Winterization of boats

As this is my first boat/season and winter will no doubt be upon us very soon, forecast frost for Friday i'm looking for comments regarding winterising my engine and the rest of the boat

The previous owner installed a heater in the engine bay so he did not have to drain engine etc Is this reliable and safe? I went to the boat a couple of weeks ago and found my shore power breaker tripped so now i'm concerned obviously, don't know why it was tripped - reset fine

I'll assume all water hot/cold/heads etc will all require to be drained, i have a heater which i can set up on a timer should this be done throughout the winter?

I'd liked to have thought all going well that i might get out during the winter when you contantly see the loch like a sheet of glass, or is it a case of drain down and store away and wait for the new season?

Hi Campbell
If you intend not to use your boat over the winder season here is what I have done in the past.

1. 2 x 80 watt tube heaters on electronic stat set at 5 degrees C in engine compartment.
2. Plug in de-humidifier fed from timer place in main cabin.
3. Plug in 800 watt radiator fed from electronic stat set at 6 degrees C place in main cabin.
4. Empty pot water tank and drain all lines or you can flush with RV anti-freeze and then drain system. Also drain calorifier tank aswell
5. If Petrol engine add fuel stabilizer to fuel and run engine. Stabilizer stops fuel from going off.
6. Empty waste holding tank and flush tank till empty. Close sea cocks and place cling film over toilet this will prevent any smells coming into the cabin via toilet.
7. Run engine and then fog cylinders until engine stalls. Nick will have more info on the process to winterise engine.
8 Leave all cushion seats on sides and place something under bed matress to allow air to flow through. This will reduce damp type smells.
9.Leave fridge door slightly open.
10 place covering over deck seating this will prevent staining and keep them clean.

Other members of the forum may chime in with further tips on winterising boats.

Hi John

Thanks for the tips, can i be a pain what about if i do wish to use the boat over the winter, which numbers still apply?

Cheers

Campbell,

Depends if you are going to use the boat every weekend or just once a month. The pot water I would leave empty and just use a water container. The toilet/head can still be used. No need to add fuel stabilizer or fog the engine if used through out the winter months.

Your boat will also get covered in green scum and the likes as my boatr did last winter over the winter period so I would give it a regular wash down when weather permits. It saves having to spend days cleaning it at the start of boat season.

Just watch out when the marina pontoons freeze it can be very slippy, especially in the mornings after a hard frost. And last March the marina did freeze over with ice,m but I do not think any damage was done to any of the boats at the marina.

I know I will be down at the boat during the winter to stay aboard when on leave as I did last year.

anjo wrote:

Just watch out when the marina pontoons freeze it can be very slippy, especially in the mornings after a hard frost. And last March the marina did freeze over with ice,m but I do not think any damage was done to any of the boats at the marina.

Just like this.

I just like in the pic as I can remember I was to take my Bayliner 285 to Ardlui that week to pick my Sealine and I could not get out of my berth as the Bayliner was frozen. Ended up moving the delivery date to the following week when the ice was starting to thaw.

when leaving your boat on the water over winter, as already mentioned one of the most important things is to have some form of heater on by the engines, on a thermostat, or if you can afford it, on all the time!, the point raised about what to do if the power trips off was my concern in my first year on the loch, so I have a system that if the power goes off it sends me a text message to my mobile, this system also sends texts to tell me when the power is restored, so if it is like last year when the power was going on and off all the time for the building work at the boathouse, I was'nt panicking until a few hours had passed, and then have to decide to do something about it, I can't get up there too quick so have to rely on contacting someone to go and look for me! This system also informs me of any intruders on the boat!! there is a newer system out now which you can send a text to and it will turn things on, on the boat ie lights if it is dark when you are getting to the boat, not cheap though! more info at this web site http://www.alarmmyboats.co.uk/default.html