Repairing your boat in the DREADMOOR demo is a two-stage dry-dock job: wash away the polyps, then patch the hull. Raise the vessel to level two for cleaning, lower it to level one for repairs, and load the repair tool with Bug Slime. Simply opening the dock or buying an upgrade does not complete this maintenance sequence.
Open and power the dry dock first
The repair work begins after John the Fifth's moonshine-still quest. Gather his requested supplies, fix the still, and speak to him for the Dry Dock key. Inside, follow the objective to repair the fuse box and switch on the lights before bringing the boat into position.
The official DREADMOOR Demo page describes the local engineer and dry dock as parts of the demo's settlement progression. The practical sequence below follows player experience in the demo and the later settlement playtest, which share this cleaning-and-patching chain.
Do not confuse the fuse-box task with damage on the boat itself. Getting the dock's equipment running comes first.
Raise the boat and clean off the polyps
Bring the boat inside and use the lift control panel to raise it to the second level. Follow the prompt to pressurize the cleaning system, then take the cleaning tool or water cannon.
Wash the growths from the boat's bottom until the cleaning objective is complete. The recorded dialogue identifies these as polyps. Work through the surfaces the objective requires rather than assuming one spray at the bow finishes the entire job.
When the game advances to patching the holes, return the cleaning tool and move on to the lower lift position. The cleaning system and the repair gun do different jobs.
Lower to level one and load Bug Slime
Lower the vessel to the first level. Take the repair tool and follow its loading prompt for Bug Slime. Then apply it to the damaged hull sections indicated by the game.
The demo dialogue names Bug Slime as the repair-tool supply, and Z1 Gaming's later-playtest recording documents loading the tool before patching the boat. That supports the repair method without supplying an invented fixed slime cost for every future damage event.
If you do not have the required material, return to the gathering loop for the blue-slime beetles described by John. Check the tool's actual resource prompt before deciding it is broken or attempting to use the washing equipment on a hole.
Report the repair before upgrading the hull
Once cleaning and patching are complete, speak to John and tell him the boat is repaired. The documented quest then turns toward reinforcing the hull, which requires a separate fish-processing and blueprint chain.
Repair and protection are different tasks. The first restores the vessel through the maintenance tools; the second adds crafted components. Keeping them separate makes it easier to follow the active objective and avoid searching for armor parts while the game still expects ordinary hull patching.
The supplied footage does not establish a universal repair frequency, automatic out-at-sea repair system, or permanent immunity after the first maintenance job.
FAQ
Which lift level is used for cleaning?
The documented sequence raises the boat to the second level.
Which level is used for patching?
Lower the boat to the first level for the repair-tool stage.
What goes into the repair tool?
Bug Slime is the documented loading material.
Does hull protection replace this repair quest?
No. Cleaning and repairs precede the separate hull-reinforcement progression.