Winterization in a Slip?
djstewy
Member Posts: 37 ✭✭
Hi All,
So I took delivery on my 07' 280 Express Cruiser a couple weeks ago and the admiral and I are loving it. As much as I hate to think ahead to prime boating season coming to an end in the next few months in Puget Sound, I wanted to run some questions by the group concerning winterization if you keep your boat in the water; specifically in the wet, but not freezing waters of Puget Sound.
This is my first boat I've owned that doesn't have a trailer with it, and I don't plan on purchasing one anytime soon. I like the idea of not having to fight with a trailer and to be honest a 28' boat is getting a bit on the large size for me to want to haul it out and back to the house winter. I'd also like to take advantage of the handful of clear days we get during the winter to at least get out on the boat and be on the water a bit.
I've been getting a lot of different stories from boaters on what they do/don't do during the few colder months we do get up here. Some tell me they don't do a dang thing to the boat besides setting up fans to keep the air moving and swapping canvas out for a mooring covers. On the other side there are some guys who flush their water plumbing with antifreeze and put a lightbulb/heater down in the engine compartment.
Any advice for someone new to the concept of keeping their boat in the water year round?
Thanks!
Derek
Comments
Our boat gets shored at our marina, usually in front of our well. After it's on land it gets winterized and shrink-wrapped. I get my mechanic to do the winterize so if there is an issue it's his to fix on his dime.
2002 FV 342 on Lake St. Clair - Past Commodore SHC - Vessel Examiner USCGAUX
you need to remove any water that might freeze. you'll find that in things like: engine cooling system, oil, fuel filter, oil filter, fresh water tank, fresh water lines, black water tank.
in order to do that, everything either needs to be replaced (oil, filters) or flushed with antifreeze (cooling, fresh water).
a bilge heater can buy you time, but is not a guarantee like winterization. if the power ever goes out and you get a freeze, you're toast.
Don't rely on electricity to protect your boat from freeze damage, and don't put an electrical heater in your engine room unless it's designed for that purpose. For examples of why those are bad ideas, read some back issues of SeaWorthy.
Yeti - Is your mechanic coming down to the boat and doing it for that rate? Seems like a pretty smoking deal.
Stodge - I'd love to haul mine out, but as far as I'm aware nobody in the Olympia area offers that service. The nearest I'd have available is an hour and a half cruise up to Tacoma and that'd eliminate any chance for me to cruise during the few nice weekend days we do get in the winter.
Are any you guys Puget Sound boaters? We're pretty darn temperate up here so freezing very, very rarely happens. Our lowest averages are in Dec/Jan which lands around 33 degrees. On some of the other forums a lot of the Puget Sound guys are saying they've kept their boat in the water 30+ years and the only thing they do is go with that heater/air circulation route, open all cabinets, and shut off their water pump and drain the potable system. They said if you haul out winterization is a must, but the salt water keeps the hull/boat out of the freezing range while in a slip even when the temps do occasionally dip below 32.
Just trying to reconcile the two camps... if my boat was moored in the mid-west or North East winterization would be a no-brainer; but I think a lot of the guys encouraging me to winterize might be coming at it with colder climates in mind.
Thoughts?
Is your marina pretty good at alerting you when the power is out? If so, get a bilge heater (~$450). If the power goes out or you know of an impending deep freeze, you can always run down to the boat and drain the engine block and fresh water. Takes 10 minutes.
IMO I would never leave my boat in the water for winter storage. Nothing really good can come out of it. If its a bad winter your boat will take a beating. Not to mention leaving outdrives in water for so long with being able to check for galvanic corrosion. I have my zinc's replaced mid season in the summer so I would never go that long without changing them. Again just my opinion...
RY, I've pumped antifreeze into the raw side for the last 14 winters. Definitely very easy to do. Winterization itself is pretty simple! I sure do hate this topic! It's still summer!!
Boataway is correct, very easy to drain the block. I happen to have the hand pump on mine, so in ~1 minute I can pump all the water out of the raw water. I do that and then still run pink stuff thru, but I'd think just pumping it out in WA area would be good.
Dream 'Inn III -- 2008 400 Express
djstewy - Winter at our marina looks like a big kids toy box with all the boats on shore in their shiny white or blue shrink wrap. When it's gets warmer (out of the single digits) and closer to launch day (normally mid April for us) my wife will say the boats can't breathe when she sees any that are still wrapped.
2002 FV 342 on Lake St. Clair - Past Commodore SHC - Vessel Examiner USCGAUX
PC BYC, Holland, MI
Never say never. lol It's like running aground: there are those who have done it and those yet to do it.
PC BYC, Holland, MI
I am from Boston and yes it gets pretty cold here in the Winter...burrrrr
Derek, I plan on leaving the boat in all year round. I will heat the engine room and cabin when not on board. Looking forward to using it this winter.
2007 300 EC, 350 Mags, B3's, Table Rock Lake, MO
My boat is in Tennessee I winterize it in water every year
I'm in Missouri and my 340 stays in the water all winter. My marine charges me about $500 to winterize both engines and all systems. I originally thought I wanted to do it myself but now I'm leaning towards letting him keep doing it - cheap insurance.
Ray
2006 390
Previous 2000 340
500 bucks is relatively cheap. I know people in my marina that will spend 3-4k including shrink wrap. I do all of it myself and spend maybe $300-400 in materials, which includes oil changes for engine and drives.
Dream 'Inn III -- 2008 400 Express
That totally stinks. Again IMO nothing good can happen keeping a boat is the water if you have bad winters.........
I know wives are costly... but holy cow.
Ray
2006 390
Previous 2000 340
Not fun on the frozen seacock... that would make for a very, very bad day. Again though, I'm not worried about anything near the hull freezing in Puget Sound. Around our parts the lowest recorded ocean water temp we have every year never dips below the high 40's. Pretty much all of the water in mid to southern Puget Sound stays in the low to mid 50's year round, give or take a few degrees on occasions.
It seems all the horror stories I'm hearing about freezing boats in slips are coming from guys in the mid-west and eastward who keep their boats in fresh water or our friends on the east coast/north-east who actually have a real winters, much different from us Puget Sound boaters who deal with rain and clouds for eight months of the year.
Well heck, if your not seeing temps below freezing, that's not winterizing. That's just storage for a few months. Get 2 of the biggest sump pumps you can find and put1 in the engine room and one in the cabin, both as low as you can get them. Run the hoses overboard. This way you have a double redundancy if an oh crap happens and damage will be minimal. Fog the engine(s) Stabil the gas. Go home. Then if time permitting check on the boat once a week or so.
Rain and Clouds but no below freezing? sounds like an AWSOME winter to me. I would probably still be boating in February if I had that.
Think Tiki has room for all of us?
RY, you do that. And talk to your neighbors. We could use a few less boats on the bar.
Dream 'Inn III -- 2008 400 Express