Winter storage

Randy Ricchi

New Member
Would it be harmful to store my sunfish on it's side over the winter? :confused: I was thinking of putting a piece of carpeting down on the garage floor, and then rolling the boat up on it's side edge, and I'd hold it in place (against one of my garage walls, inside) with a strap or something.

If that's no good I'm thinking of a home-rigged block and tackle type pully system (8:1 ratio) to hoist it up to the rafters in the garage.

The storing on edge idea would be cheaper and easier (then again, it wouldn't be as fun as the B&T system :)).
Thanks.
Randy
 
Would it be harmful to store my sunfish on it's side over the winter? :confused: I was thinking of putting a piece of carpeting down on the garage floor, and then rolling the boat up on it's side edge, and I'd hold it in place (against one of my garage walls, inside) with a strap or something.
Should work...
 

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I stored my fish on its side for years. I simply leaned it against a wall, drain plug down, on a strip of carpet. Over time (almost two decades), the gelcoat on the underside of the drain plug side flange developed a network of spider cracks. The top looked fine. I have no idea how the underlying glass fared.
 
I have stored mine on its side for years, supported fore & aft of the drain plugs to reduce stress on the trim rail. But I've seen a simple sling system, basically two freestanding frames witha web sling, that a chap on this forum used for his restoration project that would be the "cat's meow"... I just can't find the thread without another cup of coffee... :eek:
 
sincere apologies to whomever built this... great design, but I just cannot find the thread (my son saved the picture, he's impressed too) great for storage or for working on the hull.

sailboatstorage.jpg


cheers
Bill TGH ( & Ben)
 
I've had my Super Porpoise hanging on it's side from the garage wall for about 2 years now - doesn't seem to be an issue. I just threw together this setup for my other boat, a Sunfish, this weekend - I discovered it's pretty water-logged and want to have a fan running on it for most of the winter. I am going to store it in my dad's barn, but in the 2nd story (there's more room there). Getting it up there was a mess...
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I was also pretty pressed for time, so I just threw together a little cradle system using a 100-ft 3/8" diameter rope. My brother-in-law got a little crazy with loops and twists at the end - I think just 1 or 2 loops under the bottom at each end would work. I will probably switch to a heavier webbing strap like pictured in BadProduction's post though.

I also threw a cheap window fan in the cockpit and just quickly covered the rest of the opening with the cardboard. I will fancy that up as well - I just couldn't find anything in my dad's barn that afternoon to do any better of a job, and most importantly wanted to get the air flowing. I have a inspection port hole up near the coaming, and then a 2nd port hole in the sidewall of the cockpit. hopefully a couple months of air flowing will dry her out.

img0153_057.jpg
 

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