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The Contessa Corner → Technical → Winter Lay-up
Hi Group,
Tessa comes out of the water tomorrow and I was just wondering about everyone's winter lay up routine regarding the engine, head, etc. Any and all advice will be most welcome.
José
p.s. I'm so depressed that the season's over but being last out, I'll be first in in April. 5-1/2 months and counting.
I just put -50 degree anti-freeze in my engine, water lines and in the bilge. Nothing special.
Thanks for the response, John. I took the keel plug out for the winter lay-up so do I still need to put anti freeze in the bilge?
In addition to what John noted, really important to change the oil before you lay her up, (and then again when you recomission in the spring). Fill the diesel tanks and add a biocide. Also good to plug any air inlet into the engine, (air intake AND exhaust), even just with a rag, helps keep moisture out of the cylinder.
Grease EVERYTHING that moves - ball valves, engine controls, etc. Someday, this will save you a struggle in the spring.
Take the batteries out of the boat, clean them up and keep them stored where you can keep the charge topped up - every 4 -5 weeks.
There's also a long standing argument in some parts of the world - to store with mast up or mast down. All things being equal, take the mast down. If you leave it up for cost reasons, at least slack the tension on the standing rigging.
Probably some other things I do too, but won't remember them until next week when I'm actually doing them!
Hi Steve,
It's interesting what you said regarding plugging the air intake with a rag to prevent moisture from coming in. I've also heard of something called "fogging oil" which is sprayed right into the cylinder via the injector port(s). What about just positioning the piston at top dead centre which is the compression stroke which pretty much eliminates anything coming into the cylinder? I also agree with the notion that the mast should be taken down during the winter months as it's very stressful for the hull, rigging, etc. when the mast is subjected to very high winds not to mention heavy,frozen precipitation along with it. At least on the water, the motion of the boat alleviates a lot of the stress mentioned above but I'm sure there's more than one school of thought regarding the subject. Good luck on your haul out next week. Today's haul out for me was bitter sweet at best as the weather was superb for a sail but she only had time for a twenty minute ride enough to heat up the oil before I had to change it.
José
I still put anti-freeze in the bilge because the pug is not truly at the bottom and I had some water there after pulling my plug. Also, I did take my battery home but on the oil, I was going to change it out in the Spring, not thinking it needed in the winter, next fall I will do this. I took my mast down so I could cover over my boat with a tarp plus I have some wiring and a new light and wind indicator to put on the mast in the spring. The mast help make a nice rigdeline for the tarp so no water would collect, as it did no another boat in the Marina when I was doing mine. It took 4-hours by myself and wind to put the tarp on so find help, I used 20'x35' extra strenght from Hamilton Marine in Maine. Also, I opened all the cubby holes in the cabin area so air can move and mold will not grew (a big concern of mine as I check out a Contessa 26 last spring in Vermont that was covered with mold and it was raped in plastic) plus put in mosture tubs to help with this. There is nothing in the boat as I pulled everything out and stored it my place. Hope this helps. jklee
Hi John,
I would also spray potential mold areas in the boat with a product called, "mold control" by concrobium which you can easily buy at the Home Depot. I suspect that the Contessa you saw in Vermont spent some wet and warm periods under the tarp for mold to form but I doubt that it formed during the winter months. I too have some work to do on the mast with a new anchor light at the top of the mast as well as replacing an antiquated antenna and cable and just updating the wiring that's probably as old as the boat which is 30 years old. I was also thinking of wiring for a radar unit but I'm still not sure just yet.
Thanks for the feedback!
Jose
Just a reminder that Merrill's nice article "Winterizing for very chilly
conditions" in the Tech notes section pretty much covers everything.
Marc
Hi Marc,
Thanks so much for pointing that out. I did check the other sections of our forum but it didn't occur to me to check the "Tech Notes". This helps quite a bit for everyone I'm sure.
Jose
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