Tips for ext'd lay up in Grenada?

[derfy]

Dear Cruising Colleges

As always, when I need the voice of experience, I appeal to CF, so thanks in advance for your advice and comments...

I will soon be laying up my 1990 44' Morgan monohull in Grenada for 7 months - quite a long time on the hard. I have never laid up a boat for more than a couple of weeks, and have never done so in the Caribbean, so this is all new to me.

Also, I plan to have a bottom job and teak redone while on the hard, in my absence.

I would love to have your boat prep checklist, or just any random advice about things I should consider.

Please skip the suggestions that I not do it, or go somewhere else. I hate doing this, but it must be done and done here and now (in a few weeks).

I know you will ask, so...my boat has the follow major hardware:

- Full batten main and 100% furled jib (Harken furler), heavy grade dacron, both fairly new, standard wire rigging, last inspected Sep 2021
- Bimini w full-enclosure dodger/side panels/eisenglass
- Rocna anchor, 225' 5/16 chain, elec windlass, also a Fortress w 60' chain and 200' nylon rode
- Yanmar 4JHE, shaft drive (classic packing gland), fixed 3-blade prop
- Westerbeke 8KW Diesel Genset, 3 cyl
- Dual Diesel Tanks, stainless (no gauges), cleaned Sep 2021, w/ Dual Racors
- Cruiseair AC units (qty 2)
- Cruise RO Watermaker (dual pressure vessel), Single freshwater tank - stainless (no gauge)
- SeaFrost freezer - dual plate (converted ice boxes w spillover fridge box)
- 400W rigid solar panel, mounted on tubular stainless above the bimini
- Force 10 galley stove/oven
- Two classic Jabsco manual pump marine heads w flexible bladder tankage (no gauges), manual pumpout (no macerater)
- Raymarine Autohelm, Plotter, Instruments (depth, wind)
- Std Horz VHFs (2 ea), AIS, Icom SSB/tuner w backstay antenna, Iridium GO satcom, Inreach tracker
- Skeg-hung rudder with classic packing gland, Edson steering pedestal/cable hardware
- 4 quite-new Lifeline AGM house batteries (size 4D), 2 older AGM starter batteries. Yannie battery is echo-charged from house +12. Westy battery is charged from a small alternator on the genset.
- Caribe 9' RIB (ten years old) w/ 3-yr-old Tohatsu 9.8 4cyc OB

[JohnEvans]

Finding a yard that isn't fully booked for the hurricane season will be your biggest challenge. Check out the facebook group Grenada Cruisers Information, lots of good post on similar questions there.

And good luck

[derfy]

Originally Posted by JohnEvans

Finding a yard that isn't fully booked for the hurricane season will be your biggest challenge. Check out the facebook group Grenada Cruisers Information, lots of good post on similar questions there.

And good luck

Thanks, John. I booked a yard back in March. All set there. My request was about what work items are important in mothballing the boat. No replies, so I made my own work list. I'm finding out it's a lot of work to lay up a boat for a long time. Even more work to recommission it, probably. If anybody is interested I will post my work list.

[Paul L]

A few items to add to your list:
Wipe down all the surfaces with cleaner, bulkheadsm ceiling liners,....
Plug the external throughhulls that don't have shut values like the engine exhaust with rags.
Reprogram the solar controllers, if necessary, to keep the house bank charged gently - short absorption time.
Put rags in the end of the boom to keep birds/bugs out.
Just before we lockup we put some cups of bleach out and set them in secure spots - supposed to reduce mold.
Put out roach bait.
Leave bilge pump operational.
Empty the trash.

[derfy]

Originally Posted by Paul L

A few items to add to your list:
Wipe down all the surfaces with cleaner, bulkheadsm ceiling liners,....
Plug the external throughhulls that don't have shut values like the engine exhaust with rags.
Reprogram the solar controllers, if necessary, to keep the house bank charged gently - short absorption time.
Put rags in the end of the boom to keep birds/bugs out.
Just before we lockup we put some cups of bleach out and set them in secure spots - supposed to reduce mold.
Put out roach bait.
Leave bilge pump operational.
Empty the trash.

Thanks Paul, these are excellent and very helpful. Just what I was looking for.

[derfy]

I am also just wondering what sort of problems people have had after they splash and wanna go cruising?

My own experience is nothing is worse for a boat than disuse.

I have friend here in Grenada who has just splashed his boat a few days ago after a year on the hard, and plans to head straight out into the deep blue Caribbean to the Bahamas and US. Seems really risky to me, but I am reluctant to mention my concerns, since I have never laid up a boat.

I would never do that. I'd take a week or two to fix broke stuff, and then a little cruise up to Carriacou. Then I would fly in crew for the bluewater crossing.

[hpeer]

Rats!!! A couple of years ago we got rats on our boat in Grenada. According to the “exterminator” it was a bad year for that.

There is no keeping them off your boat, they can scurry up the tiedowns. They were all over the boats on both sides of us.

Make damn sure there are no entry holes. I would also remove anything they might eat but especially stuff they can smell. We had some dried fruit and they seemed drawn to that, who knows maybe they could smell it outside.

I our case they dropped down through an open hause pipe, without chain, just a thin wire. Then had babies.

What a fricking ungodly mess.

———

We were 3 times over hurricane season. Each time they moved our boat, it was not in the same place when we came back. Look around the yard and see if there are crab holes. The crabs will make holes where the ground is not hard, too soft for your boat. You don't want crab holes around the boat.

I know of one guy who paid to have his boat looked upon, “guardinage” as it is called. Despite monthly reports and bills the boat had not been properly looked after. Batteries were dead flat and not recoverable. I don't know what to do about that, just be aware that it can happen. I know a couple who had the same issue in PR, despite hiring someone to look in on the boat it filled with rain water and ruined the engine. So its a general yard concern.

In general don't expect anything to be done by the staff no matter the assurances. It is well and fine to hire them and to provide work lists etc. Just he prepared to find the boat exactly as you left it, in a different spot.

That was our experience consistently over 3 seasons.

[AiniA]

On the Great Lakes we have our boats out of the water for more than half the year without worry, cold of course but that brings another set of concerns. We hauled at Grenada Marine for one summer. We gave the security guard all the food that would not survive for the time we were away. He had six kids as I remember. I think it was two small boxes of stuff. Boats around us suffered thefts, our boat was not touched.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by derfy

I am also just wondering what sort of problems people have had after they splash and wanna go cruising?

My own experience is nothing is worse for a boat than disuse.

I have friend here in Grenada who has just splashed his boat a few days ago after a year on the hard, and plans to head straight out into the deep blue Caribbean to the Bahamas and US. Seems really risky to me, but I am reluctant to mention my concerns, since I have never laid up a boat.

I would never do that. I'd take a week or two to fix broke stuff, and then a little cruise up to Carriacou. Then I would fly in crew for the bluewater crossing.

My experience is that whatever would have broken if you were using the boat for those 6 months instead of storing it is still going to break. Normally all in the first few weeks after you launch.
A shakedown cruise after launch is appropriate,

[callistov42]

I leave my boat on the hard every year and have for many years in St Martin.
A few suggestions:
Anything that even resembles food, off the boat.
Roach motels EVERYWHERE
If you can get Sun Packs (https://www.smsdistributors.com/prod...ew-musty-odors) get them and deploy them.
We started pulling our masts after Irma and it does make the boat much more stable in the stands.
I am always amazed when I come back in the fall (usually 4 months on the hard), she is absolutely fine, dirty but very little corrosion or issues below with cushions, wood work, etc.

[derfy]

Thanks to everyone for all the advice. I am on the hard in Grenada. I have to say it was a lot of work. I would not want to have to do this very often.

Some additional things I did that I am not sure were suggested..

- Used steal wool to seal holes like the chain pipes, boom ends, engine room vent cowlings (sealing holes was suggested - using steal wool I learned about locally).
- Applied grease (ie plain old lithium grease from my grease gun) around the keel and jack stands, and around thru hull holes that need to stay open, to ward off ants.
- Did fresh water rinse of my Yanmar and Westerbeke.
- Deployed my Lowe's house-grade dehumidifier, requiring a 2000 watt transformer. I am surprised how warm this step-down transformer gets, even though it is rated more than 2x the load. A PITA. Left it on a metal pan on the companionway ladder top step.
- Hired a boat watcher to check the batteries and dehumidifier once a month.
- Spread around Damp Rid, and Canberra Gel, in additional to lots of ant and roach tabs and traps that were suggested.
- Dropped my anchor and chain onto a palate on the ground to prevent the chain from seizing up into a rusty hairball in the chain locker. Tied off the chain so it would not blow around.





I will report results if there are any surprises on my return and recommissioning next season.

[SVTatia]

Originally Posted by derfy

Thanks to everyone for all the advice. I am on the hard in Grenada. I have to say it was a lot of work. I would not want to have to do this very often.

Some additional things I did that I am not sure were suggested..

- Used steal wool to seal holes like the chain pipes, boom ends, engine room vent cowlings (sealing holes was suggested - using steal wool I learned about locally).
- Applied grease (ie plain old lithium grease from my grease gun) around the keel and jack stands, and around thru hull holes that need to stay open, to ward off ants.
- Did fresh water rinse of my Yanmar and Westerbeke.
- Deployed my Lowe's house-grade dehumidifier, requiring a 2000 watt transformer. I am surprised how warm this step-down transformer gets, even though it is rated more than 2x the load. A PITA. Left it on a metal pan on the companionway ladder top step.
- Hired a boat watcher to check the batteries and dehumidifier once a month.
- Spread around Damp Rid, and Canberra Gel, in additional to lots of ant and roach tabs and traps that were suggested.
- Dropped my anchor and chain onto a palate on the ground to prevent the chain from seizing up into a rusty hairball in the chain locker. Tied off the chain so it would not blow around.





I will report results if there are any surprises on my return and recommissioning next season.

You should be good. Peace of mind is valuable when the boat is left on the hard somewhere far, but rarely achieved.
Because you have a boat watcher it is a plus, I couldn't arrange for one in Trinidad, where literally when it rains, it pours (everyday) so among other things I pulled the hose off my lowest seacock and stuffed it with a bit of bronze wool, in case something dried up and developed into a leak.