In water storage..

T

TimHenn

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Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2000
RO Number
126
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346
If I have the opportunity to store in water, what are the cons?

Pro's (for me)
- less money
- access to the boat during the winter - not that important
- no hassle launching in the spring

If you store in the water in New England, do you:
- use heaters to keep Ice off?
- Do you shrink wrap?
- stay up nights concerned about pumps, leaks, sinking?
- haul every spring to replace zincs, paint, treat running gear?

I know lots of people do it -- pretty much anyone who owns they're own slip. I, on the other hand, have never stored in water and do like the idea that once she's blocked and wrapped, I can forget about her till March.

Thoughts?
 
I am in SW Florida but I have to ask the question: Why worry? In dry storage you set it and forget it...right?
 
My boat stays in the water for 2 winters in a row, then she comes out for a winter.Normal winterization routine as if on the hard. Make sure all seacocks are closed, I also tighten down my stuffing boxes. I do not run any heaters. I did run a heater once but found as snow melted it would re freeze as solid ice in areas that were colder. Without the heaters the snow just blows off.I don't run a heater on the hard anyway. Since most iceeaters bring up warmer water from the bottom to keep the ice clear, the inside of the boat is often warmer than the outside air.

Its funny but I do worry more about sinking in the winter than in the warmer months. I have 2 110volt sump pumps that I set up in the bilge. One forward and one aft. I disconnect the sink drains from the thru hull and attach the sump hoses in their place.

You have to be real careful getting on the boat after a snow. Lines and cleats on the dock are usually frozen and you cant easily adjust. In my case the shrinkwrap covers my decks so its tough getting the zipper open and then climbing in. Be sure your insurance company allows in water storage as well.
 
Why would you want to keep a boat in water since you re not going to use it anyway? Save on storage? How much do you value a good night sleep when a nor'easter is howling outside.

Disclaimer, I don't know anything about winter but keeping a boat in the water up there makes no sense unless you can use it.
 
Unless we get another Superstorm. Many RO's on this board lost their boat when they floated of the blocks. On the s. shore of Long island the yards are just too low. Every place is different though and I cant comment about Rhode Island. I have no qualms about staying in the water. As a side note thank god my boat was in the water after Sandy, its where we lived for 2 weeks. We had heat and made our own electric. I also keep the boat at the house so I do see it on a daily basis. I strictly winter in the water to save money.
 
Pascal,
I do value a good night sleep, you can believe that - a clear "con" to storing in water. But as I said, many people store in water particularly when they own the slip. The people I've talked to don't think twice about it. No issues with snow or ice - some float heaters to keep ice from forming around the hull. My home marina is very well protected from storms but I would be checking the boat periodically throughout the season. Its also nearly full in the winter as people come from other locations to store in-water there.

Zane,
Good thought on the insurance - i think that might be an issue the way the policy is written, i'll have to check. So, you do use ice-heaters outside the boat to keep ice clear? I was referring to outside heaters, not inside the boat.

I'm NOT leaning towards in-water storage cause I really do value a good nights sleep. The savings might be anywhere from $500 to $1200 for the winter season.

Thanks,
 
I have a Kasco 3/4hp ice eater that I hang off the bow. Keeps the boat clear of any ice.
 
You couldn't pay me to keep my boat in the water in winter here in MA. When your boat ( and ice eaters or bubblers, charger, heater?, etc., needs power the most it will go out and when you need to check it most you probably can't get to it and may not have any move or haul options if you could get to it. Icy lines may deteriorate faster.

Do you really want to shovel your boat? The few times I have while it was still in the water before haulout (early snow), I felt something was real-ly wrong with that picture. And if you shrink wrap you almost might as well haul & block safely, no?
 
I've kept my boat in the water for past 5 out of 7 seasons including during Sandy. I have no problem with it at all. My marina keeps watch over it and when properly tied up and fendered there is no problem. I think the hulls are better off floating than on blocks and stands, the inside of the boat has much less condensation and stays warmer when in the water. Plus my block heaters are on keeping the motors free of condensation.

To each his own though.
 
If other people in your marina keep their boats in the water during the winter, talk to them. Ask about the pros and cons. If you're in the north, I suspect you would still need to winterize the cooling and plumbing systems. Heaters stop working when the power goes out.

I keep my boat in the water all year but the water never gets below 40 degrees or so and the air temperature usually doesn't stay below freezing for more than a few hours.
 
What happens if power is lost for more than a few hours? Block heaters and ice eaters stop working, I guess you can use some remote monitoring but it is still a worry. Robyn's, you re in NJ, aren't you? I think air temp but mostly water temp don't get quite as low as RI.

Protection is obviously key but just snow and ice would be enough for me to spend the extra $1000 and not worry. I don't think a properly blocked and stiff enough boat suffers from being stored ashore. Then of course, all it takes a poorly blocked boat to start a domino effect :(
 
We winter in water 3 out of every 4 years. No particular issues. Winterize as usual. Deploy a Kasco if necessary (if the marina doesn't); water temps don't always freeze...

We can be on the boat on sunny days. We're able to do spring commissioning early, and we've often been fishing for a month before some of the boats from dry storage are finally splashed.

Short haul for inspection, bottom paint touch-up, hull topsides wash and wax, zincs, etc. after the rush is over to splash all the boats that were hauled and blocked.

-Chris
 
I guess I am one of the exceptions as is my neighbor at the marina. We own our slips in Beverly, MA (north of Boston) and store in the water for the winter, having done so for close to 20 years. Haul in the Spring every other year or so to bottom paint and change zincs and spend the winter out of the water every 5th year or so to do some maintenance/replacement.

We both shrinkwrap which eliminates any problem of accumulating snow or ice. No interior heaters are necessary although I light a Kero-sun heater when I go aboard to do some work. We position the boats centered in the slips and do put out extra lines to keep the boats as far from the floats as possible. Never had a problem with ice. Only issue that neighbor had was damage from an intense storm from the S/E which is an unusual direction for us and a cleat pulled out from the float (the galvanized steel had rusted out due to marina's failure to properly maintain). By the way, that storm damaged boats on the hard as well. Haven't lost a night's sleep from wintering in the water.

The benefit is that I can be up and running as soon as it is warm enough and over the winter, I can accomplish projects without having to run several hundred feet of power cord.

Gene
 
Where we boat dry storage isn't offered for larger boats so we really have no other option but to keep our boats in their slips.
We have built in heaters on the boat for freeze protection of the engines, geny and interior areas subject to freeze damage. We have these heaters thermostaticaly controlled but do not rely on them due to potential power failures in the winter, so in addition to the heaters we also winterize.
The dangers of keeping a boat in the water durring the winter in our area ( as long as you winterized your boat) would be the potential for snow/ice build up that could weigh the boat or coverd slip down to the point that the boat begins to take on water. I have seen several boats at our marina suffer some damage due to the build up of ice and snow but in all cases the boats were not properly maintained and were an accident waiting to happen.
However just 200 miles north of us on the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri I have seen much damage caused from snow and ice build up. The primary cause for the large magnitude of damage on this lake is due to the build up of snow and ice on the roofs of the covered slips which then collaps on the boats causing them to go below the water line and take on water. In most of the cases the boat sinkings were due to the coverd slips collapsing under the load of the snow and ice.
 
Check your boat insurance.
Many policies only cover summer months, and end coverage at say Nov 1.

Some marinas do not allow AC devices, like heaters in unattended boat during winter.

If you live close, or have trusted friend, you can monitor often and shovel snow off.
But if you live far, your mind will drive you nuts wondering what is going on after a snow storm or hard freeze. think midnight, cold Jan night, 2am, hear wind blowing, down to zero degrees and you wonder what is happening.

will water freeze around boat, crack hull, sink it.

will snow melt/rain freeze/block scuppers, sink it.

You will probably still get charged for water storage, is the difference between water and land storage that big a deal?

You will most likely want to short haul in spring to power wash and paint bottom.

Even if marina says "they will watch it"
their staff is usaully minimal, they forget, many close down and go on winter vacation.

things to consider...
 
Why would insurance end on a certain date unless you haven't paid the premium? Bad things can happen to boats even out of the water. Theft, filling with water, damage from falling trees or structures, vandalism, etc.

If anyone has a policy that doesn't cover the entire year, it would be wise to change this.
 
As a long time Chicago resident, I am used to winter weather...quite snowy and blustery at times. I also did in-water winter storage for a few years, never had a problem. It all started with proper preparation. I had the boat professionally winterized and shrink-wrapped (in clear plastic) in the water with an A-frame type configuration from bow to stern. Never had as issue with snow or ice accumulating. The clear shrink wrap helped quite a bit; when the sun did shine, the boat cabin would warm up nicely, I can't even tell you how many times i did work on the boat in the middle of winter in shorts and a t-shirt!!

I asked my marina about back-up power for the bubbling system that was installed throughout most of the marina, and once they confirmed they had back-up generator power, i felt more comfortable with my decision.

I have to concur with others that mentioned the benefits of an earlier start to the boating season and I enjoyed the puzzled looks of co-workers' faces when I told them I was going down to work on my boat in the middle of a Chicago winter.
 
quote:
Originally posted by rawidman

Why would insurance end on a certain date unless you haven't paid the premium? Bad things can happen to boats even out of the water. Theft, filling with water, damage from falling trees or structures, vandalism, etc.

If anyone has a policy that doesn't cover the entire year, it would be wise to change this.

Click to expand...


It s my understanding that many policies up north only cover seasonal in water storage and require the boat to be hauled out in winter for coverage to continue...
 
My insurance policy says out of the water from November 15th to April 1st. They also know I store the boat at my house. The rates I pay are based on this information. We boaters up here deal with winter and the freeze that comes with it. That being said we really haven't had a hard freeze for a few years so maybe we are due for one. I have a friend who only short hauls every other year but he also keeps the boat in the water behind his house. If your insurance says it's ok and your comfortable with the yard do it but I'll bet you lose sleep over it.
Rob
 
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