Winter ribbing

jambo · 11 December 2016, 20:08

How many keep their rib on the water during winter either swing mooring or pontoon berth? If you do what do you do if anything to your rib to safeguard it and OB from the weather etc?

HUMBER P4VWL · 11 December 2016, 22:03

Many insurers won't insure on a mooring start of Nov -end of March.

jeffstevens763@g · 12 December 2016, 15:57

Only my opinion Billy but I wouldn't for all the reasons you can think of,if its to keep it near to where you use it I would look for a farm either with an out building ( best ) or with a good breathable cover on, that's what I do its costs me £200/ year and you get a bit of personal help the guy who has the farm has lifted my boats,let me have power and done stuff in his workshop all FOC

jambo · 12 December 2016, 16:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffstevens763@g

Only my opinion Billy but I wouldn't for all the reasons you can think of,if its to keep it near to where you use it I would look for a farm either with an out building ( best ) or with a good breathable cover on, that's what I do its costs me £200/ year and you get a bit of personal help the guy who has the farm has lifted my boats,let me have power and done stuff in his workshop all FOC

Hi Jeff. Yes I keep mine undercover at a marina. I was just wondering if anyone out there actually keeps afloat and what precautions they take to care for their prize toy!
B

jeffstevens763@g · 12 December 2016, 16:32

Anti fouling would be needed that would put me off OMO

BIRPT · 12 December 2016, 17:54

Mine's on a pontoon currently, although will be dry stacked soon

As for precautions...anti foul, covers on & remove anything of value from seats/lockers, that's about it....oh & use it at least once a fortnight to keep the engine in fairly regular use

Tim M · 13 December 2016, 07:32

I've done this in the past with my own boat, and an RYA centre that I do a bit of work for now has a RIB that lives on the water all the way through the winter.

With reference to the point about antifouling, not really the case in the long cold winter where things don't want to grow on your hull so much. I assume your hull is anti fouled but if it wasn't you probably wouldn't need to pull it out for a pressure wash until the end of the winter assuming you use the boat occasionally.

Precautions: make sure the tubes are properly pumped up - obviously the cold weather will make them go a bit soft. Other than that, make sure you have a decent automatic bilge pump just in case. I personally prefer a pump powered by a second battery so theres no risk of draining the main batt. Not a huge amount else you can do. Other than bilge pump failure (I didn't have a cover) I've never experienced any issues.

PS. With regards the insurance issue mentioned above - this normally refers to swinging moorings rather than marina/pontoon berths.

jambo · 13 December 2016, 07:49

Many thanks everyone for your responses they're all very much appreciated.
J.

andyjcox1 · 13 December 2016, 14:25

I have kept a rib in over winter on a pontoon berth. As long as you do all the normal things you would if you kept it in the water during summer, the only problem I had was the batteries would go down more quickly in the cold as I did not have power. As long as you use it or run it up every week or so I don't see anything to worry about.

jambo · 13 December 2016, 15:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by andyjcox1

I have kept a rib in over winter on a pontoon berth. As long as you do all the normal things you would if you kept it in the water during summer, the only problem I had was the batteries would go down more quickly in the cold as I did not have power. As long as you use it or run it up every week or so I don't see anything to worry about.

Thanks Andy points taken and appreciated
J