Help...How to Winterize when keeping in slip?

CoralReefer

CoralReefer

New Member
Mar 26, 2008
685
Nashville, TN
Boat Info
1987 250 Sundancer
Engines
260 Mercruiser w/Alpha I
I've decided to make the switch from dry dock to slip on different lake closer to home. I'd be keeping in the slip year round (of course routine haul-outs for cleaning etc. in season). What's the process for winterizing while keeping in the water?

Thanks in advance for the advice.
 
CoralReefer said:
I've decided to make the switch from dry dock to slip on different lake closer to home. I'd be keeping in the slip year round (of course routine haul-outs for cleaning etc. in season). What's the process for winterizing while keeping in the water?

Thanks in advance for the advice.
Click to expand...

i think the biggest thing to do would be to make sure nothing freezes......not sure of the procedure but hopefully you will get good advice here.

good luck :thumbsup:
 
i kept my boat in the water over the winter and i liked it much better than having it hauled out and stored on land. The usual winterizing was done (no different in the water than on land) to the engines and water systems. One thing to be mindful of is ice damaging the hull. We have a bubbler system at our marina which kept ice from forming around the boat. Check your marine insurance and make sure they dont differentiate winter storage in the water from out of the water. Hope this helps.

Mike
 
Well in Nashville I wouldn't winterize it myself. Maybe the water system but with a bilge heater and a cabin heater you'd still have the boat for those nice winter days to use. :smt001

We routinely get days in the teens during Jan and Feb (granted not for extended periods) and have had no issues. There have been a couple of days when the marina has lost power from ice storms but running engines and /or generator kept temps above freezing.
 
Winterizing once you have mastered it is not a big deal. In Nashville your temps are a bit more moderate. Once you have figured out the tricks on your boat, It is a pretty quick process. It takes longer to change oil, transmission fluid and those items than to winterize. I get rv/marine antifreeze and run it through everything, after draining items. This includes, engines, generator, a/c, water system, drains... Myself and a friend winterize our boats on the same day. With two people it is a pretty quick process. You also need to stabilize fuel. I have a bypass kit on my freshwater system and my hot water heater and I have made strainer caps with a threaded fitting to run antifreeze through everything else. I use the -100 on all engines and -50 on the water system.
 
Big help so far!! Thanks!! When you say "winterize as usual"...so you put the muffs on the water inlet while in the water and run antifreeze through? I've also seen folks put heat lamps or regular med watt bulbs/lamp vs. heaters in the bilge and tape up the vents.
 
Do not put a heat (or any other) lamp in the bildge unless it is designed for that purpose. A small bildge heater will keep your engine compartment well above freezing. I entertained the idea of a heat lamp on a timer in the cabin but determined it unnecessary.

I'm a little further south than you are but even during last winter, our coldest in 20 years, I had no problems even with the fresh water systems in the cabin.
 
If you have a bilge heater, you still need to have the water system and A/C winterized. Not all components are in the bilge. I own an xtreme bilge heater and I am happy with it.
 
Mine is in the water year round and our climates are similar. But I also use the boat in the winter nearly every week so I don't winterize my engine or freshwater system. The key to this is keeping the bilge and the cabin warm. I have a bilge heater and I either use my Heat/AC system or I use quartz heaters in the cabin.The only other precaution I take is to drain the water lines that are in the cockpit for the sink, the transom shower and the dockside water inlet in my Lazarrette.

If you go this route do not use anything else in your bilge other than an approved marine safe bilge heater or you risk explosion and fire. The heaters in the cockpit can be purchased just about anywhere. Just make sure they have micro-switches that turn them off if they are tipped over.

You also need to make sure you have an onboard battery charger to keep your batteries fully charged and that your bilge pumps are in operating order.

Dave
 
Great info. You've made the decision to move to the water much easier. Thanks everyone.
 
Boatsafe 750W heater in the ER. Boat heat until water temps hit 40, then use quartz/cube heater in cabin. Drain water from tank and blow out lines using a compressor (use an adapter that fits onto the shore water supply fitting). Buy a remote digital thermometer and put in ER so you can check hi/low temp easily. Pour marine Sta-Bil into tanks before final fillup. That's about all for a Nashville winter.
 
Hello this is my first thread. I am new to the cruiser community. I went from a 20ft Sweet Water Pontoon to a 1985 340 SDA.

I live in Dallas, and we are experiencing the worst winter! 4 days with highs in the low twenties and a couple of single digit nights. Snow/ice for the whole week

My 340 is in a south facing covered slip. I have the full camper enclosure on and my bow pads laying over the engine room hatches. I have an Extreem heat XXX large in my ER and a West Marine cabin heater in the cabin. I left my door to the head open alond with all the cabinet doors--so the heat will get to the plumming. I am going to run everything today and check for any freeze damage.

I will let you know if I sustained any damage.

Thanks

How did I do?
 
charpold said:
Hello this is my first thread. I am new to the cruiser community. I went from a 20ft Sweet Water Pontoon to a 1985 340 SDA.

I live in Dallas, and we are experiencing the worst winter! 4 days with highs in the low twenties and a couple of single digit nights. Snow/ice for the whole week

My 340 is in a south facing covered slip. I have the full camper enclosure on and my bow pads laying over the engine room hatches. I have an Extreem heat XXX large in my ER and a West Marine cabin heater in the cabin. I left my door to the head open alond with all the cabinet doors--so the heat will get to the plumming. I am going to run everything today and check for any freeze damage.

I will let you know if I sustained any damage.

Thanks

How did I do?
Click to expand...


WELCOME ABOARD AND GOOD LUCK:thumbsup: i'm interested as to the West Marine cabin heater in the cabin. good????
 
billnpat said:
WELCOME ABOARD AND GOOD LUCK:thumbsup: i'm interested as to the West Marine cabin heater in the cabin. good????
Click to expand...
I like the West Marine heater alot. It has to be a high quility space heater or I don't like leaving it unattended. I keep it on the lowest setting to keep my pipes from freezing. We spent the night on it when it go down to 25 and it kept the cabin around 68 degrees.

I ran everything today and found no freeze damage
 
charpold said:
I like the West Marine heater alot. It has to be a high quility space heater or I don't like leaving it unattended. I keep it on the lowest setting to keep my pipes from freezing. We spent the night on it when it go down to 25 and it kept the cabin around 68 degrees.

I ran everything today and found no freeze damage
Click to expand...


Good for you :thumbsup:
 
I bet you will be fine. We have been getting similar unusual bad weather here and low low temps and I simply have a bilge heater, keep my heat on 55 in the cabin, and flushed the water out of the lines and all is just fine. I have been down a few times just to crank up the engines and get everything up to operating temp and she starts like a champ.

Honestly, some of the cooler days are really nice out on the lake with the front valance and canvas up!!:thumbsup::grin:
 
Scottzzzy said:
I bet you will be fine. We have been getting similar unusual bad weather here and low low temps and I simply have a bilge heater, keep my heat on 55 in the cabin, and flushed the water out of the lines and all is just fine. I have been down a few times just to crank up the engines and get everything up to operating temp and she starts like a champ.




Honestly, some of the cooler days are really nice out on the lake with the front valance and canvas up!!:thumbsup::grin:
Click to expand...


Not to hijack this thread but i was checking this out today for my nephews wedding present

http://www.boattrader.com/listing/2002-sea-ray-340-sundancer-96202004
 
i eave mine in wvery other year. I'm on Long Island so it will freeze. I winterize all systems as if on land. then i go a bit further. I remave all intake hoses from the seacocks, drain the water from then then fill them up with -50 from the strainers. the next problem is that i always get some water in the bilge, usually from rain. i had the bilge pumps freeze on me and then burn out when the float switch tried to turn on the frozen pump. the solution was to dump some antifreeze in the bilge and just leave it there. the water mixes with the -50 and stays liquid.

the other problem is making sure i have a pfd on when i clime on the boat. it's usually got some ice in the platform. I leave a line from the finger to the far side clete so that i have something to hang on to . It will also make it easier for rescue to find me when i freeze to death
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,253
Messages
1,429,370
Members
61,132
Latest member
MinecraftRu1Swilm
Back
Top