Hi,

I was looking for some tips on how to keep a RC Sailboat maintained. Especially as the Winter season is slowly creeping up.
Any tips and tricks to share?

Cheers,
B.

Hey there,
                You can't be in Aus if the winter is coming to you.Summer is definately knocking on the door here in NZ.
                 I try to sail all year round as it doesn't do the solid water thing here but over the winter I tend to make sure that the batteries are not left in the boat or connected to the electrics.I also make a point of leaving the boat "open",hatches open or patches removed to allow free air movement thru the hull and around the electrics.
                 If the boat is going to be out of action for any significant length of time I put moisture collectors in the hull.Probably not the right name for them....I use those packages that come with nearly all home electric goods.Half a dozen of these in the hull and no moisture problems at all.

Are you running in fresh or salt water? It makes a big difference to maintenance.

Hi K4s,

I was asking as I wanted to share it for my blog (and I can use the tips for myself as I will need to put my sailboat in storage for some time).

And Ed - I sail in both. What would you recommend?

Thanks.

If you sail in salt water, Wash the Boat.
For storage, remove all electrics, inspect winch & rudder servos(take the bottom covers off), ditto Rx, and store in the house, not in a damp garage or shed. If you can, bring the sails in too.
Remove rudder and keel, clean and grease the shafts. Leave them off.
Spray protective on the pulleys,etc.-CorrosionX is good.
Leave the hull open, with just a dust sheet over it.
Inspect all rigging,turnbuckles, etc., and the sheets, replace anything worn NOW, don't wait until you want to go sailing. It's too easy to not notice the small problems then.
Keep the batteries charged up, once a month should do it
If things need doing, and you don't have the bits, write it down twice, and put one list in the hull, the other in the 'to do' section, file, or wherever!

Thank you very much Islander, that are a lot of good tips.
I normally put the everything together again after the greasing. Just out of curiosity - Why do you recommend to leave them off?

I saw a Marblehead once that had been left sitting in it's stand for too long with the fin/bulb left on, and the weight had indented the hull.
If you do leave it on, put a block under the bulb, secured with tape, so that the stand is only stopping the hull from falling sideways.