Monday, December 10, 2012

Is Your Boat Winterized Yet? (Do Boats cry real tears when confined to a dock?

                              Above, Great Escape, backed in and tied to the dock til spring 
                                           
                                  Below, Great Escape in SALT WATER should be  the
                                           Prefered Winterization method.......BUT.......

                  ALAS.... when we look at our budget we are forced to keep our boat
                  in St. Louis in a frozen harbor all winter with a bubbler running

                  Every year in the spring, or sooner durring the hard freeze in our area
                  durring the winter, we hear of a boat, or two  that  sink
                  at the dock. This can be due to improper preparation for the winter.

                Important items to be completed to keep a boat in the water in winter are:
                      1,  All "thru hull" sea cocks must be closed and filled with antifreeze.
                      2,  All water lines and strainers subject to freezing must be emptied
                           and filled with antifreeze.       
                      3,  Air comditioners / heat pumps must be filled with antifreeze.
                      4,  Marine toilets and their holding tanks likewise should be winter-
                           ized with antifreeze.
                      5,  I keep a marine electric (110) heater in the bilge set to go on when
                           temp drops below 40 degrees.  This helps keep various items like
                           batteries, hoses, gaskets, etc. etc. in the bilge from freezing.
                      6,  Bilge pumps should be in working order and it doesnt hurt to run
                           some antifreeze thru them.
                      7,  Cabnets in the baths and galley should be emptied of all freezable
                                   substances.  This includes refrigerators inside as well on decks.
                      8,  A good time to change the engine and generator oil is at this time
                           each year even though this isn't a must.
                      9,  This is also a good time to check the battery bank to avoid "heart
                                    ache" in the spring.
                     10,  If there is any doubt about  your ability to get this job done on
                            your own;  have it done professionally.  (I've always done my
                            own winterizing in the past.  However, since we acquired
                            Great Escape in 2009 I've had our marina do it.  Crawling around
                            in the bilge wrestling with 4 inch hoses, I have decided is just too
                            much work.  Also if something is missed, your insurance co. may
                            not be forgiving after your boat sinks . A pro is insured for their
                           .work.
                      11,  Run the pink antifreeze thru the ice maker.
                      12.  Seal the fuel vents with small oil soaked rags,
                      13,  Seal the vent covers that aeriate the bilge to prevent cold drafts
                                    entering the engine compartments.
                      14,  Fuel additives, stabilizers can be addet to fuel tanks.

         One thing I do before the really cold weather in late Jan and Feb. sets in is to
         have a system on board that allows JoAnn and I to occasionally stay on board
         after winterization.  It goes like this:  I keep a small amount of water in the large
         water tank.  (about 50-75 gallons)  In the small water tank I keep 6-10 gallons of
         antifreeze. This allows me to switch from the large tank to the small tank
         before leaving the boat to go home and run the antifreeze to all lines used
         until pink ( Hot water heater is bypassed for this process but left  full and on all
         winter).  We use the built in wall electric heaters rather than the winterized
         heat pumps.    I know our friends in Alaska who follow our blog can't do this as
         your winters are a little cooler than here in St Louis Mo.
           When we recently took an Alaskan cruise I couldn't believe how many Pilot-
           house 4788s we saw there.  Every harbor had several where as we only have
          5 in the whole St. Louis area.
                (WHEN THE HARBOR FREEZES IN WE DON"T LEAVE ANY
                  WATER ABOARD)  (this list is not intended to be a complete
                              winterization schedule)          
            

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