T&T: Winterizing a boat

[LRZeitlin at aol.com]

 I know that it is a strange topic to bring up in these Dog Days of summer
but some T&T listees are concerned about the necessity of winterizing boats
stored above the Mason-Dixon line. Here is my take on the subject. I've lived
in
New York and Boston, the Chesapeake Bay area, Georgia, and Florida and had
boats in all locations.

Winterizing is not really necessary for boats stored in the coastal Carolinas
and south. Even if the temperature drops below freezing, it takes about 24
hours of sub-freezing weather to do any damage. Worry about winterizing if you
can build a snowman and have it last more than a day without melting. Worry
warts will winterize in North Carolina if the boat is stored on the hard.

Winterizing is necessary for boats left out of the water in the Chesapeake
Bay area. Cold snaps lasting several days are common in the Bay area,
especially
in the northern reaches. One of the coldest days I ever experienced was in
Washington, DC. The external plumbing in older houses burst and left quite a
cleanup mess. I recall that it was during the week of Reagan's inauguration.

For boats left from Virginia north, winterizing is an absolute must.

Winterizing itself is a simple, although slightly time consuming task. The
basic philosophy is to replace all liquids with those of lower freezing
points.
Here is the drill.

1. Empty all water and holding tanks. Top off the fuel tanks. Drain the
onboard plumbing. For those boats where the plumbing cannot be entirely
emptied,
put a few gallons of pink non-toxic antifreeze in the empty water tanks and
pump
it through the lines until the water runs pink out of the faucets. Don't
forget the water heater and the accumulator (if your boat has one). I usually
change the oil at this time to prevent any residual acids from doing damage.
It's
probably just for my peace of mind.

2. Remove the engine(s) pressure cap and test the water with an antifreeze
tester. If the freezing temperature is above -30 degrees, add enough straight
antifreeze until it gets that low. Run the engine for a few minutes to mix the
cooling solution. The further north you go, the more important this is. I've
gone XC skiing in temperatures colder than -30 degrees on numerous occasions
in
upstate New York, in Vermont, and in Canada. Brrrr.

3. Flush the boat's raw cooling water system with a 40% mixture of automotive
antifreeze. I put the antifreeze mixture in a 5 gallon bucket (two gallons of
antifreeze to three gallons of water) then, attaching a length of garden hose
to the raw water pump intake, I run the engine for a minute or so to suck it
into manifold, heat exchanger and waterlift muffler. I've installed a T
fitting in the intake line after the intake stopcock to make the job easier.
If the
boat is on stands, collect the discharged antifreeze/water mixture in a bucket
as it emerges from the exhaust or the raw water discharge thru hull. Use it
in the next step.

4. Flush a gallon of so of the antifreeze mixture through each head. The
mixture will go into the holding tank where it won't do any harm and may
prevent
any residual  water from freezing up.

5. Remove all canned goods and any potables which can freeze. This includes
all wines, juices, sodas, etc. If you don't, you will find a mess when you
return in the Spring. Be sure to empty the refrigerator and freezer if you
have
one. t's a good excuse for a boat leaving party.

6. Remove all delicate and or expensive portable electronics that you can't
bear to lose or have stolen. Take home digital cameras, binoculars, hand held
GPSs and VHFs, etc. No matter how carefully guarded, boat yards are a magnet
for theft.

7. If your yard permits, use a battery maintainer to keep batteries in good
condition. My boat yard doesn't permit unattended electrical connections in
winter storage so in past years I've placed a 5 watt battery maintainer solar
cell in a position where it catches a few hours of sunlight every day. Even
during extended periods of snow cover, it works well enough to keep the
batteries
in good condition.

8. Clean the boat so you will be pleasantly surprised in the Spring. Cover
with tarps or have the boat shrink wrapped. If in the snow belt, New Jersey
north, I prefer the latter.  Shrink wrap sheds snow very well and prevents
water
intrusion from snow melt.

The whole process took me about 8 hours the first time. Now I can do it in
about 4 hours because I know what I'm doing. I use about 6 gallons of
non-toxic
pink antifreeze and about 4 gallons of automotive antifreeze. I buy it at
WalMart where it is about half the price as in a marine store. Shrink wrapping
costs about $12 a foot in my area. Expensive, but it is well worth it.

You can have winterizing done by the yard for several hundred dollars but
it's such an inherently simple job that I'd rather spend the money on a few
gourmet meals and a good bottle of Scotch. Alternately, you can leave the boat
in a
heated winter storage shed and avoid the winterizing process entirely. But
that's a good deal more expensive - and there is always the possibility that
the
shed's heating system will fail. It has happened on more than one occasion.

Larry Z







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