Choosing your winter storage yard

For several months, your boat is going to be lifted, chocked, stored, sometimes worked on by others, then relaunched. The choice of winter storage yard decides how safe it is during gales, what you can do there yourself and the day you will be sailing again in spring. This guide gives the criteria, the questions to ask, how to read a quote and the warning signs. Preparing the boat itself is covered in the guide on winterising and recommissioning.

1. What a winter storage yard does (and does not do)

• Hauling out: crane, travel lift or trailer, depending on the boat and the yard’s equipment.
• Pressure-washing the hull on haul-out.
• Chocking: in a cradle, or on boat stands and blocks, with the keel resting on wooden blocks.
• Storage: on hard standing, in a shed, or afloat in the harbour; a dry stack keeps the boat ashore all year and launches it on request.
• Guarding, whose content varies a great deal from one yard to another.
• Work, by its own workshops or partner firms: hull cleaning and antifouling, osmosis treatment, engine, unstepping and storing the mast.
• Relaunching in spring — see relaunching.

What it does not necessarily do: winterising the engine and the water systems, which is ordered separately; permanent surveillance, which the word “guarding” does not guarantee; and it is not answerable for everything: what is covered in a storm or a theft depends on its contract and on your insurance.

2. The right criteria for choosing

• Ashore or afloat. Ashore, the hull dries out, can be inspected and worked on, and the boat no longer risks a leak; on the other hand, careful lifting and chocking are needed. Afloat, there is no handling, but the hull stays out of sight, and mooring lines, pumps and batteries must be watched.
• Lifting suited to your boat: weight, beam for a catamaran, draught, long keel or centreboarder. The slings go at the builder’s marks, away from the log, the depth sounder, the shaft and the saildrive.
• Serious chocking: a suitable cradle, or enough boat stands, placed under reinforced areas, on stable ground, and checked after a gale. Some yards ask you to unstep the mast, to reduce windage.
• Access to the boat over the winter: hours, opening days, whether you can work on it, ladder or steps, water and electricity.
• Work you do yourself: is it allowed, which jobs, and on what conditions? Sanding and painting the hull are generally done on a wash-down area that collects the water and dust; some yards reserve this work for their own teams or accept outside firms only under conditions.
• Insurance: the yard’s liability insurance should cover handling and storage. Also check that your own insurance covers the boat ashore (storm, theft, falling over).
• Guarding: a closed compound, surveillance, rounds, checks on covers and batteries? What the word covers should be in writing.
• Electricity: can you leave a charger or a dehumidifier plugged in, and is it charged for? Never leave a heater running unattended on board: the fire risk is real.
• Relaunching: how dates are booked, how far in advance, and what happens if the work entrusted to the yard is not finished.
• An identifiable business (SIRET number, Kbis extract or entry in the national business register, which can be checked free of charge in the official business directory) and references: customers who have wintered there for several years.

3. The questions to ask

• Can you lift my boat (weight, beam, draught)? With what equipment?
• In a cradle or on stands? How many stands, and who checks the chocking after a gale?
• Do I need to unstep the mast?
• Will I be able to come on board during the winter, and at what hours? Is there water and electricity?
• What work can I do myself? Can I bring in an outside firm?
• What does your guarding include?
• Which insurance covers handling and storage? Can you send me the certificate?
• Do you make a condition report on arrival (photos, hull, deck hardware)?
• How and when do I book the relaunch date?

4. Reading a quote

The winter storage quote should let you compare two yards item by item:

• The boat (name, registration, length, beam, weight, draught), the usual basis for the calculation.
• Hauling out and relaunching, washing, chocking (cradle, stands).
• Storage: location (hard standing, shed, afloat), entry date and exit date, and what is charged if the stay runs over.
• Guarding, electricity, unstepping and storing the mast, if requested.
• The work ordered, each on its own line.
• The amounts before tax, the VAT, the total, the deposit, the cancellation terms, the yard’s insurance.

Warning signs: a “winter storage package” with no list of what it includes, storage without start and end dates, overruns charged at an unstated rate, no mention of insurance.

5. The signs that should make you walk away

• Boats chocked on too few stands, with no blocks under the keel, or on soft ground.
• A cluttered yard where the traces of a boat that has fallen over can still be seen, with no explanation.
• A refusal to put the storage, guarding or insurance terms in writing.
• No condition report on arrival, and nobody reachable during the winter.
• Promises of relaunching “whenever you like” in spring, with no schedule.

And a safety rule that applies everywhere: never move a boat stand or a block yourself. If the chocking worries you, tell the yard.

A single sign does not condemn a professional; several together should send you looking elsewhere.

6. Finding a pro near your harbour

The Hullteam map of pros shows, trade by trade, where marine professionals are located: tick the trades you are interested in and move the map to your harbour. Each trade also has its own page, area by area, with each professional’s listing — all of them are gathered on the all trades page. A listing marked “Registered on Hullteam” shows a professional who has opened a Hullteam account.

7. Keeping a record of the work

Record in the Hullteam log the haul-out, the condition of the hull observed that day (with photos), every job done over the winter and the relaunch. A detailed invoice in the boat’s name, stating what was done and when, counts as proof at resale; the guide on which proofs count explains why. For the budget, see also the cost of a haul-out and antifouling.