We are coming into the last few weeks of the charter season and I am already thinking about the handover inspections and winter prep for the fleet. Every year there is something that slips through — last year it was a corroded shackle on the mainsheet block that nobody spotted until the owner survey.
Curious what other skippers or boat owners have found lurking at the end of a busy season. I am particularly interested in things that get hammered by constant use over summer but are easy to miss during a quick visual check. Standing rigging, winch internals, sail slides, that kind of thing.
I have started doing a more thorough rig check this year including going up the mast, which is not my favourite activity, but last time I found a cracked sheave at the masthead that would have been expensive if it had let go.
Back from Sardinia and already knee-deep in end-of-season work on my own boat, so this thread is timely.
One thing I have learned the hard way — check your fuel tank for condensation and water contamination before you lay up. Over the summer you are running the engine regularly so it never becomes a problem, but once the boat sits for months with a half-empty tank, condensation builds up and you get bacterial growth in the diesel. I lost an entire fuel system to this a few years ago in Cagliari. Now I always fill the tank completely, add biocide, and run the engine for twenty minutes to get treated fuel through the lines.
Also seconding the standing rigging comment Katrin. The forestay toggle pins on Bavarias are notorious for seizing up if they are not pulled and greased annually. Ask me how I know.
Good thread Katrin. One thing I always see people skip — check the heads seacocks and the hoses connected to them. After a full summer of charter guests who do not always treat the heads gently, the hose clamps can work loose and the hoses themselves start to perish from the inside out. You will not see it until you squeeze them and feel them crumble. Found one last October that was literally held together by the outer braid.
Also worth pulling up the floorboards and having a proper look in the bilge. You would be amazed what ends up down there over a charter season — cutlery, bottle caps, a snorkel once. More importantly check for any oily residue around the engine mounts which could mean a slow leak you missed during turnarounds.
Really interesting thread — I had no idea how much goes into turning a charter boat around at the end of the season. Katrin, what is the most disgusting thing you have ever found on a boat after a charter week? I feel like there must be some horror stories.
Also, is the standing rigging check something the charter company handles or does the owner usually arrange that separately? Asking because eventually I would love to look into shared ownership or something similar and I am trying to understand what the real costs look like beyond the purchase price.
This is so helpful to read as a total beginner. Silly question maybe — when you say “haul out” and “lay up” for winter, does that mean the boats literally come out of the water and sit in a yard? I assumed boats just stayed in the marina all year round here since it does not freeze. Is there a reason you cannot just leave them in?
Anna — no silly questions! Yes, the boats literally come out of the water on a crane or travel lift and sit on stands in a boatyard. You are right that it does not freeze here, and plenty of people do keep their boats in the water year-round. But hauling out lets you properly inspect and repaint the bottom, check the prop and anodes, and deal with anything below the waterline that you cannot get to otherwise. For charter boats especially, a full season of use means the antifouling is usually shot by October.
Sophie, to answer your question about horror stories — where do I start. Last year we found an entire raw chicken stuffed behind a cushion in the aft cabin. No idea how long it had been there but the smell gave us a rough estimate. We have also had charter guests run the heads dry and crack the pump housing, leave wet towels in sealed lockers for two weeks straight, and one memorable crew managed to jam a wine cork so deep into the galley drain that we had to replace the entire fitting. It is all part of the business but October deep-clean week is never boring.
Update on the antifouling situation — I helped with the haul-out last weekend at STP and can confirm Sophie from six weeks ago had no idea what she was signing up for. Three hours of scraping barnacles in the sun followed by the actual painting. My arms are still sore.
But honestly it was brilliant. Seeing the hull out of the water and understanding how everything connects underneath — the anodes, the through-hulls, the cutlass bearing that Carlos mentioned — made so many things from the theory courses click. If any other beginners get the chance, absolutely say yes.
Timely thread. I have just started my own end-of-season list for the Hallberg-Rassy and it grows longer every year.
One thing nobody has mentioned yet — give your seacocks a proper work-through before winter. Close and open each one a few times to make sure they have not seized over the summer. The ones that hardly ever get touched, like the cockpit drain seacocks, are the worst offenders. I found one on a mate’s boat in Pollença last autumn that was completely frozen open. Not something you want to discover when you actually need to close it.
Also worth pulling out the impeller on the engine raw water pump even if it still looks fine. A summer of warm Mediterranean water and salt does a number on the rubber. Much easier to swap it now than to deal with an overheating engine on your first spring sail.
James makes a good point about the seacocks. I would add — do not forget the engine side of things. Run the engine up to temperature one last time, change the oil and filters while it is warm, and then fog the cylinders if you are laying up for more than a couple of months. The number of boats I see in April with fuel problems because someone left old diesel sitting all winter with condensation forming in the tank… it is always the same story.
Also worth draining the raw water side completely and running antifreeze through it. Yes, it does not freeze here often, but in January we sometimes get a few nights close to zero up in the yards around the Tramuntana side, and a cracked heat exchanger is an expensive surprise in spring.
One thing that always gets missed on charter boats at end of season — the heads. Specifically the hoses. After a full summer of use those joker valves are usually done and the hose runs smell terrible no matter how much you flush them. I always swap the whole lot in October rather than waiting for the first complaint of the next season.
Also worth pulling the impeller on the engine cooling even if it looks fine. A summer of warm Mediterranean water and sand does things to rubber.
This is really useful to read even as a beginner. I had no idea how much work goes into getting a charter boat ready for winter. Makes me appreciate the boats I have been learning on a lot more!
Katrin, do the academy boats go through the same kind of end-of-season prep or is it different because they stay in the water year round?