Hurricane season cleaning checklist

What this checklist is, and what it is not

Let us be clear at the start. Cleaning a yacht does not protect it from a hurricane. A detailer is not a marine surveyor, a rigger or a storm contractor, and nothing on this page replaces the hurricane plan that your insurer, your marina and your captain have agreed on. Where the boat goes, how many lines it carries, whether it is hauled, hauled and strapped, or moved up a river is a decision for those people, made well before a named storm appears on the map.

What cleaning can do is make every other step easier. A boat with clear decks can be walked quickly. A boat with clean hatches, clear drains and tidy lockers can be closed up without surprises. A boat that was washed and photographed before the season gives you a clean record of its condition, which is useful if a claim ever has to be documented. And a boat that has been recently washed and protected is simply easier to bring back after salt, rain and debris have been over it.

Think of this page as the housekeeping that sits alongside your storm plan. Read it in the early part of the season, not when a storm is already on the forecast. When a storm is close, marinas get crowded, crews get busy and everyone's schedule fills. The calm weeks are the weeks for washing, photographing and organizing.

• Cleaning supports the storm plan, it does not replace it.
• Follow your marina's hurricane rules and your insurer's requirements first.
• Do the cleaning early in the season while schedules are open.
• Never put yourself or crew at risk to finish a cleaning task as weather approaches.

Why South Florida boats need a seasonal reset

The months of hurricane season are also the months of the heaviest heat, humidity, daily rain and strong sun in South Florida. Even without a single named storm, a yacht sitting at a slip through those months collects a lot. Afternoon thunderstorms drop dust and pollen onto the decks. Humidity feeds mildew in canvas, cushions and lockers. Salt dries into a crust on hardware, rails and glass. Birds settle on every high point. The sun works on the gelcoat and the clear vinyl all day.

That is the normal baseline. A seasonal reset means starting the season from a clean, protected condition so the boat is not already behind when the stress of a storm arrives. It is much easier to rinse and refresh a boat that was in good shape in June than to restore one that was already neglected when a front passes through.

A seasonal reset is also a chance to look at the boat with a calm eye. Owners and captains who walk every surface during a wash tend to notice things that are otherwise invisible: a weeping seam, a cracked hatch gasket, a frayed chafe guard, a sealant line that has lifted. Those are items for the right trade, and finding them in a quiet week is far better than finding them in the rain.

The pre-season wash and what to clear first

Start with a thorough fresh-water wash from the top of the boat down. The goal is not a showroom shine at this stage. It is to remove salt and grime so that every surface can be properly looked at, and so that cleaning products and protectants are not applied over a layer of dirt. Wash the flybridge, the hardtop, the cabin sides, the decks, the cockpit and the swim platform, then rinse the hull sides from the dock or tender as the marina allows.

Before you wash, clear loose items. Loose cushions, cockpit furniture, towels, fenders in use, grills, bikes, water toys and anything else that is not part of the boat can all become a hazard if they stay on deck. Decide with your captain or storm plan where each item goes: ashore, in a locker, in a rented space or into the salon. The cleaning crew can help sort and bag items, but the decision about what leaves the boat belongs to the owner.

As you clear, check the drains. Scuppers, cockpit drains, hatch drains and cabin-top drains clog with leaves, shells, feathers and sand through the summer. A drain that cannot clear in a heavy rain lets water pool where it should not. Clearing them is a simple housekeeping step that pays off in every rain, storm or not. If a drain will not clear with a gentle rinse, note it for the appropriate marine technician rather than forcing something into it.

1. Remove loose items from decks, flybridge and cockpit according to your storm plan.
2. Wash top to bottom with fresh water and a boat-safe soap.
3. Rinse all hardware, rails, cleats and windlass areas thoroughly.
4. Check and gently clear scuppers and deck drains.
5. Photograph every side of the boat once it is clean and dry.

Canvas, isinglass and soft goods

Canvas, clear vinyl enclosures and soft goods are the most vulnerable items on an exposed yacht, and the most likely to be removed under a good storm plan. Whether they come off or stay on is the call of the captain, the canvas maker and the marina, but cleaning them before they are stored makes a real difference to how they look when they come out again.

Salt, dirt and moisture folded into stored canvas are exactly the ingredients mildew needs. If enclosure panels and covers are coming down, wash them, rinse them well and let them dry fully before they are folded or bagged. Clear vinyl should be rinsed with plenty of fresh water and wiped with a soft, damp cloth, never scrubbed with a dry or gritty cloth that will scratch it. A creased, dirty panel stored damp can come out hazy or marked.

If your plan has the canvas staying on, a clean and recently protected set is stronger and less likely to be abraded by dried salt. In that case, the cleaning service is a gentle wash, a rinse and a check of the snaps, zippers and tie-downs. Anything that looks worn or loose should be flagged to your canvas maker, not patched in a hurry. For more on keeping these materials in good condition across the year, see the guide on protecting canvas and enclosures.

Interior prep: humidity, mildew and closing up

A yacht that is shut up for days with wet towels, damp cushions or a leaking hatch can develop a musty smell very quickly in South Florida humidity. Before you close the boat for a storm, the interior needs to be dry, tidy and secure. Empty and clean the refrigerator and freezer, prop the doors as your plan allows, and remove perishable food. Take wet or damp textiles ashore. Strip beds if the boat will be unattended. Empty the trash.

Check where water has been getting in. Stains below a hatch, on a headliner or around a window are worth noting before a storm, since a hard rain will find them. Cleaning staff can document these and clean the surfaces, but the cause belongs to a marine technician. If you can, run the air conditioning or a dehumidifier before closing the boat so that the interior starts dry. The guide on controlling humidity inside a yacht goes into the options in detail.

Close all hatches, ports and doors according to your plan, and confirm that seals are clean. A hatch gasket with grit trapped in it does not seal well. Wipe gaskets with a damp cloth and look at them for cracks. This is a two-minute task per hatch that is easy to forget.

• Empty and clean the refrigerator and freezer, and prop doors as your plan allows.
• Take damp towels, linens and cushions ashore.
• Wipe hatch and port gaskets and look for cracks or trapped grit.
• Document existing stains or leaks with photographs before closing the boat.

Hull, topsides and hardware

Fenders, dock lines and chafe protection are the working parts of a storm plan, and they are not cleaning items. But the surfaces they touch are. A hull with a layer of dried salt and grime is more abrasive against a fender or a piling than a clean, waxed one. A clean, recently protected hull above the waterline is better prepared for the contact and the rubbing that a storm or a surge can cause.

Wash the topsides and look at the gelcoat or paint along the rub rail and near the waterline. Note any chips, cracks or soft spots for the right repair professional. Rinse and wipe stainless hardware, cleats, chocks and fairleads. Look at them for corrosion, loose fasteners or sharp edges that could cut a line. A line that chafes on a rough chock can part, so anything that looks rough should be mentioned to the captain or the marine technician.

If protection is due, a coat of quality wax or sealant on the hull sides is a sensible pre-season task. It makes post-storm cleanup easier, because salt, dirt and residue do not bond as hard to a protected surface. A coating or sealant is not armor, though, and it will not protect against impact, abrasion or heavy debris. It is simply a better surface to be cleaning later.

Documenting the boat before the season

A clean boat is the best time to take a full set of photographs and short videos. Walk the entire exterior, then the interior, then the engine room and storage lockers, and record the condition of every area. Include close-ups of existing marks, scratches, stains, wear and repairs. Date-stamped images stored in more than one place give you a record that is useful for your own planning and for any conversation with your insurer.

Keep your photographs organized by area: bow, port side, starboard side, stern, swim platform, cockpit, flybridge, salon, galley, cabins, heads, engine room. Add notes for anything unusual. If you have a recent survey, store a copy with the photographs. A captain or yacht manager may already keep this record, so ask before duplicating the effort.

A cleaning crew can help by leaving the boat clean and clear for the photographs, and by noting anything they observe during the work. We do not assess damage or value, and our notes are not a survey. They are simply a second set of eyes during a thorough wash, and sometimes that is enough to surface a small problem early.

After a storm: the first look comes before the wash

If a storm passes and your yacht has been through it, the first priority is safety and an assessment by the people responsible for the boat: the owner, the captain, the marina and, where there is any doubt, a marine surveyor or technician. Look for damage, shifted lines, water inside the vessel, fuel or oil in the water and anything else that suggests the boat is unsafe to board or run. Do not board a vessel that is listing, partly submerged or surrounded by fuel sheen, and never touch electrical systems on a boat that has taken on water.

Only once the boat has been cleared as safe, and once any insurance photographs have been taken of the condition as found, does the cleanup begin. Washing away evidence before it is documented is a common and avoidable mistake. Debris, stains and marks may be exactly what an adjuster wants to see. Ask your insurer before cleaning anything that may be part of a claim.

When the go-ahead is given, the recovery wash is a thorough fresh-water rinse to remove salt, sand and organic debris, followed by a careful inspection of every surface as it comes clean. The separate guide on cleaning a yacht after a storm covers this stage in more depth, including mildew risk and what to leave to the right trades.

A season-long routine instead of a last-minute scramble

The yachts that come through the season in the best shape are usually the ones on a routine. A regular wash keeps salt and grime from building up. A scheduled protection step keeps the surfaces easier to clean. A seasonal walk-through catches small problems. And an organized storm plan, kept by the captain or the owner, means that cleaning is never competing with last-minute decisions.

If your boat is already on a recurring plan, the season prep is simply an extra-thorough version of what is happening anyway. If it is not, the start of the season is a good time to decide how often you want the boat washed and what protection you want in place. The guide on the South Florida boating season calendar lays out how the year tends to run for owners, which can help you plan.

Whatever your approach, build in some slack. Storm weeks are not the time to be booking a cleaning crew, because everyone is booking at the same time and conditions can change quickly. When you are ready to plan your pre-season wash, or you want to talk through what is sensible for your vessel, call and we will talk through it with you. Quotes are given by phone, and jobs that are more complicated may need an on-site visit.

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