Boat is "In Bed" for the winter

[Brian N.]

Rather sad to end the season, but cool weather is expected to move in soon, and the docks come out of the water too. Was a long process cleaning and drying the sails and lines. We had a couple of warmer sunny days so I was able to lay them out and dry them thoroughly. My wife has no clue (yet) that they are under our bed. Boat cushions were stored on a shelf in the house after a quick cleaning. Life jackets were also cleaned and stored inside. Electronics, compass, fire extinguisher, binoculars have a dedicated spot in a closet. After removing the rigging, including the spreaders I cleaned the boat inside, opened the ports, and left the hatch open to air out in the sun. I used my lighter weight summer tarp to cover the boat for now, and around Thanksgiving I'll switch to the bigger heavy duty tarp. Last thing I did was to charge the battery before storing it. Truthfully, the last thing was to put a couple of dryer sheets in the boat to discourage the racoons from moving in!

P.S. - Flares will expire by next spring, so I put them with all the other expired ones in the basement. Still, no solution as to proper disposal. I'm never buying them again and I will get the LED electronic one.

[Macsp21]

With temps droping to low 60s and winds 20 to
30 mph iam thinking its about time to do the same

[DBthal]

Brian,

Like most things related to the P-165, you've got the end of season routine down to a science.

Hope you have a great Winter of skiing to offset a less than stellar sailing Summer.

[Ida Lewis]

Beyond dryer sheets, any other critter control tips out there? We share our back yard with mice, squirrels, chipmunks, woodchucks, skunks, porcupines, fisher cats, etc. So far, I've been told mothballs are good, but would appreciate ideas from more seasoned over-winter boat storers. Thx.

[tjspiel]

Beyond dryer sheets, any other critter control tips out there? We share our back yard with mice, squirrels, chipmunks, woodchucks, skunks, porcupines, fisher cats, etc. So far, I've been told mothballs are good, but would appreciate ideas from more seasoned over-winter boat storers. Thx.

I kept my boat outside for one season over the winter and now it's kept indoors at the state fair grounds which I'm sure has a few mice in the buildings.

I put in a ton of dryer sheets. So many that I keep finding them for half the sailing season.

Bonus is that the cabin always smells nice.

So far it's kept the critters out but that might be more about luck than dryer sheets.

[tjspiel]

Brian,

Like most things related to the P-165, you've got the end of season routine down to a science.

Hope you have a great Winter of skiing to offset a less than stellar sailing Summer.

Agreed. My boat has been out for almost a week and I still haven't put a dent in the "put away" tasks.

I have the opposite cushion storage situation as Brian. Rather than boat cushions coming out, all the patio cushions go in the boat too before it goes to winter storage. I guess as long as we're paying for storage, might as well take advantage of it.

[Brian N.]

Ida - First, welcome to the Forum. I've had problems with racoons for the last few years. For the first few years I had the boat, we had "outside" cats that would spend their time under the boat and that was just fine, keeping the vermin and racoons away. The cats now prefer my front porch and the racoons have discovered the boat. I've tried commercial deterrent, a waste of money. Vinegar works if you're religious about spraying and don't mind if your boat smells like a salad. Mothballs, had limited success. Recently I've been using scented dryer sheets (dollar store bargain brand) and they apparently work 95% of the time. Last week I did find paw prints but no mess. I try to put new dryer sheets in weekly.

Oddly, and perhaps coincidence, we have had a great horned owl living in an old tree. Nighttime raids on the garbage and forays by the racoons seem to be way down. Nature does it best.

Lastly, we would be glad to hear a bit about you and your boat. Regards.

[Riggerdood]

<snip> Vinegar works if you're religious about spraying and don't mind if your boat smells like a salad. <snip>

Brian, that's the funniest thing I've heard in ages! 

[Ida Lewis]

Thank you, Brian, for both the welcome and the helpful info. I just bought a used P18 and have not had a boat that I could store on my own property before, so I very well may seek advice of this august listserv frequently. We have Barred Owls in the abutting forest, and perhaps that's why I've not seen raccoons.

[Ida Lewis]

In response to Brian's "...we would be glad to hear a bit about you and your boat.":
I retired in 2019 and re-engaged sailing. Have sailed over the past 50 years, but with long periods of too-busy-to-sail. Most racing experience has been as crew (northern California lakes and the S.F. Bay on a Thistle and more extensive YRA racing on the S.F. Bay as fore deck crew on a 38' then 44' racer-cruiser). Co-owned and mostly pleasure sailed a Newport 30 (which was named the "Ida Lewis," thus my listserv pen name) on the Bay for years. Just bought a 1990 Precision 18 that seems in pretty good shape and that, unfortunately, must come out of the water next week.

[DBthal]

We share our back yard with mice, squirrels, chipmunks, woodchucks, skunks, porcupines, fisher cats, etc.

Critters & owls.......  Sounds like my forested back yard!

[Brian N.]

Thanks for the bio update. Retirement is great; I retired 2019 as well. Looking forward to you sharing your experience on the forum. We have a great bunch of sailors sharing varied experiences and knowledge. What I like best about this forum is everyone is good natured, courteous, respectful, friendly and helpful.

BTW - Tim (Riggerdood) hosts a "Happy Hour" Zoom meeting every other Friday. Forty minutes of friendly boat talk (mostly). Hope you can join. 

[Riggerdood]

Ida, did you get my reply to your PM of a couple weeks ago?

[Ida Lewis]

Ahh, well now I have. It took me a while to realize what that tag for messages was meant to be. I have now responded via PM.

[Riggerdood]

Got it, and reply sent. Also, look for one from this past Sunday evening (2 days ago), with the link for this Friday's PSHH.