Yarmouth Boat Yard employee Ben Merrill walks along the docks to release a tie from a Sabre Yachts' cruiser-style boat being winterized. Photos by Whitney Hayward/Staff Photographer

"This job is something I sort of fell into," Merrill says.

Merrill closes a compartment in the cabin of a Sabre Yachts cruiser-style vessel. "I've been around boats my whole life, it's the only thing I know how to do," Merrill said. For the Yarmouth Boat Yard, Merrill, who has been working at the boat yard for seven years, said their busiest seasons are in the spring and fall, when owners are preparing their vessels to enjoy during mild summer days. "It's kind of backwards when you think about it, for summer to be our slower season," Merrill said. "This job is something I sort of fell into, I'm mechanically inclined, and I can fix about anything with wheels, and most anything without," Merrill said. Boat owners can begin the process of winterizing boats as early as late summer, and the process, depending on the boat, can take a full day. After Merrill finished the process of winterizing the Sabre cruiser, the boat will eventually be pulled from the water, and stored in a indoor heated storage facility, where it will have maintenance work done to its exterior. (Photo by Whitney Hayward/Staff Photographer)

Merrill sits in the engine compartment of a cruiser-style boat that he's winterizing.

This time of year, Merrill and other yard employees are busy getting customers’ boats ready for winter. Winterizing boats includes emptying the lines that come into contact with water and circulating them with antifreeze.

Merrill sits in the engine compartment of a boat during the process of winterizing the boat at the Yarmouth Boat Yard.