Moody 336 - Layup for winter

Lay Up for the winter for a Moody 336 with a Volva Penta 2003

These tips are just what we have done, we are only passing the benifit of our experience so anything you choose to do on your own boat is at your risk.

 

While she is still in the water, drop the sails and once ashore fold them carefully to the Bags, try to get them to the sail maker as early as you can (hopefully they will not be as busy then) for any minor repairs, washing and winter storage.

Warm the engine so the oil is thinner to make it easier to get out of the engine, we use a device to suck the oil out through the dipstick hole (there are many ones out there, think it came from a motorbike shop online for about £30, it creates a vacuum in a tank and the oil gets sucked into it, but it gets used every year and have used in for car as well), if the engine oil is nice warm it will take about 5 / 10 minutes to get it out (if its not warm you are really going to struggle and the moody handbook suggests not running the engine ashore).

Then change your oil filter for a new one (write the date of change on it in marker pen) and top up the engine with new oil Volvo oil for next season, you do not need a special oil just for Layup.

You should also change your gearbox oil in the same way Now our engine is cooled by raw sea water so we need to get anti freeze in the block, we use Blue col or some other type, ensure that the seacock to the water inlet is off (else you will get very wet) take off the top of the strainer as if you were going to clear weed, use the gasket as a template to cut a hole in a suitable small bucket and bolt the bucket onto the strainer, we then use a watering can with the mixed up antifreeze mix (concentrate is much cheaper than pre mixed) to top up the bucket, Have a friend start the engine to draw the mixture through the engine ( you might need a third person to relay your stop command when the mixture disappears from the bucket ).Then take off your small bucket with a hole in the bottom until next year and put back on the strainer top. This will also make sure the new oil coats all the engine parts.

You can then remove the impellor and have a quick clean up of any spilt liquid. When you get ashore you can open the seacock to let the mixture out.

Top Up your Diesel Tanks to the brim, this will keep out moisture during the winter.

Top up your water Tanks and put in some Milton (babies bottle sterilising liquid found in any supermarket) to help keep bugs out of the tanks, when ashore you will be emptying them, but not just yet. If she is on a pontoon then now might be the best time to take a lot of things off as lowering heavy items by rope or climbing down the ladder can be hard work in the yard, and you have enough of that in front of you anyway.

Switch the revolving speed log over for the blank as it could be damamged in Strops during liftout

Now she is ashore you can start doing the rest of the Jobs

Remove all the Fenders for cleaning, take the ropes off them first then wash the fenders to remove any salt, you will probably find they still look very dirty, we use CIF cream cleaner and elbow grease to move nearly all of the stains, some areas may need a second going over, we are of the option you are never going to make the fenders look like new and after using many different boaty products have decided this is the best way forward, we then give them a go over with furniture polish put the cleaned ropes back on (see below for cleaning ropes) and store them in the garage, some might need pumping up which we will do in the new season with a foot pump and a needle valve used for pumping up footballs.

All the ropes warps etc. that are coming off the boat are portably covered in salt and over the winter will stiffen up and go green if stored away damp, most of these can be washed, put them in a old pillow case, not to many at once and put them in a washing machine on a warm wash, make sure you also use some softener as this makes all the difference handling them next season. Make sure they are nice and dry before storing them for next season.

When the boat is out of the water it is the only time you can look at the sea cocks, ours have the originals installed apart from the waste which was replaced a few years ago, they do not have nipples for greasing as some can, we spray the ball with some WD40 a couple of times to try to make sure they are clean, you can see if there is any pitting from the outside, whenever we open or close a seacock we do it 2 or 3 times, and keep using them throughout the year, its this that keeps it going, having the waste seize up from lack of use taught us a valuable and messy lesson.

You should also look at the seacocks from inside the boat, make sure they have 2 jubilee clips on each, make sure wooden stoppers of the right size are close by, make sure there is not green dust building up on them, these are in effect holes in your boat, if one goes you are going to struggle to keep the water out .

You can now undo all the seacocks, leave them open through the winter, work them as often as you can with the occasional spray of oil to keep them clean

We have an electric windlass and approx. 45 metres of chain in locker, this picks up mud, salt and weed with use and now is a good time to give it a clean, we gently bring up the chain over the bow roller onto the hard and give it a good spray of fresh water, also lightly spray the windlass, rope well and some down into the anchor locker itself, ours has a 1 way valve which needed attention, this is the best time for it, once its all dry bring the chain back in, take off any remote control (ours has hand held).

The toilet, all the seacocks are open so pour is some fresh water into the bowl and flush thorough a number of times until you are happy its empty, little bit of soap would not hurt and clean the bowl, try and get all the water out, the last bit with a sponge.

The Potable water is already filled to the brim with some Milton poured in, run the hot tap in both the sinks to pull through the Milton through the calorifier and then the cold taps, we have an electric bilge so we like to allow some of the tanks into the bilge to wash around, but if you do not then empty the tanks via the taps, switch off the pump and undo all the taps including the shower, then under the saloon seat behind the sink is the pump and filter, under the filter housing and it will let out the rest of the water still the system. Then in the aft cabin undo the lower pipe to the hot water tank, (making sure that the water heater is not on) ours just has a plastic pipe and we just unscrew that, then blow down the pipe to clear the last of the water.

Then its just a mater of getting rid of the water spilt into the bilge, this will get them nice and clean and give you the chance to check the Manual and Electric Pumps are working as they should, We got a small electric Pump from Maplins for £10 to make it a little easier getting the spilt water from some of the places along with car wash sponges.