the cover becomes compromised, it will need repair. If enough rainwater makes its way down the inside of the mast on a boat with a keel-stepped rig, she may need to be pumped out and have her bilge and bilge pumps re-flushed with non-toxic antifreeze multiple times during the off-season. For boats stored on land, jack-stands should be checked to make sure they haven’t shifted or sunk into the mud and become loose. For boats wintering in the water, dock lines and fenders should be regularly inspected for wear.
Wet storage usually costs less than dry storage. But there are additional costs to consider. The boat that winters in the water will need a diver to scrub the bottom and change zincs in the spring. And though you won’t be paying on-land storage prices, you will still have to pay for haul-out fees to tune up your bottom paint and do other under-the-waterline maintenance. Wear and tear on fenders, fender covers, and dock lines is a hidden and significant cost associated with in-water storage to be aware of. When all expenses are added up, I expect the cost will be about the same either way.
Ultimately, the choice comes down to what projects are on your winter work list and which risks you’re more comfortable shouldering. Both in-water and on-land can be a good choice for winter boat storage. But at some point, don’t forget to check out the third option and sail south—that’s your best workaround!
October 2024
