Laying up a Boat for the Winter.—In laying up a small yacht, it is well to have her upon shore, and if possible, under cover. She will thus become thoroughly dry, and she will be far more buoyant when she is launched again than if she had been lying on the mud all the winter with the water soaking through her.
All the ballast should be taken out of a boat when she is laid up. If the limber pieces be moulded to fit the shape of the bottom, each piece should be numbered so that its particular place in the hold will be known when fitting out again.
The bottom of the boat inside should be thoroughly cleaned and then tarred.
If any weeds are growing on the outside, scrape them off as soon as the yacht is on shore. It is much easier to do so when they are moist than after they have dried on the wood.
When taking the running rigging off a small yacht, the simplest plan is not to unreeve the halyards, but to unhook the blocks and carry them away with the halyards. Write the name of each halyard on one of its blocks, or, better still, mark both blocks of a halyard, showing which is the upper and which the under.
You will thus greatly simplify the task of rigging the vessel again on the following season; for to recognize one’s rigging when ropes and blocks are lying in front of one unmarked is no easy matter.
If the yacht is to be left out of doors for the winter, cover the decks with common varnish and the spars with grease and white lead. Resin dissolved in boiled oil makes a very good varnish for coating woodwork that is to be exposed to the open air during the winter.
Remember that there is nothing that will so spoil and blacken a vessel’s decks as an accumulation of snow upon them. It is a wise precaution to build a rough sloping roof over the deck, of hurdles and old canvas, or anything that comes handy, when laying her up. If she is laid up in a river where she may be exposed to floating ice, fasten hurdles round her sides.
Skylights and hatches must be frequently opened during the winter, so as to ventilate the vessel, and any water must be pumped out of her. A yacht will deteriorate more through one winter’s neglect than in ten years’ fair sailing.
The sails should of course be thoroughly dried before being stowed away for the winter. They should be stowed in a dry, well-ventilated loft. If they are soaked in sea water before being dried, they are not so liable to mildew.