Long Term Refit – Cradle, motor, hull paint Questions

[Patrol]

I am preparing to do a long term refit of my 40’ steelie, over 1-2 years. I am trying to think of everything I need to do. Have some odd questions:

1. I am making a cradle. Just wondering what material should be in contact with hull. Wood retains moisture in wet weather – don’t like that. Steel plate against hull no good I think. So I am thinking about rubber lining, perhaps cut from old conveyor belt. Under keel as well. Comments?

2. I’ve got manufacturer’s instructions about winterizing motor (Volvo Penta diesel). It does not say anything about protecting bearings / cylinders other than changing oil before layup - whereas my two stroke petrol (gas) gennie instructions say take spark plug out and put a teaspoon of oil in top of cylinder when not used long term. What happens to cylinder and bearings of a diesel over 2 years sitting idle? Should I be worried? Is there anything I should do?

3. Not sure I should be concerned, but some steel boats (laid up for years) at the local hardstand are showing real deterioration of the hull below the waterline externally. I will water blast hull when it comes out of water, but is remainder of ablative antifoul ok to protect underlying epoxy primer from UV.

All comments / advice appreciated.

[seahag]

Can you periodically start or possibly even better just turn the engine over about once a month. Or will you be removing batteries? I wouldn't want to expect the batteries to maintain themselves. They will lose some reserve over that much time. Diesel engines in trucks can sit for quite a long time without starting.

Good luck!

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Patrol.

I think a rubber lining would be an excellent choice for contact pads.

I don’t think it will be necessary to “fog” the engine; but , as seahag says, manually turning it over occasionally might be a good idea.

[SabreKai]

I'm going through the same process you are planning. My pads are steel, with carpeting on them, Probably not a great idea as they retain water too. See if you can find some grooved belting. It will work a treat.

As for the engine, Mine was winterized and sat for 5-7 years. When we went to start it up, the mechanic spun her over with the compression levers depressed for a couple of minutes, then let the levers up one at time. She fired right up and ran smoothly.

However, after running for about 40 hours, the rear main seal let go. Dried out over the years and never recovered. Perhaps turning it over regularly will prevent that from happening. I would say cranking the engine over manually every couple months might be a very good idea. If you are taking your batteries out and don't have a manual crank ability, bring your car along side and use booster cables if you can get long ones. Alternatively, you can rig a gantry on deck and haul your battery and cables up via a block n tackle.

As for major corrosion below the waterline, We don't seem to have that problem unless there is damage to the paint finish. My boat is 34 years old, and has multiple layers of bottom paint. Very little rust, but I too will be wet blasting her both inside and out. I have more problems inside because of poor layout of the furniture and lousy loose insulation.

Have a look at my blog, It may give you some ideas. URL is below in my sig.

[Patrol]

Thanks for replys. Much appreciated. But, can I just check, what do you mean by manual cranking? Is that pushing start button (I can use my backup starter pack battery) without turning on instrument panel? Cheers