winter cover and projects

[Bob]

I will be pulling my boat for the winter in Maine and was wondering what other owners in northern climes have done in the way of coverings to prevent ice and snow damage. While laid up I will be pulling the stbd sail drive to replace the seals - a task I don't look forward to. Any hints are appreciated. Also related to winter storage I will be dropping the mast so I will be inspecting the rig. This might be a good time to replace fixtures with LED nav lights. Has anyone else gone this way? I will be building shelving for the aft cabin and adding shelves above the berths in the forward staterooms. Completing installation of the SSB is also on the list. The final item on the list stems from my encounter last winter with a derilect wooden boat in St. Augustine. The hand rails on the stern were mangled and broken - the only damage thankfully. The top two fasteners can be reached with some effort but the bottom two are located in the watertight compartment(port) and the holding tank(stbd). I can only think of two ways to gain access. First would be to pull the quadrants and drop the rudders to gain working space then cut an access opening large enough to fit my shoulders through(pretty large hole) or install 4" access plates on the bottom step riser. I have not been able to get Metaux Produit to respond to my inquiry as to weather they supplied that part. I was hoping that they a.) used a jig to make them and b.) they kept it. This might be a wild goose chase and I might be better off making a pattern and having them made locally. Last but not least I may attempt to construct a new dodger for my hard bimini with the help of Sailrite's video.

[Loki]

There is a thread titled "SD20 saildrive diaphragms replacement" where I posted links to an article about replacing the seal on a Volvo saildrive which is almost identical. Also, someone else posted some comments on the process.

I've long wanted to sew a cover for Loki, but have been told that it would be hard to make one that would shed snow, and I'm better off with shinkwrap. However, the shrinkwrap work I can get is pretty shoddy (town regulations prevent me from doing it) so I'm still considering it. I'd to hear from anyone who has successfully built cover for New England weather.