The classic preparation for wintering your sailboat
It was March, and I had to leave my boat, a 9-meter steel sailboat, on its own, well secured on its yard cradle, in the dry, until early July to go to work. To leave with peace of mind, I carried out all the conventional and suggested tasks before leaving my boat for a long period. Filling the diesel tank to avoid condensation, emptying the water tank, switching off the electricity, rinsing the inboard engine with fresh water, installing a dehumidifier. In short, everything that's recommended.
Lagos, southern Portugal: a dry, windy, sandy climate
Back on the boat with my partner after these months away, the first thing that shocked us was to find our ship all silted up. Lagos faces Morocco, and it's not uncommon for sand from the Sahara to rise to the top of the shipyard's bunkers. In itself, this isn't too bad, but it's not optimal for the equipment. Putting protection on our winches, for example, would have saved us time on the way back. We had to open them up, clean them (we could see some sand) and re-grease them.
In Lagos, it rarely rains and clouds are rare. The north wind or "Nortada blows at least 20 knots every afternoon, making for a very dry climate. The problems aren't the same as in a damp yard in Brittany or Galicia!
A pleasant surprise
Even at dry docks, it's customary to check the bilges. And I know all about it: I've already found ten liters of diesel and fresh water in the bilge sump! On the way home, I lift the bilges and surprise surprise: everything's dry! But something seems odd: the floors have lifted with disconcerting ease. I then realize that the whole boat is actually "dried . Absolutely, all the cupboards, floors and everything else made of wood has deflated. Some cupboards now have a bit of play in them. Our "western" door, which held perfectly well thanks to two magnets, now needs to be secured so that it doesn't open on its own.
Flip-flops have melted
If the mishap isn't serious, it can serve as a lesson for any equipment left on deck. I had left my flip-flops in the cockpit. When I saw them, I didn't recognize them: they had literally melted and lost half their size. In direct sunlight, the boat had to endure temperatures of between 50 and 60 degrees. As the boat is made of steel, it can store heat if it's not sheltered from the sun.
In April, keep your wits about you
Inside the boat, everything was better than expected and everything had dried, including the plant... outside, we were in for another surprise. With the boat at a standstill, the sun's rays beat down on the same spot day after day. Just before we left, we had redone some pretty cockpit side awnings. The rope holding them in place simply burned out. All the pretty exterior woodwork, though painted with exterior marine varnish, has been damaged. All that's left is to redo everything.
If I had to do it all over again
Leaving the boat for such a long time, we were mentally prepared to find it damp, with rust, oxidized connections... But the opposite happened: we found our boat dried out.
If we had to do it all over again, we would of course have tarpaulined everything. But you have to be meticulous, as the wind is blowing hard and there's a risk of everything blowing away, or worse, the boat falling over. So the wisest thing to do is to bring everything in, including the furling genoa we'd left in place, "by laziness" . And if you can't get the woodwork inside, cover it with a tarpaulin.
In conclusion, for a boat that needs to be dried out, for example because of osmosis, it can be a really good idea to spend a spring and summer dry in Lagos.
When it's time to put the boat back in the water, let's hope that the through-hull seals, among others, haven't dried out too much either!
