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Old 11-04-2018, 09:03 AM   #21
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A piece of ice has the same disastrous effect no matter the location. So, if ice forms in the engine, expensive things go bad.
My opinion, if we limit this to the Atlantic seaboard, is Jupiter Inlet. As a kid, we had 1/4" of ice on what was left of the water in the swimming pool when we moved in. And, thirty years of living in Central PB county, had no issues running no antifreeze in the engines year round. Only, anti-corrosion additives.
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Old 11-04-2018, 09:24 AM   #22
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Report from the Wilmington, NC area: Most winters, boats in the water do fine with only draining the fresh water taps. Sinks, showers, deck wash fittings. Those definitely can and do freeze. Engine room stuff generally has enough thermal inertia to survive the temp dips we get.

Except for last winter. We got a cold snap that was way worse than normal. I knew my boat (in the water) was at risk so I would go crank up the engine and genny to build heat. Creek got ice too.

Shower valve was drained, but apparently not well enough. Froze and broke. Otherwise my boat was ok.

Others no so lucky. I was personally involved in the investigation of two sinkings: A swift trawler 44 (I think) and a large sailboat. Both had freeze damage on sea water plumbing in engine room. Once freeze thawed, busted plumbing resulted in sinking.

So MOST WINTERS we need to do very little. But sometimes the cold fronts take our temps to the New England range and we get damage.

Can't just assume around here.

Way worse if boat is on the hill, those need the full winterization drill.
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Old 11-04-2018, 11:24 AM   #23
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Report from the Wilmington, NC area:...

Except for last winter. We got a cold snap that was way worse than normal. ...

So MOST WINTERS we need to do very little. But sometimes the cold fronts take our temps to the New England range and we get damage.

Can't just assume around here.

Way worse if boat is on the hill, those need the full winterization drill.
We are a two-three hour drive west of Wilmington and in the country so we do not have a heat island affect keeping the temperature up. I see a 5-10F degree temperature difference between our house and the city.

Anywho, the last couple of winters have had some record low temperatures where we had 6F(-14C) and 9F(-13C) nights. Some of the lows temps lasted a night or two or three and we had to protect the plumbing in the house from freezing. Prior to the last couple of years, we had one 9F degree low temperature in about a decade.

Besides these wacky low temperatures, I would be concerned about an ice storm taking out power if the boat was depending on electric heaters to keep the boat warm. We have had several ice storms that knocked out power for a few days over the last five years or so.

I also remember it snowing when I lived in South Florida. Course the snow was only on cars and melted real quick but it snowed! Not so funny have been the historical freezes in Florida that have wiped out the citrus groves and driven the orchards further south but I don't know if those freezes damaged boats. Just remember freezing when those cold snaps wiped out the industry in Central Florida in the 80's.

Me thinks I would winterize a boat if leaving it during the winter, even in the South, just so I would not have to worry as much. Unless I was at or south of Lake Okeechobee.

Later,
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Old 11-04-2018, 11:53 AM   #24
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There is a difference in freezing temps and water freezing.

Put water in your freezer and as cold as it is....it does take a while to freeze solid and expand enough to do damage.

Thats why some think that you dont have to winterize because they got away with it on numetous occasions....cold nights but warm enough days that even ice in lines had not frozen hard enough.

Think through your boats systems and layout, ask around what most do and dont get away with and then weigh the possibilities....

Manage your risks and sleep tight.....listening to a bunch of people who may or may not have real experience with boats snd winterizing isnt an insurance policy I would buy.
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Old 11-04-2018, 03:13 PM   #25
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Thanks to all. Based on the advice here, I will try to get south enough to avoid the extremes BUT I will no longer try to avoid winterizing itself. I'll pay someone to do the job properly. I had planned a simple monitoring system but more importantly, I will hopefully find someone who will do a weekly in-person check on the boat. That would be easy/normal here in Oz; cannot believe it will be hard States-side either for a 3 month period.
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Old 11-04-2018, 04:02 PM   #26
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You hit the magic words though in "living aboard." Were I living aboard or near the boat and regularly checking on it, then I wouldn't winterize in that area. But when you're away for a month or two at a time, then it's a bit different. That's when I'd classify that area as borderline.
We were one of two or three liveaboards in a marina of maybe 100 boats during our two winters after we stopped cruising full time., many of them very high end sport fishers but a variety of others. Some had contracted with local services or paid one of the dock hands to check on the boat on some regular basis. The other marinas in both Morehead/Beaufort and the New Bern area were similar.


I grant you that boat design plays a role in terms of unprotected-from-cold plumbing, and that loss of power is a remote, but real possibility. Part of looking out after the boat is starting the generator if that happens. I can understand the paranoia if you cannot have someone look out after the boat, yourself, a friend or a hired hand. We had temps in the high teens both those winters, and the marina shutting off the water supply was a not infrequent occurrence.

To be clear, there is no reason not to act with an abundance of caution if you so wish, especially if the boat is being left unattended or unheated (including the engine(s).
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Old 11-04-2018, 05:54 PM   #27
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South Enough to Avoid Winterizing the Boat?

We have wintered in New Bern for 10 years and we have never winterized once.
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Old 11-05-2018, 08:25 AM   #28
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We have wintered in New Bern for 10 years and we have never winterized once.



But we DO have portable heaters running in the cabin and in the engine room when needed. So we do some prepping for the cold weather....
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Old 11-09-2018, 01:11 PM   #29
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Has much to do with if the vessel is left in the water and does the water freeze. If you put the boat on the hard it will get as cold as the air. Likewise if you leave the boat in the water, and the water doesn't freeze, at least a third of the boat is in a medium warmer than the air. My trawler is in Seward, Alaska, and stays in the water year round. Seward harbor does not freeze and water temp stays about 40 degrees in the coldest months. I run antifreeze through the engine and genset raw water cooling, but more for corrosion protection than freezing. The water lines are drained, but that about it for winterization. All about location, location, location.
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Old 11-09-2018, 01:28 PM   #30
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We’ve got our Grand Banks at Little River and have not had to winterize.
Little River, SC is just north of North Myrtle Beach.
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Old 11-09-2018, 02:05 PM   #31
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I am currently winterizing my IG32 at Green Turtle Bay. Since Seasoned was in the Everglades for the past 2 or more decades, she doesn’t like the “pink stuff.” The Marina is now blowing out the dock water lines. Welcome to Winter❄️
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Old 11-09-2018, 02:06 PM   #32
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Winterization in NC

I am in the Morehead City, NC area. My winterization consists of hanging a 100 watt lightbulb in the engine room. And only because it gets cold for about 2 weeks in January. Of course, this is with the boat in the water.
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Old 11-09-2018, 02:16 PM   #33
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I am in the Morehead City, NC area.

We will likely spend this winter in MHC too. Water is warmer and more saline than up in NB. Last winter we had a 3” sheet of ice around boat but the oil filled heaters did their job ;-)
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Old 11-09-2018, 04:39 PM   #34
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Winterizing

We are in Eastern Tennessee and winterize in the water from December to mid March. Most of the time it is a wasted exercise but there are times when it stays in the single digits for several days and it is worth every penny. Do main engine, generator, fresh water, air conditioning, heads, wash down pumps. Some boats at our marina leave their heating system on over the winter but my feeling is that this is taking a big risk since there can be power outages at the worst time not to mention the risk of a hose problem and pumping the boat full of water.
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Old 11-09-2018, 05:20 PM   #35
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I lived in the vicinity of Cumberland Island, Ga. back in the 70's/80's. One year we had the air temp stay below freezing for more than 24 hours.
Didn't hurt my outboard powered boat but I had to buy a new pump for the well at the house.
Unpredictable stuff, weather.
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Old 11-09-2018, 05:22 PM   #36
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Winterize. We lived in Pensacola Florida and one winter had 3 days were temps remained below freezing. We had 1-2" of ice on our canal. So, understand that was rare but it can happen. Many busted pipes etc. If you are there you put heat in the boat but understand in the south there are more ice storms that knock out power. If you are there you can run genset and or engine to warm up the boat if not ... you are taking a risk with severe potential consequencez albeit low probabilities. Just winterize, cheap and eliminates any risk.
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Old 11-09-2018, 05:25 PM   #37
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A couple years back many of the dock water lines at Brunswick Landing Marina in Brunswick, Ga froze and broke.

Sure engine room stuff that far south is usually safe but any water faucets, showers,vetc that penetrate the hull or are above decks can also freeze in a long, hard overnight freezes.
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