First time winterization questions...

[jbruere]

It's the first year we've had to winterize and store our boat- 2006 Sea Ray 220 Select. It will be stored inside a private somewhat temperature controlled building. We live in Iowa and it gets COLD and we get a lot of moisture. We've had the boat professionally winterized.
First question- Do we need to store the boat with the outdrive in down position or is it fine trimmed all the way up?
Second question- Do we need to worry about mildew or anything? We have a snap cover that will be on the boat. I've cleaned everything out of the storage compartments and if there is something I should use to wipe down, please let me know!
Third question- Mice..I'm hoping they won't be a problem, but around here when it gets cold, those little buggers find a way to get into everything. What is the best way to keep them out and away from the boat?
Any other storage tips would be greatly appreciated. We are newbies to all of this and any help/suggestions are more than welcome!! THANKS!!!

 

[dutchman]

Store the drive in the down position. It will keep the bellows in a more natural state, rather than being stretched out on one side.
One thing I ALWAYS do..........I put a sign or tag of some kind on the trailer tongue or winch. Just a reminder for the next time the boat gets moved.

 

[poormonkey]

1. Down if possible, we can't put ours down when we store ours because they move all the boats around often as they receive more boats for storage. I see a lot of other i/o boats in storage with their drives up as well because of this. But, store down if possible.

2. I put two of the larger size damprid containers in our cabin. Also, I take all the cushions and I move them around, so that everything can breath below the cushions (storage compartments, etc..) I also throw some dryer sheets around to keep the spiders away, and also makes the boat smell better in the spring.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

3. I leave the drain plug out, but I stuff some wire mesh in the hole so mice can't get in that way. I have heard some people set traps on their boat, but when the mouse dies inside some where you can't get, well then you get a stinky boat. We don't put any traps on our boat, but where we store it, they put traps down on the floor in a few places. Make sure you remove all food and beverages of any sorts from the boat.

Make sure your tires on your trailer are fully inflated. Turn off all battery switches, and if possible, manually disconnect the batteries, since some things on the boat bypass the battery switches.