Winterising Decisions

Grand Designs: 2010

We tossed and turned about our 2010 winterising location and did quite some research into leaving WJ3 in Nova Scotia.  This would have meant a more relaxed, thorough trip north from Chesapeake Bay to Maine and Nova Scotia.  We had even hoped to make Prince Edward Island too.  However, we ended up returning to Deltaville largely due to the commitment of winterising that far north.  This saved us the hassle of finding a wooden cradle, taking out the mast, covering WJ3 in plastic shrink wrap (friend Paula reckons they look like oversized Steggles frozen chickens!) and/or leaving her in heated accommodation.  We would then have further problems of sailing through ice on our way out to the Azores. These cold weather solutions did not appeal to us at all and our concerns were well-substantiated when a friend (who loves cold water sailing) did leave his boat with associated costs to the tune of some $17000. Mind, that did include some work done to the mast whist it was out.



Chilly on the Chesapeake in late October

Back in Deltaville, we allowed a good ten days to get those chores done before leaving WJ3 to Virginian snows and icy blasts – and as we were later to discover some rather too close tornadoes. 

After last year’s mould problem, we still washed the hard areas down with a vinegar/water solution and left baking powder in the fridges to keep them smelling sweet.  GS put a generous quantity of closet camels throughout the boat and sprinkled lockers liberally with moth balls.  I consulted Herd’s Hardware (a great local repository of gadgets, knowledge and advice) as to a better solution to our teak oil problems.  Finally I set up one dorade vent just behind the mast (in a purpose built fitting) and left the small solar fan that vents the compost loo (disconnected) to extract stale air from the boat. Let’s see if that works!