Boat Refitting: What it is and What are the Main Interventions

For many boaters, summer seems to have just begun. Moreover, it feels like yesterday when, on a beautiful spring day, they finally put an end to the long winter boat storage, with various cleanings and the first outing. But there’s no doubt, the hottest months of the year are coming to an end, and the curtain is closing on the 2023 boating season. To be clear: it’s absolutely possible to continue sailing even in October as well as on beautiful winter days, but we’re also aware that for many boaters, the beginning of autumn coincides with storing the boat. For many, this year’s operation will be the umpteenth routine, with in-water or dry storage of the hull, with classic maintenance interventions, and so on. For others, however, this will be a more important winter: after years of navigation and life on board, after miles and miles on various routes, the time comes to think about extraordinary maintenance. In short, sooner or later, the time for boat refitting comes for everyone, and September is certainly the right month to start planning this exceptional intervention. But what is boat refitting, in concrete terms?

What is Boat Refitting

Those who dislike anglicisms, instead of talking about boat refitting, can very well speak of extraordinary maintenance, or “re-equipping“, which would in fact be the literal translation of the English term. Certainly, however, the term refitting has been widely used in recent years, indicating precisely an exceptional maintenance process – one-off – to update, requalify and revalue an older boat. It goes beyond simple maintenance, aiming not only at maintaining the boat, but also at its updating, and at better meeting the “new” needs of its owner. As it typically involves a fairly substantial series of interventions, it’s advisable to plan boat refitting well in advance: this is precisely why here in our tourist port of Genoa, among the berths of our marina, we hear these words repeated very often these days! But what are the most common interventions when it comes to re-equipping a boat?

The most Common Interventions

So, refitting interventions can be the most diverse, aiming from time to time at the conservation, modernization or customization of the boat. Many interventions can be considered as “mandatory extraordinary maintenance”: think for example of completely repainting the hull, extraordinary maintenance of the electrical system for older boats, replacing the upholstery after years of use, replacing the rigging and so on. Then there are interventions that are not conservative, but rather decidedly evolutionary, not at all mandatory, but dictated by the owner’s needs. Think for example of those who decide to install an air conditioner inside their boat that was not equipped with one, or those who opt for the installation of an additional bathroom. Moving on to more significant interventions, the request to extend the stern platform is not so rare, a job that many boaters are actually tempted by. And again, there’s talk of total replacement of wooden interiors or their varnishing, as well as targeted interventions such as treatments for osmosis prevention, or the replacement of the propeller damaged by time, wear and cavitation.

Is your boat approaching the crucial moment of refitting? Or can it still go on for years, content with only ordinary maintenance, strong in its youth, still looking absolutely beautiful among the berths of tourist ports and the most desired coves?

boat, customizations, refitting