Dry storage?

[Ginnie Jo Blue]

Hey y'all, 

I'm going to pull my boat out of the water for the winter later this fall. A few questions: 

1. Do you have any recommended locations for storage? Preference for hwy 2 (Everett) or north. Open to indoor or outdoor depending on price, looking for safe and secure location. I won't be sailing it until next spring so it doesn't need water access.
   
   
2. Do I just tarp it (or not?) after pulling all my lines, sails, cushions, etc. Take my outboard home to store in the garage? Empty the water tanks. Take the batteries. Am I missing anything? I used to store my 27 on the trailer but was still sailing it so I didn't tarp it. 

Thanks,

Ginnie Jo

F32AX

[Scott Bushnell]

I'm renting a shop space in Anacortes, Alpha One LLC, don't know what he charges for open storage but he has room, and it's just off March Pt Rd. Phone number is (425)471-5757. Chris Hatch.  An in-town possibility is Pacific Marine, just south of Anacortes Marina.  They have a ramp also, .

Scott B

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[Eric Lindahl]

No idea on storage yards.   I found my trailer storage with a WTB query on Craigs List.

 

Pump water lines, toilet & water & holding tanks dry.  Some use a non toxic RV anti freeze, I don't bother.  I sponge dry the water tank then stick a hair dryer, on low, in the inspection port for a day until it is bone dry.  I then stretch an old nylon stocking over the inspection port to keep bugs out and allow ventilation, (the stocking gets pulled over a big yogurt tub that fits the diameter of the port, the bottom of the tub is cut open). 

 

Do pull your sails, foresail sheets, etc, and cushions and store em inside.  Halyards I coil & leave on my mast and cover them by sleeving old windsurfing sail bag tubes over the top and bottom of the mast.  Boom & lines get same treatment.  Lines getting wet is fine with me, this is to keep dirt, green grunge and sunlight off of them.  You can easily sew cheap tubes with old blue tarp, or a better material. 

 

Main sheet gets lumped in the forward part of the cockpit that is covered by a tarp that just fits between the beams; it does get wet and a little grunge.  If you want to go full cover, I designed, built and McIvered cool mast supports that attach to the top of the folded beams and lifts the mast up high enough to stand up in the cockpit.  You can then tarp the whole boat with a ~$150 36' x 24' tarp.  Useful if you want to work on the boat or just keep the west side green grunge at bay.  I don't bother with this any more.

 

The motor I leave on the boat; the 9.9 is too heavy for this old man to bother taking off. The smaller outboards I do keep inside.  I run them in fresh water for a while to get all the salt out of them.  (Some use a product called Saltaway, I think, to deal with corrosion but I haven't seen the need in the last 50 years of cruising).  Outboards are not affected by freeze or seasonal disuse in my experience.  They start up fine every spring.  However a few years ago I did have the Honda 9.9 throttle seize up on the carb.  It started & shifted just fine but when I cast off and tried to advance the throttle it wouldn't accelerate.  I had to idle back around and re-park the boat to trouble shoot it.   So maybe spray the carb (and electrical parts while you're at it) with a protectant and work the throttle back and forth to get the stuff inside the bearing surfaces.  This is only one instance out of the dozen or two outboards I've left disused, all winter, outside, over the last 50 years, (these were mostly fresh water motors but sometimes used in the Sound for a few weeks at a time).  I do change the crank case oil and gear lube every fall so it's ready to go in the spring.  Every few years I hassle with changing the water pump impeller.   That's all I can think of right now.  As you can imagine there's probably lists on line that cover more stuff.

Eric 

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[Eric Lindahl]

I forgot, Batteries:  I have just one.  It is left on the boat all the time.  It is hooked directly to a 25 watt solar panel that is dated 1998, there is no controller.   The battery lasted 11 years this way.   After 26 years the panel died last year.  Will have to buy another 25 watt panel for this winter.

Eric 

On 07/17/2025 1:31 PM PDT Ginnie Jo Blue <ginnie...@gmail.com> wrote:

 

 

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[Paul English]

On Sat, Jul 19, 2025, at 08:17, 'Eric Lindahl' via Northwest Multihull Association wrote:

No idea on storage yards.

A friend just mentioned there are a few in Anacortes that do mast-down storage for $7/foot, which seems pretty good. 

Do pull your sails, foresail sheets, etc, and cushions and store em inside.  Halyards I coil & leave on my mast and cover them by sleeving old windsurfing sail bag tubes over the top and bottom of the mast. 

If it is mast-down it is easier to deal with the halyards - then they can be coiled at the exit and stuffed in a bag. The main thing is to keep the sunlight off the jacket. Basically all of my (SoCal) halyards had perfectly fine dyneema cores with years left on them, and the jackets disintegrating. 

The traditional solution with mast-up is to run a sacrificial cheap mousing line for each one and remove them entirely.  

The motor I leave on the boat; the 9.9 is too heavy for this old man to bother taking off. The smaller outboards I do keep inside.  I run them in fresh water for a while to get all the salt out of them.  (Some use a product called Saltaway, I think, to deal with corrosion but I haven't seen the need in the last 50 years of cruising).

I've done Saltaway after a long cruise when I couldn't flush the outboard, and I usually flush almost every time we go out. But then - I bought my outboard brand new and I was trying to be kind to it. 

  Outboards are not affected by freeze or seasonal disuse in my experience.  They start up fine every spring.  However a few years ago I did have the Honda 9.9 throttle seize up on the carb.  It started & shifted just fine but when I cast off and tried to advance the throttle it wouldn't accelerate.  I had to idle back around and re-park the boat to trouble shoot it.   So maybe spray the carb (and electrical parts while you're at it) with a protectant and work the throttle back and forth to get the stuff inside the bearing surfaces. 

If I knew I was not going to be using it for a while, I would at least SeaFoam the gas I'm running through it at the end, then drain the carb and spray it like Eric said. I think PBO will have an article soonish with really scientific tests of SeaFoam-like products.

[Paul English]

On Sat, Jul 19, 2025, at 08:43, 'Eric Lindahl' via Northwest Multihull Association wrote:

I forgot, Batteries:  I have just one.  It is left on the boat all the time.  It is hooked directly to a 25 watt solar panel that is dated 1998, there is no controller.   The battery lasted 11 years this way.   After 26 years the panel died last year.  Will have to buy another 25 watt panel for this winter.

11 years from a lead-acid is great regardless! I just replaced the LA in my car after 11 years.. it died *hard* when it did.

But if you let it run down to zero badly enough you can kill it completely in one shot.

On the electrical note - in the PNW I would strongly recommend a dehumidifier inside if you can, since it gets SO humid here. But if your storage doesn't supply electrical, you can buy large tubs of (reusable) dessicant and leave them in there. 

[Ginnie Jo Blue]

This is all fantastic. Thank you so much for the detailed steps (which I need). 

[Shaun Heublein]

We tarp our boat completely for the winter for a couple reasons. Biggest reason is we have lots of big Doug Fir trees in close proximity and it would be covered with needles, cones and small (sometimes large 😳) branches, which makes spring cleaning a MUCH bigger job. Two it keeps the water off the boat which keeps will find its way in to places where it will enevitably freeze at least once each winter, even close to the water in Anacortes. But up in Enumclaw at my parents where we keep it it has snowed (pretty sure) every winter since we have owned it. 
100% use a dehumidifier drained out the sink (I know you know why 😉) you need to have power for the dehumidifier, might as well put a heater in it too a good quality heater with overheat protection if you can find one, though not exactly necessary set it pretty cool, you don't need it hot inside just mild 50-65 deg is plenty, to help keep it dry set it in the middle of the floor somewhere. If you choose not to tarp it 100% use a heater I HOP. if you choose not to use a heater at least use a fan to circulate air from the ends of the boat towards the deumidiyer. If you opt to not tarp the boat, I would get some cheap line to use so that you can at least pull all the halyards up to where they enter the mast so there is as little rope exposed to the elements as possible.with your efi motor I would try to flush it with  fresh water. A 5 gallon bucket full is enough to run it just make sure to leave it in neutral. I would also make sure the last gas it runs on is non-ethanol and has a fuel stabilizer in it. Check the manual for any special winterization steps. For our carbureted honda we then drain the carb bowl of fuel, I have not been worried about any remaining cooling water left in the system freezing, I think it mostly all drains out anyways. 

Batteries... Do not let lithium batteries discharge below their minimum specified voltage, usually around 11.2v, cell damage will result. (it's not going to burn up or anything but it may not be recoverable) . Either charge to full and disconnect it from ALL loads (main battery selector off). Your solar charger probably won't work enough to keep the battery charged if the panel is under a tarp. Better to plug in a lithium compatable smart charger. Generally, the best way to store a lithium battery, long term (generally 6months or longer) is to have your charger hold it at ~80% charge. Check with your battery manufacturer for spacifics. Victron Energy has lots of good info for their batteries and much of it is applicable to LiFPo batteries in general. 

Water systems... We do use the RV style potable water antifreeze (generally propylene glycol) not only does it keep the lines from freezing but it also keeps things from growing in the lines as well. Otherwise I would treat the water with sodium hyperchlorate (keeps things from growing and  empty the water system as much as possible. In the Anacortes area you are less likely to get a hard freeze over the winter and your heater (you chose to use one right?)  should keep everything inside from freezing

Leftover fuel... Use it in your car/truck if compatable, lawnmower or others all engines if not. Start with fresh fuel each season. 

It sounds like a bunch of work but on the other hand I would rather do that than clean carbs and fuel lines, replace water lines and pumps, and/or replace ropes and other things sooner than otherwise. 

Shaun

[Ginnie Jo Blue]

Just reviewed all notes above and pulling my boat tomorrow. Thanks for the insight, everyone! I am now available to crew on other boats until next spring ;). 

Ginnie Jo

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