A Primer On Winter Hull Maintenance Tasks For Your Boat

Most boat owners don’t need to do offseason or winter hull maintenance, or only need to do so occasionally. That’s especially true if a boat is always trailered, seldom if ever spends long periods in the water at a dock, and is exclusively used in freshwater.

But if you have a larger vessel that spends a lot of time being moored (especially in saltwater), own a wood-hulled boat, or have run aground or contacted obstructions or hard bottoms (like reefs), the importance of winter hull maintenance is self-evident. At the very least your boat winterizing efforts will include such winter hull maintenance as inspection, cleaning, and applying a protective coating. Here’s a primer on the most important winter hull maintenance tasks.

Inspect. Look thoroughly for any signs of damage, soft spots, delamination, rot, and blistering.

Remove Barnacles. Since attached barnacles can damage the hull surface and reduce fuel efficiency, it’s important to scrape them off and sand-smooth affected areas.

Clean Thoroughly. Powerwash as best you can using a moderate-pressure nozzle (it’s hard to powerwash all of the bottom, especially if it’s on a low trailer). To prevent mold on a boat hull use a hull-cleaning product to remove dirt, algae, scuff marks, salt, and anything else appearing on the hull surface that the pressure washer didn’t get.

Repair Coatings. If your hull, gunwale, bow, or transom has chips, cracks, scratches, and the like, you might want to get these repaired. For fiberglass boats you may entertain a DIY repair for small jobs, using fiberglass patching materials available at marine supply stores. Otherwise, have a fiberglass boat repair shop undertake the job.

Wood Repair. If there are issues on a wooden hull you must be concerned about rot. Maintenance might include caulking seams, replacing planks and fasteners, and more extensive undertakings. If you’re a skilled woodworker and have a suitable workshop, you might attempt these efforts yourself.

Consider Painting. I have sailor friends with large boats who do cleaning and painting chores themselves, but, of course, this is done by workers in boatyards all the time. The hulls of many fiberglass boats are not factory-covered with a marine-grade antifouling paint that resists mold and organic growth. Consider doing this if your boat is in the water a lot. I had antifouling paint applied to a skiff and it made a positive difference in appearance, performance, and cleanup (I hose it down after every saltwater use).

Use A Protective Coating/Wax. Wooden hulls can be preserved and protected by sanding and varnishing. Fiberglass hulls can benefit from wax application, which minimizes ultraviolet damage, dirt and organic growth accumulation, prevents staining, improves appearance, and aids fuel efficiency.

With this all done, you should be in great shape for spring boating.