Preparing your dinghy for the Spring season
As the new dinghy season begins, it’s time to de-winterise and prepare your boat before its first voyage of Spring. All boat preparation should include inspection, repair and following the appropriate safety procedures. Here are a few of our top tips for getting started...
Prepare your boat early
As you can imagine, any business that carries out work on boats experiences their busiest time of year throughout the fitting out season. Everyone is rushing to secure a place in the queue as quickly as possible, and the best way to avoid this is planning ahead and organising any work that needs to be done before the rush. You don’t want to end up missing the first event of the season because you were running late in sorting out whatever needs to be fixed.
Look for problems
Closely examining the entire boat is essential to identify anything that may need repairing. Ensure that you check the sails, rig, deck fittings, structure and systems such as engine and electronics. We recommend getting an extra opinion too, as often small problems that accumulate over time can go unnoticed if we have become accustomed to them being there.
Test the water
It’s a good idea to fully rig up without the intention of going out, so that you can test that you have everything you need and that everything is working. For example, you’re able to make sure that your ropes don't snap, blocks are running smoothly, and things that have rusted can be cleaned and treated accordingly. If you need to replace anything shop ropes here and hardware here.
Get in, on and out of the water safely
Once all pre-launch tasks and repairs have been fixed, you can now get out on the water! On your first trip of the season, you should pay particular attention to following safe launching practices so that you can get used to being back on the water.
Every dinghy is different
The work required to get your dinghy water-ready will depend on various factors, including its size, manufacturer and model. It’s important that you get the right information you need, and follow the appropriate spring ritual to ensure every trip of the season is safe and fun!