Whether you’re taking your boat out of the water for winter or a much longer period of time, there are some useful tips and tricks to prepare your vessel for storage.
At Titan Storage, we care deeply about the health of your boat. As the number one Perth storage facility for boats, we thought we’d put together some useful information for getting your vessel ready for hibernation.
As you may expect, coming from an indoor Perth storage facility, we highly recommend getting your vessel out of the water. Even though the WA climate is considerably better than most locations to winter a craft out in the open, the fact of the matter is that taking your boat out of the water reduces its exposure to the elements and ultimately preserves it. This not only means that you will save money on costly repairs, but you will actually retain value should you come to sell it or trade it in.
BEFORE YOU TAKE IT OUT OF THE WATER
So, you’ve just had a great day out with the friends and family and now you want to take the vessel out of the water. Before you do this, we recommend spending some quiet time on the boat and taking it out for one last trip to assess its performance.
When you skipper and are in charge of the health and safety of lots of people, you have to remain focused on the welfare of your passengers. So it’s not easy to take a good look at every aspect of the boat’s seaworthiness and go through a rigorous checklist. Much better to take the vessel out by yourself or with a good mate who can help you run through the condition of the boat. This way you can take note of anything that needs to be repaired or replaced, and take appropriate action before you move it into storage.
We should point out that at Titan Storage you can come and get your vessel as often as you like and we have no problem in helping you retrieve it if you need to take it away for servicing, repair or renovation. Just give us a call the day before you need to access the boat and we’ll be there ready for you to collect it.
WE DO THE HEAVY LIFTING SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO
At Titan, we make it easy for you to stow away your vessel and use a forklift truck to place and retrieve it from the loading bay. This means that you don’t have to worry about awkwardly reversing into a tricky bay with your trailer and risk damaging your boat in the process.
CLEANING YOUR BOAT
If you’re putting your vessel into storage for more than a month or two, we highly recommend thoroughly cleaning your boat from top to bottom before you get it to our Perth storage facility.
We do of course have wash bays for you to utilise to make sure that your pride and joy is clean before we store it after regular week-to-week use. That said, an extended hibernation period requires a more thorough approach.
THE HULL
We recommend making sure the boat is power washed and/or acid washed. When you take the boat out of the water you will notice there is a scum line. The only way to remove this is with acid. The cleaner the hull, the better your boat will preserve and its one thing buyers often look at when they are considering purchasing a second-hand craft.
It’s also very important to get under the boat and check the intakes for the engines and make sure they are clear of obstructions. Make sure they are not clogged with debris or plastic bags or anything else that will impact the performance of the engine.
THE HATCHES
Once you have washed your boat thoroughly, we recommend taking the time to make sure it is dry.
You want to check from top to bottom to ensure there is no standing pools of water on the boat.
Moisture is not your friend and the more you can extract from the vessel before you put it into storage the better for the boat and the longer it will last you.
Water can cause mold and odors, and these are not good things. When you go to sell, these are what people will look for and could make all the difference.
Check the hold and the bilge and suck the water out if necessary.
Check the hatches inside the salon and keep them ventilated and clear of water. Wipe everything down and make sure it is dry before closing the hatches.
CLEAN BILGE PUMP
The bilge pump can often get overlooked as people assume that because its purpose is to pump water overboard, it will naturally carry a bit of water. All the more reason to keep it clean. The bilge pump can fail if it gets too dirty, so clean it and dry it.
NOT COOL
Another aspect to consider when cleaning out your boat is the refrigerator.
It’s so easy to forget that when you turn your fridge/freezer off it will defrost. So a couple of days before you put the vessel into storage it is worth taking everything out of the fridge freezer and defrosting it. Put towels down to collect the residual water and wipe down.
We recommend leaving the doors open when you bring it into storage to let the air get to the fridge/freezer compartment.
ANCHORS AWAY
Another area that boat owners often overlook on their vessel is the anchor locker.
Anchor lockers are designed to get wet, but when it comes to storing your vessel, do not leave a wet soggy anchor line in the anchor locker. Pull it out and remove it from the boat and let it dry out thoroughly. Leave the anchor locker hatch open and let it dry out. Then when you go to put the anchor line back in the locker it will be nice and dry. High levels of moisture are certain to rot your line and this can and should be avoided.
MOISTURE ABSORBERS
Placing moisture absorber buckets in showers, heads and sinks can really help and worth considering. They are inexpensive and do a great job. It will also minimise condensation in the fuel tank.
THE ENGINE
We recommend topping up the fuel tank and adding a fuel stabiliser to prevent the fuel from going stale while it is out of the water.
At Titan Storage, we are happy to run the engine for you while the boat is in storage with us at our Perth storage facility.
BATTERIES
The best place to keep your batteries is connected to a battery charger that will give them a good charge before automatically switching to a float/trickle charge.
OTHER FAQS
What’s the minimum term for storage at Titan Storage?
At Titan Storage, you pay to store your vessel on a monthly basis.
There is no contracted number of months you must sign up to.
How much does it cost?
Give us a call and we’ll give you a quote. As you might expect, it really depends on the size of your vessel.
Broadly speaking we offer a small, medium or large storage solution and you pay accordingly.
How often can I access my boat?
You can come as often or as little as you like. Just give us 24 hours notice. At shorter notice we will of course do everything we can to facilitate your request, however, we do kindly ask for a day.
How do I get my boat in and out?
Leave that to us. We will get the vessel in and out of our storage facility. As mentioned, we use a forklift truck to place and retrieve your boat from the loading bay so you don’t have to worry about awkwardly reversing into a tricky bay
Is my boat secure?
Absolutely. Unlike other storage facilities, we do not provide keys for people to let themselves in and out. We will always ensure that a member of staff is on hand to facilitate access to our Perth storage facility. That way there is supervised access at all times.
We also have 24-hour surveillance and fire detection capabilities to keep your boat safe.
CONCLUSION
So there you have our guide to storing your vessel with us here at Titan Storage. If you have any further questions or concerns about boat storage and preparing your craft for our heated warehouse facility, please do not hesitate to contact our team.
Titan Storage looks forward to welcoming you to our facility.
