With the upcoming spring – early here in Annapolis with this unseasonable weather – more and more people are heading out to the boatyard. Unfortunately, a small percentage of these people will get hurt or take unnecessary risks. Our friends over at Boat U.S. have put together this list of what may seem obvious gotcha in the boatyard. Have you done one of these?

ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 12, 2012 – Let’s admit it. We’ve all made mistakes. And when it comes to boating goof-ups that can cause a little pain, the folks at BoatUS Marine Insurance have seen them all, handling hundreds of claims each year. So here’s a look inside the claims files for some of the more preventable mistakes that cause injuries around the boat yard every springtime, and some tips to avoid them:

1. Don’t overload the ladder: At any marina each spring, ladders are as common a sight as channel markers on the ICW. Up. Down. All day long, boaters scramble on ladders to bring up supplies, fix things and prep their boat. Carrying heavy things, however, sometimes causes ladders to buckle. Lesson: have your own ladder and know its safe carrying load. It is also good to never face forward or have two persons on one at the same time, and understand that loose footwear such as flip-flops can snag on a ladder rung quicker than dragging a treble hook over Grandma’s shag carpeting.
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The off-season is a great time to varnish the woodwork, and get the systems back up and running. The electrical system is one which is often overlooked. First off, making sure you’ve got a plan for keeping your batteries charged when you aren’t on board during the season. A small solar panel, or shore power with a good battery charger are the two best options.

In terms of the off-season, lead-acid batteries lose 3% to 5% every month, even when sitting idle. They should never go below 70% (around 12.4 volts), so this means they should only be stored fully charged, and ideally have a regular charge applied.

Make sure you are properly ‘watering’ the batteries. You should check the amount of water in a lead-acid or wet cell battery at least annually. You do not use this procedure with Gel or AGM. So how do you check the water?
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If you sail a lot in light air, there are a number of upgrades you can consider. From new sails, to light-weight halyards, to removing gear from the boat. We’ve already talked before about the value of training as well. But one upgrade which will improve your performance – no matter how badly you sail – is making sure you’ve got a fair bottom. On many cruisers, thru-hulls are an important component of drag, and can be faired or recessed to improve performance.

Practical-Sailor highlights these two major options: fairing in or recessing the thru-hull. Definitely worth a read.

In light air, a major portion of the total resistance of a sailboat derives from skin friction. To oversimplify, the smoother the boat’s “skin” — the submerged part of the vessel — the less power is required to drive it to a given speed. Put another way, given two boats identical in every way, including sail area, the boat with the smoother bot­tom will be slightly faster than a boat with a rough bottom in light air.

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