Wintering
29.
2
Grand Soleil 43'
Canvas
Is the best protection against the sun and the rain and can allow you
to keep some hatches ajar.
• A good solution could be to tighten a rope from the fore stay to the
mast and from this to the back stay in a way to create a kind of
“Canadian tent” that can be fastened to the deck to keep a good
ventilation.
Deck fittings
Stainless fittings should be coated with a protective film, either with
a marine spray or with Vaseline oil.
• In fact there is a form of corrosion, generally originated by the air
pollution, that’s called “pitting corrosion” that produces little rust
spots even on A.I.S.I. 316 stainless steel.
- A light film of the above products can help to prevent corrosion
and can be easily removed with gasoline or denatured alcohol.
Electronic instruments
Thieves can be one of the main problems: you can prevent them by
taking away as many instruments as possible, making notes of the
connections to facilitate the opposite operation in springtime.
• Otherwise leave them covered and protected as much as possible
from rain and sun. Where possible, remove internal batteries.
Engine
The engine should run for an hour at least once a week: in this case
no special wintering procedure is required exept adding the anti-
freeze liquid in the cooling system and the normal maintenance (oil
checks and change, filters, etc.).
Otherwise if the engine cannot be started for long time, you should
follow the wintering procedure given by the manufacturer that
generally indicates the following operations:
• Change fuel filter.
• Start and warm up the engine and then change the oil and its filter.
• Close the seacock and clean the sea water strainer.
• Disconnect the cooling water pipe and put it into a bucket that you
will keep full of fresh water.
