On Friday October 21st, 2 cranes arrived at our Yacht Club and by 2:30 Saturday afternoon, all 120 boats (21’ to 50’) were hauled out of the water and placed on stands or cradles for winter. It is absolutely amazing to see such a team accomplish this in only a short time. It still boggles my mind that haul-out for the whole club can be done in a day.
In a previous newsletter “Fall Boating is Like a Roll of Toilet Paper”, we talked about fall haul-out. This generated an interesting comment from a boater “Why haul your boat out in the Fall? Life is too short not to enjoy them all year?”
My first thought was “Wow” If you can boat 12 months of the year, are you ever lucky!”
My second thought was “Maybe this boater braves the cold and ice and lives aboard in the winter. That would not be an option for me, but many boaters leave their boats in during cold winter weather and use bubblers to keep the ice thawed enough so that it doesn’t damage the hull. I’ve read many stories of the ingenious solutions they invent to live in the boat during the -5C or 28F temperatures and numerous snow storms. Not my choice, but to each their own.
For all the boaters who don’t experience minus temperatures in the winter and can enjoy boating all year ‘round, all I can say is “You are not only lucky to enjoy the benefits of boating, but also to escape the time, energy and costs of winterizing, haul-out, summarizing and spring launch. What a treat that would be.”
Haul-Out and Launch
Here in Canada, the northern United States and other countries where the water gets solid in the winter months, hauling out for that period is a necessity. Millions of boaters go through the winterizing summarizing, and storage processes.
For those of us who haul-out and launch, we live and enjoy four seasons every year and there is much anticipation and joy each time we enter a new season. The minute the boat comes out of the water in the fall haul-out, we start looking forward to spring launch. The plans, the shopping for boating toys, the upgrades we plan, the trips, the friends to invite next summer, new foods to try on the BBQ, new trips and anchorages to plan. The list goes on and on all winter long and the excitement builds.
Now that spring is just around the corner, we are full of anticipation and getting ready for the boating season like kids with new toys.
It is difficult for us to imagine what the downsides to boating all year would be, but there has to be some.
Boating All Year
If you are one of the fortunate who are able to boat all year, what are the pros and cons? Please enlighten us northerners who go through haul-out and launch every year.
We would love to hear your stories and comments.
Brenda Dawson
I have always looked forward to your posts, and have never been disappointed.
Keep up the great work.
Hoping all is well for you both.
Bob
I live and boat on Long Island, and could conceivably boat year round. I store my 24 ft outboard boat on the hard, winterize her each year, and essentially “forget” her until spring. My 42 ft sailboat is a different story. To defray the costs of unstepping the mast and hauling, I store her wet at a marina 2 out of 3 years, hauling to paint the bottom in the 3rd year. Doing this requires meticulous winterizing procedures, heat tracing of the through hulls, and frequent checking to be sure everything is alright. Using the boat in the winter isn’t really practical unless I extend the insurance coverage for the winter months, and accept the need to re-winterize the engine after each use. It’s just too much extra work and expense for a couple of cold weather sails.