Essential Fall Boat Maintenance Tips

As the summer boating season comes to an end and you plan to store your boat for the winter, there are several key steps you can take now to save extra work in the spring and enable you to get back on the water faster.

Inspect for Damage

Rich Jennings, AkzoNobel’s Yacht Technical Manager, says fall is the best time to inspect your boat for any dings or scratches that need to be addressed. This timing provides boaters with additional time to assess and get their boat shipshape for the upcoming spring boating season.

Clean Carefully

After hauling your boat out of the water, your first task should be to wash the bottom to remove any slime, algae, or other marine growth. Use a 25° or maximum 15° tip, not a 0° or rotating nozzle, as this can cause damage to the hull and coatings. Be especially careful if you have an outdrive, as aggressive pressure washing may damage the rubber bellows. Cleaning the bottom now will save time on recoating in the spring when it will be harder to remove any marine growth.

Once you’ve cleaned the bottom, wash the entire boat from top down to remove any additional scum or brown water stains that are above the waterline. Never be tempted to leave slime or any other contaminants, as they will become dried or baked onto the surface. If you are cleaning or pumping tanks and bilges through various skin fittings, thoroughly rinse any oily or polluted runoff drips from the yacht exterior surface to prevent damage to the antifouling layers.

Inspect for Damage

After washing the boat, inspect the bottom coatings along with your underwater metals for any damage such as beaching scratches, wearing or chipping of the bottom paint, electrolysis, or banged-up props and other running gear. This will help you determine the amount of work needed to get the boat ready for next season. Check your fouling control or bottom paint for adhesion issues such as mud flaking or cracking, which is usually caused by first coats becoming brittle and detaching from the primer or substrate over the years and repeated drying and wetting cycles.

Apply Multi-Seasonal Coatings

If the fouling control or bottom paint is in good condition, now is the time to paint the bottom with a multi-seasonal product such as Interlux® and International Micron® products, or Sea Hawk’s Biocop TF, Cukote, or Colorkote. For more information, visit Yachtpaint & SeaHawkpaints. Using these types of bottom coatings allows you to get one step ahead of the spring prep, particularly for both DIY and professionals, and they are designed to have longer launch windows as well as withstand being hauled in and out of the water without losing their effectiveness.

Repair if Required

If there is a lot of paint flaking off, now is the time to contact a professional to find out whether it needs a localized repair or the complete removal of the bottom coatings and rebuilding from the substrate. The more labor-intensive option may be necessary if the original coating is more than eight years old and there are signs of generalized detachment and flaking. Multi-seasonal polishing or ablative coatings help to minimize this issue and prevent paint buildup over seasons.

Barrier System to Protect

If you must remove the whole coating system via media blasting, it is advised that reapplication begins with a barrier system such as Interlux InterProtect 2000E, International Interprotect, International Gelshield, or Sea Hawk Tuff Stuff. This will help guard against water entering the gelcoat and provide corrosion protection for aluminium and steel hulls as well as running gear.

Hull and Deck Inspection

For above the waterline, thoroughly inspect your hull sides, decks, and cabin for any damage that needs to be addressed in the off-season. For unpainted hull sides that are not retaining their color or luster, it may be time to coat them as the gelcoat will be exposed to harsh marine and UV environments and become increasingly chalky, porous, and harder to maintain.

Use 3D Color Visualizer

When your gelcoat has reached this point, it is time to consider repainting above the waterline with a DIY product or a professional topcoat application. AkzoNobel’s Awlgrip launched the revolutionary 3D Color Visualizer to enable boaters and professionals to gain a visual representation of what their boat could look like in a 3D virtual environment, with instant access to tens of thousands of colors. You can then download your project scheme to discuss with your retailer or client.

If the topsides are in good condition and unpainted, a thorough cleaning with Awlwash boat detergent followed by buffing, polishing, and finishing with boat wax or protective polymer will help minimize any staining from the harsh winter weather and provide protection against UV light.

Wrap the Topsides

Now is the time to cover or shrink-wrap the topsides. If they are painted, clean with Awlwash followed by Awlcare polymer to protect the finish. If you cover the boat, it is advised not to have the shrink wrap against the painted surfaces as moisture may become trapped, leading to micro-blistering. Take care to avoid flapping covers or ropes that may chafe and rub against painted, varnished, or gel-coated surfaces. The cover system, whether synthetic or natural fiber, should be ventilated to allow the coating system to ‘breathe.’

By taking these steps, you can get a head start on preparing your boat for the upcoming boating season and get back on the water faster.