Winter boat storage. 36 aft cabin

[safeguard]

I have a question about winter storage. I have a 3607 aft cabin.
My marina has done haulout and I keep it in its covered slip for the winter. I checked on it and found 15 gallons of water way up in the bow and under V berth. (I vacuumed out before freeze) . I shot a green laser level up the hull at the water line at the stern to the bow (pictures attached) The laser starts at the water line at the Stern and is over 8" above the water line (bow low) at 20 feet (of course higher up front but pics too hard). What is the proper level a boat should be stored over the winter. Marina is telling me this is correct. I don't belive that it is.

Thanks in advance
Mitch

[km1125]

It should DEFINITELY be in a 'bow up' position. You will get water sitting on the deck in the forward half of the boat with it sitting like it is. If you have the deck pipes for chain or rode up by the winch then any standing water around them will eventually leak down into the forward bilge. With the boat in a level or slightly bow up position all water on the deck will run aft and drain off both sides of the boat.

The hull drain on that boat (if it's the same as mine was) is in the VERY STERN of the boat between the rudders. There is no drain in the forward bilge and any water in the forward bilge will not run aft into the engine room or aft bilge, as the main bulkhead (ahead of the engines) will stop it.

[Midnightsun]

I do not think there is a norm however I do know when my boat gets hauled he always says to me. 'Right, you are the one that likes it bow high" to which I always say yes. Just common sense to have it bow high if you ask me and should be done this way without asking.

[bud37]

Welcome to the forum....is that in covered storage?
Did the water get in after the lift and blocking? If so just point it out that you had all that water enter, maybe they can reblock the boat, or should imo.

[Viper]

It's not as easy as it seems in this particular situation. I bet if you look at all the other boats blocked in covered slips there, you'll see all of them sitting directly on the timbers be it keel or no keel, no extra blocking to raise the bows. Even blocked on land, there's only so much you can block the bow higher and still be safe. The number one concern here is safety, not whether water will get into your bilge. If water is getting in, then you need to take measures to prevent that somehow. Some guys will simply cover their bow to prevent snow and rain from collecting there. If I were part of the haul out crew, I certainly wouldn't be getting under there to shim the bow higher.

It should also be noted that using a laser level that can be deceiving, the important thing is the attitude of the deck, some raised deck designs are perfectly fine when sitting low like that. I'd be curious to see if anyone has a drawing from Carver on how it should be blocked or a drawing of the cradle for this model. It may be designed to sit on its keel as it is and not with the bow raised. In any case, safety is the issue here.

What Marina are you in Mitch?

[bud37]

Never hurts to ask, but I guess covering the ends may not be a bad idea if you can't figure out where and when the water came from. I would probably do that anyway, roof leaks/birds /dust/snow etc regardless of the water issue.

I think Mitch was just comparing the water line there, that is what I take from it, I wonder Mitch if are you leaving the canvas etc all up.

[km1125]

I'm not saying the bow has to be high, just not LOW and making the boat sit in a 'bow down' position. If it's blocked at the normal waterline-level setting, then water will run off the deck and not into the boat. You'd pretty much have to cover the entire boat to prevent water from pooling at the bow if it's in a bow-down setting, as any water coming off the bridge or forward cabin will run along the decks on the side and towards the bow, instead of aft and amidships where it would normally run off the boat.

Here are the Carver instructions for blocking: Note that it says to block the boat a little higher at the bow to "improve drainage to the garboard drain", but as noted earlier, the forward bilge does not drain to the aft bilge where the garboard drain is. And that garboard drain is significantly higher than the lowest part of the bilge in the engine room, so the engine room will not even drain all the water to the garboard drain.

Carver_3607_storage_instructions.jpg

Here is the cradle assembly diagrams and you can see the keel level, and the instructions calling for blocking on the forward part of the cradle which would put the bow slightly up.

Carver_3607_cradle.jpg

[Viper]

Up my way for the most part, in a covered slip, there's not much rain or snow from the sides or aft, it usually comes in from the front of the slip in most covered designs as the roof line is usually higher there which allows precipitation to blow in, at least that's the typical covered slip design around the Lake Simcoe area which I'm thinking this is.

In theory it would be great to block bow high to create a sloped deck but it's not always safe in a lot of cases. A custom designed cradle is one thing but most aren't blocked with one. Picture the bottom of a trawler for example with the bottom of the hull sloping down 2 -3 feet from the aft forward because of a 2-3 foot keel. The deck may sit level or higher at the bow while in the water but on land chances are it'll sit low on the hard and it wouldn't be safe especially on timbers in a covered slip to block the bow up that high and level off the deck or bilge so water in the bilge runs aft (usually) to the drain. In some designs, even with a sloped/level deck, you can still get water in the bilge and if the hull design is such that it's lower at the bow, that's where the water will sit regardless.

If you're that concerned about water collecting on your deck or bilge, have the bow wrapped up to the top of the windshield, over the rails and part way down the hull sides. This will help keep out most of the blowing rain and snow. The other option is to seal your chain locker compartment from the bilge and make it drain overboard at the bow. It's good to have the locker drain that way regardless.

[CarverLvr]

My 3307 is blocked bow high so that water can drain off the deck and away from the anchor pulpit. Not that it matters now that it’s wrapped, but will be important in the spring when I unwrap it and do a few jobs.