Now to turn our attention to down below.

1. Cleaning

We should go through the boat and give everything a good deep clean. Lift up the bilge boards and remove cushions and bunk boards. The last thing you want is to have anything festering there all winter.

Use an anti mould cleaner on the headlining and any other surface to prevent a building up of mildew. Especially around the fridge, we never forget to leave the fridge open to air.
Remove any perishable food items and anything that may not last the winter.

2. Toilet

Give the whole compartment a good clean. If you have holding tanks, we should make sure that they are emptied and flushed through with a suitable tank cleaner. Wash the toilets out with fresh water and put some toilet cleaner down and around the bowl.
and of course we always have some non toxic antifreeze under hand, such as freeze ban. But freeze in Greece is more than rare.

3. Cushions and soft furnishings

We also should take down any curtains and give them a wash, and the same with your cushion covers. Then leave your bunk cushions propped up to allow them to aerate.

4. Heaters and Dehumidifiers

As in our base in the winter we have the luxury of shore power then setting up a couple of heaters on a low setting and running a dehumidifier will keep the interior of the boat dry and warm.

This will prevent any condensation building up and save any chance of frost damage in the event of a cold spell.

We always leave doors and cupboards open so that air can circulate. In any case, we are present in the bases 365 days / year, so we just are there every day .. So boats are never stay alone.

5. Engine

When the yacht is in the water, we can run it up periodically and then there is a good case to leave your engine in commission. The natural insulating qualities of the water as well as any heaters we have running are building the ideal ambient for the boat.

At some point we have to service your engine. This is best done before the winter, old oil with its tiny metal particles can cause damage to the internal workings of your engine. It is best to leave the engine laid up over the winter with fresh clean oil.

If the boat is ashore then winterising your engine is certainly sensible and prudent.

Top up the diesel tanks to prevent condensation and the chance of diesel bug contaminating your fuel system is a good idea.

6. Batteries

We check your batteries using a load test meter, grease the terminals and check that they are left on trickle charge.

In any case, we regulary charge the batteries also during the Winter.

7. Fresh water system

We first empty your water tanks and drain down the entire fresh water system.
We never forget your hot water tank, and also to disconnect the 220v supply to the heating element to prevent it burning out.
We always run a non toxic antifreeze solution through the fresh water system such as “Freezban”. This will stop any residual water lying in pumps, pipes or taps from freezing and damaging these items.
We leave your taps open and remove the transom shower tap head where exist.

After that exist a long list of 150 works to do during the Winter, but this we will send you together with the Charter Management Contract :)