A Little Attention Goes a Long Way

A dinghy is a simple thing, which is exactly why it repays a bit of care. Salt, sunlight, grit and damp do their quiet work all year round, and most of the damage you see on a club hardstanding comes down to two things: salt left where it shouldn't be, and moisture trapped where it can't escape. Neither takes long to prevent. An hour or two at the end of the season, plus a short walk-round before you launch again, will keep a small boat sound for years and save you from the sort of failures that always seem to happen half a mile offshore.

Rinse Sails and Ropes with Fresh Water

Salt crystals are abrasive. Left in the weave of a sail, they grind away at the fibres every time it flaps, and they hold moisture against the stitching and seams. Take the sails off the boat, lay them on clean grass or a flat driveway, and rinse with a gentle hose — no pressure washer, no detergent, and nothing scrubbier than your hand. With laminate and membrane sails, rinse and wipe rather than soak.

• Dry sails loosely. Flake or roll them rather than folding tightly along the same line twice; a hard crease in a laminate sail can crack the film.
• Store in a breathable bag, off the boat if you can. A sealed plastic bag keeps damp in as effectively as it keeps rain out.
• Soak ropes in a bucket of fresh water, agitate them, then hang them in the shade to dry. Salt-stiffened sheets jam in blocks and chew your hands.
• Keep everything out of strong sun while drying. UV will do more lasting harm than the damp you are trying to shift.

Check Shackles, Pins and Fittings

Work slowly along the boat with a torch and look at every shackle, pin and ring. What you are hunting for is wear and movement: a pin that no longer sits snugly, a hole that has gone oval, a hairline crack, or rust bleeding from beneath a stainless fitting — often the first sign of crevice corrosion. Small fittings are cheap; a rig that lets go is not.

• Mouse everything. Split rings, wire or cable ties stop a pin backing out under vibration.
• Check gudgeons and pintles for play, and the rudder stock for cracks around the bolt holes.
• Inspect masthead sheaves for wear and halyards for chafe where they run over them.
• Look at the centreboard pivot bolt and the plate itself for corrosion, especially if you sail in estuarine or brackish water.
• Replace, don't hope. If a fitting is doubtful, it has already told you what it thinks.

Give the Trailer Its Share of the Work

The trailer has the hardest life of anything in the outfit. It sits outdoors, gets dunked in salt water, and is expected to work perfectly after eleven months of neglect. A few minutes after each launch makes an enormous difference.

• Rinse the whole trailer with fresh water after every immersion, paying particular attention to the hubs, springs and brake linkages.
• Grease or replace the wheel bearings. Water ingress is what kills them, and bearings rarely fail at a convenient moment.
• Check tyre pressures, including the spare, and look for perished sidewalls and cracked tread.
• Examine the winch strap for fraying and check the bow snubber and its attachment point.
• Test the lights and wiring. A board that works in the driveway can fail after a dunking, so test it wet as well as dry.
• Store with the nose slightly raised so any water drains away from the hubs rather than sitting in them.

Dry Everything Properly to Beat Mildew

Mildew needs three things: damp, still air and darkness. Remove any one of them and it struggles. Winter storage is where most small boats come unstuck, not because the cover is too thin, but because it is too airtight.

• Drain the hull completely. Leave bungs out and hatches slightly open so air can move through.
• Store off the ground on trestles or blocks, never directly on grass or concrete, both of which hold moisture.
• Use a breathable cover, tented so rain runs off rather than pooling in a hollow. A cheap tarpaulin that traps condensation will cause more damage than leaving the boat bare.
• Check buoyancy bags and tanks. Inflate bags slightly, look for splits and perished valves, and make sure tank bungs seal.
• Look in on the boat every few weeks. A quick check for damp, drips or wildlife is worth more than any amount of hoping.

A Spring Walk-Round Before You Launch

Before the first sail of the season, spend twenty minutes looking rather than rigging. Run a hand along the hull for soft spots, stress cracks or blisters. Check the gunwale and any rivets or fastenings for movement. Look at the rudder and centreboard for damage you may have forgotten about, and inspect blocks for worn sheaves and stiff rollers. Re-tie or replace telltales and control lines as needed.

Then go through your safety kit: bailer tied on, paddle secured, buoyancy in good order, and a painter you would trust in a blow. Rig the boat on land first, hoist the sails, and watch how everything sets — it is far easier to spot a problem on the trailer than with a gust building off the headland. Do all that, and the boat will look after you.