Cleaning the boat - At the end of the season or at the start of the next?

When the end of summer comes, we will have to winterize... The time has well and truly arrived to winterize and put the boat away. But should we tell ourselves that it will get dirty this winter and that it will be time to clean it next season, or is there any point in storing a clean ship?

We are not talking here about a navigation return and what should be done systematically for routine maintenance. We are talking about leaving the boat for many months. So in its own juice or not?

In its total juice

Does the question really arise? Can you imagine leaving your second home like this, after spending the summer there, with the table barely cleared of its crumbs? Except to have your boat maintained by a specialized company, this option of doing nothing is to be avoided. The humidity will somehow enter the saloon of the boat and the foams, cushions, towels… will mold, creating an unhealthy atmosphere in the boat. The ends will catch the rain and leave pretty marks on the deck. The fenders will become pretty plantations of moss. In short, it's not dirty that you'll find your boat in a few months, it's damaged, by dirt that has settled deeply, to such an extent that the gelcoat can, especially if it already has a little age, be marked.

On recovery, for this uninvolved yachtsman, a full and deep cleaning of the boat will undoubtedly take him several days and will quickly look like renovation.

Advice: We forget this possibility of wintering without cleaning. Cleaning the boat, at least a minimum, is part of the pleasure of the boat. This big cleaning will quickly become an unbearable chore for the owner, with a rapid disgust for his boat. Is the game worth the candle?

Total and deep cleaning during wintering

There are house fairies, including on boats. Some will call them maniacs, others provident. Be that as it may, it is this category which, when the boat is finally out of the water, will clean all the interior and exterior nooks, take out foam, mats and other mattresses and put them away. This boater's boat will be like new when he leaves it. Outside, he will have taken care to de-yellow the hull, shine the stainless steel, sober up the wood. His ends, he deposited them, washed them and stored them in water, at home. In short, a new boat is wintering!

On recovery, this yachtsman will certainly have less work to do (especially on the interiors), but his exteriors will have to be redone, because the humidity will have blackened the teak, the rain stung the stainless steel and the birds...

Two cleaning sessions: before and after winter

The right solution is to thoroughly clean your boat at the end of the season and, when you get back on the water, to clean it in detail.

Thoroughly cleaning your boat consists of going from top to bottom to expunge what, remaining for months, is sure to damage the boat. Out of order: emptying the toilets, drying out the holds, going to the washing machine for the curtains, carpets and other towels that have spent the season on the water.

The foams of the benches will be deposited so that the air can circulate around and, ideally, without contact with the structure of the boat. You can use for this, mushroom boxes arranged upside down, they will let the air pass around your mattresses and prevent the formation of mold.

You will take care to leave the ventilations open so that the air circulates well in the boat and will have humidity absorbers, the tank of which will never be placed on the boat, always in a larger tank, to avoid the brine on the wood floor.

Outside the boat, a light but correct treatment is sufficient. Wash the shell with shampoo and brush. The mechanical action necessary to obtain foam will unclog the salt and algae which will quickly leave some traces. The bridge will also be cleaned with shampoo. Stainless steel and wood will be cleaned with a sponge. No need to rub too much winter will take care of depositing its work in the coming months.

When she resumes, in a few months, the boat will certainly have suffered through the winter, but all in all there will be quite a few things to do. Inside, empty the water trays of the dehumidifiers, check the bottoms, make sure nothing has gotten wet or stained. There is a little more work on the outside, because we have to sober up the woodwork, shine the stainless steel and rinse the ropes.

Nothing very complicated, the restarting of the boat can even be done with the family, as a prerequisite for the first outing of the next season!

Tip: This approach is balanced and allows you to launch a boat in an ecological and economical way. You won't spend more energy than necessary doing this maintenance and the long-awaited return to the water next spring won't be a chore.

The opinion of the pro

To get advice from a specialist, we called Sébastien, from Kerboat Services. And his explanations are clear.

"It's very simple. Imagine that you are the boat and that you are going to wash yourself. On one side, you come back from the beach, tanned, your body full of sand and salt. You are going to take a shower with soap and clean everywhere, including between the toes, right? Your boat is the same. At the end of the season, it was bathed and above all needs a good cleaning. So we start with the basic. Emptying the bins, dusting the worktops, emptying the fridge or the cooler."

"A priori, these points are systematic each time you return from a walk. But you would be surprised to see the number of refrigerators that we have to empty when leaving winter, with all the pleasure that this can represent." After this routine maintenance, "Empty the cupboards, vacuum to remove the crumbs. Drain the toilets so that there is no water left. Same thing for the bilges and engine compartment. Standing water is a boat's enemy, especially salt water. It will evaporate and provide an excellent clinging bed for all mold."

The exterior of the boat should not be neglected "A washing with shampoo and brush which, by its mechanical action, will loosen the salt and all that has had the opportunity to cling, both to the hull and to the bridge."

He insists "Do not neglect rinsing on the one hand and go well in the recesses, the enemy is the salt, which must absolutely be eliminated so as not to give any opportunity for dirt to become embedded. Cleaning will be pushed all the more against the salt if you leave the boat in the river where, helping the environment, the boats get dirty more quickly.".

Never Electric Moisture Absorbers

Against humidity, the professional insists "Use only humidity absorbers, never an electric dehumidifier. A few years ago, we had to clean the soot-covered interior of a boat whose owner had left behind a dehumidifier plugged in. Lack of ventilation prevented a massive fire, but the device slowly burned out and took its time to coat the inside of the boat with very greasy soot."

At the end of wintering, the professional explains to us "There you come back from 6 months without having had the possibility of washing yourself. So you will have to rub and shine all that. The interior, we took care of it before the winter, so a quick cleaning, dusting of surfaces, portholes and ventilation will be enough to keep everything clean.". For the exterior, the biggest has also been done "It's about making the boat clean. A sponge wash for the hull, possible touch-ups of the gelcoat and polish. Sobering of the wood and cleaning of the stainless steel, everything must and will shine.".

The answer to the question "At what time of the navigation season is it best to clean your boat?" is therefore clear. A complete, but not necessarily total, maintenance at the end of the season makes it possible to carry out more precise maintenance when it comes back to life, so that you can always enjoy a clean, welcoming boat in good condition.

Good cleaning on the most beautiful of boats, yours!