Prepare your rigid inflatable boat for winter
What is winterizing?
Winterizing a boat - of any kind - involves performing a series of maintenance operations before storing it during the winter, thus properly protecting it against cold, frost, and other inclement weather.
It is a crucial routine in the life cycle of your boat, especially if you own a Zodiac-type vessel. Indeed, semi-rigid boats are the most sensitive to winter.
Winterizing must be done properly and requires a certain investment in time and energy if you want to maintain your semi-rigid inflatable boat optimally, ensuring its good restart, proper functioning, and performance when you put it back in the water.
So, in this article, Orca Retail offers to review all the necessary steps for the proper winterizing of your semi-rigid.
1. Empty your boat
Several good reasons push us as boat owners to empty it before winterizing.
First of all, this allows you to not lose anything or have anything stolen during the storage of your boat. Also, you might need some of these pieces of equipment outside of your outings.
Secondly, it is the ideal opportunity to redo the inventory of your equipment, and particularly to check their wear status and thus plan replacements so as not to be caught off guard next season. Who knows, you might also find items you thought were lost!
Finally, emptying your boat allows you to protect it and its equipment during the movements necessary for moving your semi-rigid into its hangar or storage location.
Take the opportunity to rinse and clean everything that can be, whether it's sports equipment (masks, fins, snorkel, wakeboard, fishing rods), electronics (GPS, VHF), safety equipment (life jackets, buoys, distress flares, fire extinguishers, etc.), or others.
2. Maintenance of upholstery and batteries
These are the parts that can suffer the most during winter, being sensitive to cold and humidity. Remove them to store them in a dry place.
This is also an opportunity to pamper these parts of your boat, especially the upholstery that you can clean and maintain with the appropriate products. As for the battery, it's the opportunity to recharge it!
If you cannot disconnect your battery from your semi-rigid boat, make sure to check it anyway and recharge it once a month. Indeed, overly discharged batteries wear out faster.
3. Winterizing the engine
If you can, remove your engine. But before that, don't forget to do the maintenance steps: rinse with fresh water, drain the oil and fuel.
Now take care of the parts of your engine.
- The propeller: remove it to check its condition and to grease the shaft.
- The spark plugs: check if they need to be replaced.
- The gearbox oil change: change your gearbox oil every 100 hours of navigation.
- The anodes: as with the spark plugs, inspect them and replace them if necessary.
- The fuel system: clean or replace the engine circuit filter and drain the carburetor bowl.
- The starter rope: ensure it is still strong.
- Other parts and joints: to be greased.
4. Cleaning
Now, you just need to clean your entire semi-rigid boat. This starts with the hull cleaning.
Hull cleaning involves cleaning the boat's hull and applying several coats of antifouling to prevent oxidation. Clean using a sponge and maintenance products before rinsing (preferably with a pressure washer). Once clean and dry, apply your antifouling coats to the hull.
For the rest of your boat's cleaning, check out our dedicated article "How to Maintain Your Semi-Rigid Boat". We also describe all the steps, products, and equipment needed to properly care for all parts of your semi-rigid: hull, tubes pontoons, deck, and engine.
This is also when you can deflate and inspect the condition of your pontoons. If you notice wear or want to change their appearance, consider our repair fabrics for boats cut to size!
5. Storage
Your boat is now ready for the final step, which is storage. Find an appropriate spot so that during the winter, your boat is protected:
- from UV rays
- from the cold
- from humidity
- from acid rain
- from various pollutants
Prefer a closed and dry place (garage, warehouse) and cover your boat with its cover or a winter cover.
Be careful, it is important to allow air circulation to prevent mold. This is especially true if you have cupboards or storage areas: it is advised to leave them open.
Do you want to hire a professional for the winterization of your semi-rigid boat?
Check out our website for our dedicated page on our network of boat repairers, or our blog articles by department or region to find where to maintain your Zodiac near you.
Discover our products:
Read more about the world of semi-rigid boats:
- The best accessories for semi-rigid boats
- Why buy a semi-rigid boat? Advantages
- The best models of semi-rigid inflatable boats
- Prepare the launch of your inflatable boat
- How to maintain your semi-rigid boat?
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