J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment Winter Storage in the water...

Hello all! Our new club is full for storage on the hard, and has offered me storage in the water for the winter, with a bubbler system. Pros and cons? Obviously, I would haul the boat for a couple days, check the rudder post and bearings, add a new layer of anti fouling paint, and replace the anode on the rudder shaft - I could also do this work again come spring before our racing season kicks into high gear. I would also step the mast, and have the boat shrink wrapped, she would just be in the water for the entire winter season.

A bit about Groovin: Extensive repairs to the boat were done with the previous owner on the transom to fix any wet areas, and we had an impact area repaired on the starboard forward side, with a couple soft spots found and repaired during repainting (awlgrip) on port side, so overall - a very dry boat with a brand new coat of awlgrip. No obvious areas of core saturation that I can find.

A bit about our climate: Storing in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Coldish winters, probably averaging -8 C for a couple months, but nothing too extreme. No worries at all about ice buildup around the boat at all, especially with the bubbler system. Will be on the boat at least once per week to ensure the bilge is staying dry, etc.

I can go to a different marina for storage on the hard - but this is by far the cheapest option (~$500). Looking for any voice of experience, as we are new to boat owning and all that it entails!

I did wet storage twice when I lived in Long Island NY. When there was a heavy winter storm the power to the bubbler system would go out. Trying to find out who had the key to turn the bubbler back on was a problem. The other wet slip was in the outflow of the sweage plant - that never froze but slip was shallow and on a full moon low tide the keel was 2 feet in the muck. After these experiences I had the boat hauled out with the mast up. Now i just have to dodge hurricanes in FL.

At an average of -8 make sure you have a low heater to keep through hulls and hoses from freezing and make sure everything gets drained really well.

I am in the water year round, but nowhere near as cold out here on the left coast. That said, we did have a couple of two week periods at -15 where the water did freeze in the marina but we just tried to break it up around the boats. Usually there was a enough latent heat in the hull to keep the water from freezing within an inch of it.