Nine months ago, we had our boat shrink-wrapped for winter. Two months ago, we drove back to Washington after spending most of the winter in San Diego. We’ve been working on the boat non-stop since then. Yesterday we finally emerged from our cocoon. We have a few more projects we could not get to with the cover on before we can finally get back in the water.

Lessons & Tips

  • Use white or clear wrap if you are going to be working on the boat under cover — blue makes it dark and changes colors of things like electrical wires. 2021 update: We have always used white wrap since that first year – so much better!
  • It would have been nice to have some more headroom on the side decks — it made carrying heavy items very hard on the back. 2021 update: In all years since we have left the bimini up on the flybridge giving us tons more space under the cover.
  • We protected all surfaces that were in direct contact with the shrink-wrap with cheap outdoor carpet like this (I use this same stuff to line our lockers – much cheaper from the hardware store). This seems to have been a good decision.
  • We were hesitant to cut windows into the shrink wrap, but it held up great with the help of lots of tape. It also made us feel sane.
  • Looking at other boats in the yard, without shrink-wrap, covered in green slime and probably leaking, this was a great decision!
  • Originally, we were not going to wrap the swim-step and just leave it and the dinghy uncovered. Having it covered made a great entry to the boat where we could keep wet and dirty shoes and tools. We also opted for the largest door in the shrink wrap.
  • Leaving the boat on the hard was a great decision. The boat was safe and well looked after – the guys at the yard even hopped on board to grab Mike’s passport and mailed it to us so we could go to Mexico!

Watch the great unveiling time-lapse video