by Autumn Hoover
This morning I turned to Clay and suggested a topic for this month's Tactic Tip. Clay turned back to me and said, "Great idea, go write it." So sorry to the fans of the newsletter who come anticipating The Clay Johnson and instead are getting me. That being said, I used to win the cleanest boat award every year during junior sailing, and I would be curious to know if Clay can claim the same.
Boat and equipment maintenance is a crucial aspect of any successful sailing program. It helps keep you safe on the water, prevents breakdowns, and protects your investment. Neglecting basic care leads to equipment failure, potential damage, and loss of resale value. With a few easy tips and tricks, you can ensure that your boat is ready to go sailing every time you are.
Rinsing everything off after use
I get it, after a long day on the water you just want to get off your boat and move on to the next item on your agenda. But taking a few extra minutes to use fresh water and rinse off any sand, algae, salt water, sunscreen, random river scum, spilled drinks, or any other contaminant your boat, sail, and spars may have encountered during the day makes a real difference. A full scrub down is often not required, and just some water from a hose will be sufficient to go a long way toward extending the life of your equipment.
If you live somewhere with salt water, you may also want to consider using SaltAway, it is a solution to help remove salt and can be applied via a mechanism that screw right onto your hose.
Allowing everything to properly dry
Along those same lines, once you rinse everything off, let it dry. While sailboats are meant to get wet, they are not meant to stay wet always. Putting away a wet boat can lead to mold and mildew issues, which over time will break down your sails and lines, and can even grow inside the fiberglass hull of your boat. If weather prevents you from being able to dry things off, make sure you come back, even if it has to be a few days later, and dry everything out.
Storing everything correctly
Once your boat is rinsed and dry, you should make sure to put everything away correctly. Any loose lines are coiled, sails are rolled or folded correctly, any bailers or portholes are opened, and in smaller dinghy boats, your spars and blades are removed and stored properly.
There is no one right way to store a boat, trailer, dolly, rack, etc., but whatever option is available to you and works best to fit your needs, I would highly suggest protecting your boat with covers.
I am going to be biased in what I say next, but I would highly suggest you look into getting a Colie Sails cover. I watch the Colie staff every day sew our cover products here in our sail loft. Covers are made out of Top Gun material and Tenara thread, meaning they are mildew resistant and last an impossibly long time. We have hull covers which are excellent for daily use, transporting boats, or off season storage, and a variety of spar, sail, and blade covers to protect the more fragile items. I will link below to our catalog of covers broken down by boat.
Club 420 | i420 | E Scow | Finn | FJ | ILCA | ISCA | Sandpiper | MC Scow | Melges 15 | Optimist | Rocket | RS Aero | RS Feva | RS Quest | Tech Dinghy | Vanguard 15
Occasional washing with the proper products
A few times a season I would recommend you wash, wax, and lubricate your boat and equipment, ideally at the start of the season, end of the season, and prior to any big regattas. Dish soap and a non-abrasive brush are your best friends here. This is safe to use on your hull, sails, spars, etc., but be careful not to scrub too hard. If you have deep set stains on your hull, you can use some FSR (Fiberglass Stain Remover) and follow the instructions on the jar.
Fiberglass is very porous, so after washing with soap it is important that you follow up with a polish, otherwise grime can get into the pores of your fiberglass and make the situation worse. McLube HULLKOTE Speed Polish is the go-to product here. No buffer is required, just follow the instructions on the bottle.
Similarly, McLube SAILKOTE and McLube OneDrop are the perfect companions for lubricating anything that moves on your boat. As McLube puts it, "use it on anything that you want to run smoother, work more efficiently, and last longer."
That is really it. With a little bit of extra effort, you can keep your boat working better for longer and looking good.
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