A couple of years ago my friend David sent me the above photos of a Stimson shed he built to winter store his lovely Hinkley 41, the same boat he so kindly lent me for a cruise.

I’m ashamed to admit that said photos have languished on my computer until I stumbled over them while searching for something else.

Anyway, he built the shed for less than ten grand (Canadian), so this seems a good alternative to winter inside storage at a yard for those who can find a piece of land reasonably near a haulout facility, and also a great option for a refit.

He broke the cost down as follows, all costs in Canadian dollars:

• Ground: excavating prep/ gravel etc. about $2000.   
• Materials: bows and knee walls, bolts, etc $2500.
• Griffolyn custom cover $2500.   
• Added about 5-6 days of 2 days’ labour to assist $2500   

Could be done for much less depending on materials, access to machinery, labour, etc.

Here are some links David shared that might be useful:

https://www.reefindustries.com/griffolyn.php

https://www.by-the-sea.com/stimsonmarine/bowroof.html

I was working with a very experienced and smart composite technician today to check out a crack in the gel coat in the bilge of our J/109.

I was pretty sure it was not structural and just the result of sloppy gel coat application but wanted a pro to check.

He sounded it with a hammer, just like anyone would, but then put his hand down as shown and explained that if there is a void he will be able to feel “bounce back” when he taps. Never seen that before.

Good news: all is fine. He figures someone just poured resin in to level it. Seen it before. That said, he is going to grind it out and repair it right with cloth and then brush gel coat.

Says it should take about half a day. The good guys are fast, too. If I tried it, it would take half a day to get the resin out of my hair, never mind the repair.