Winter Questions

[MikeM]

Originally Posted by Heron

I'm in pretty much the same situation....In Washington NC right near Norfolk Temp wise. I just ordered a small, Inexpensive engine compartment heater from Defender. Caframo Pali brand and should cover any cold snaps we may experience. Kicks on automatically at 41 degrees. Covers up to 80 cubic feet at -4° F (-20° C) outside ambient temperature. My Compartment is well insulated and sealed so this should do the trick..

Does that mean you won't winterize? If so, what happens if you lose power?

[Heron]

Originally Posted by MikeM

Does that mean you won't winterize? If so, what happens if you lose power?

I'll do some basic winterizing (Head, Hot water heater, AC etc)... Power losses are minimal in the area.
I'll actually be pulling the boat during the worst months Jan-Feb
to do some cosmetic maintenance... I'll be asking around at the marina to see what most do..

[BandB]

Originally Posted by Heron

I'm in pretty much the same situation....In Washington NC right near Norfolk Temp wise. I just ordered a small, Inexpensive engine compartment heater from Defender. Caframo Pali brand and should cover any cold snaps we may experience. Kicks on automatically at 41 degrees. Covers up to 80 cubic feet at -4° F (-20° C) outside ambient temperature. My Compartment is well insulated and sealed so this should do the trick..

I'd also recommend some form of alarm to notify you of power outages and/or temperature drops. I'd also have an alarm for notification of water in bilge and a few other things so a system of keeping one aware of anything unusual. The alternative is a human on site providing monitoring services but finding someone reliable and willing is difficult.

[twistedtree]

Originally Posted by MikeM

Does that mean you won't winterize? If so, what happens if you lose power?

At least around here you can't leave a hauled boat plugged in. If you are on it working you can plug in, but need to unplug when you leave. Cords running everywhere, especially running space heaters, is a very high fire risk and none of the marines I know of will allow it. But I'm sure it varies in different parts of the country.

[Marin]

While we don't get severe enough winters to warrant winterizing, we do get the occasional cold snap for a few days when the wind comes from the north out of the BC interior through the Fraser River canyon.

We keep two electric heaters on the boat from December through March. These are the oil-type heaters that look like a small steam radiator. We keep one in the aft cabin and one in the engine room. They are set to their lowest settings (600w) with the thermostats halfway up.

The one in the engine room keeps that space at about 50 degrees, so the FL120s start immediately even in January (we use the boat year round, winds permitting). The nice thing about these heaters is that if there is a power outage they come back on when the power comes back. We used to use an electric ceramic heater and it needed to be manually reset after a power outage.

The large boatyard in our marina has ground power outlets at every "stall" so boats in the yard can remain on ground power 24/7. Extension cords that might be used while working on a boat cannot be left on the ground when the boat is not being worked on.

We used to use the pink stuff in our fresh water system during the winter and used a portable container for fresh water when we used the boat. It would take all summer to get the pink stuff taste and smell out of the water,and the portable container was a pain, so we stopped doing this some 10 or 12 years ago.

Instead we put a pillbox heater in the lazarette with the water tanks, and if it's forecast to be below freezing for a couple or more consecutive 24 hour periods we plug it in. As long as it gets above freezing during the day, we leave it unplugged.

Occasionally it will get cold enough long enough to freeze the top layer of water in the marina, which has a low or no salt content most of the year. But these occasions are very rare. The photo below, taken a couple of winters ago while we were in temporary moorage while our old dock and fingers were being replaced with new ones, was one of these occasions.

[Puffin_NT32]

Mike,

You're in an area (VA) that wintering in the water is not much of a problem. I've been sailing and motor boating for 45 years out of Rhode Island. We've always hauled the boat for the Winter, but last Winter, I stored the boat in the water. We were up the Pawcatuck River, where it turns to fresh water in Westerly RI. There are many marinas in CT and RI that have in-water storage capacity. Here's my experience.

1. At the end of November, we washed and covered the boat with a coat of wax (not buffed out). I've stored all my boats uncovered but for a coat of wax. While the marina had shut off the water, for washing, I was using my washdown system drawing fresh water from the river.

2. Fresh water system was flushed and winterized with RV antifreeze.

3. Engine acid flushed and filled with the RV stuff. If you're running the engine periodically, at this location, we could have waited and winterized the engine just for January and February. At the dock next to us, a local seal watch downeaster was running seal watch trips until December 31st, and resumed March 1st.

4. My Cummins diesel has an immersion heater that I keep plugged in from November to March. That alone keep the engine and engine compartment warm (relatively speaking).

5. During the super cold January and February days, the marina had a blubber system going, so there wasn't an ice problems.

Would I store in the water again? Not really, at least in this location. I can keep the boat in the water at my boat yard until about the middle of November, and be relaunched by mid-April. I've hauled as late as December 1st, and re-launched by April 1st. The problem I see is that, at least in New England, there isn't any real reason to take the boat out in the Winter. And if you need assistance out on the water, other than commercial fisherman, there are no other boaters out, and the tow services are not running. Besides, hauling over the Winter allows some hull and running gear maintenance, ding repairs, and you can even get a jump on bottom prep and painting during those rare 50 degree days.

A friend on mine has always stored his boat in the water in a well-protected marina in Wickford RI. He did a short-haul in October for bottom cleaning, zincs, and paint. He simply winterized his fresh water system and engine, and covered the boat with clear shrink wrap. Never had an issue. Of course, his boat, cosmetically, looks like it's been stored in the water. Difficult to get polishing, rubbing out, and dings taken care of while in the water. Oh, by the way, he retired a couple of months ago and moved to Charleston SC.

The biggest problem I had is that I was not able to get the boat hauled for bottom prep and paint until after Memorial Day. The yard was just too busy with normal boat prep and launches. Photo taken January 8, 2014.

[HiDHo]

What is the routine for winterizing a heat pump ?

[MikeM]

Originally Posted by Puffin_NT32

Mike,



You're in an area (VA) that wintering in the water is not much of a problem. I've been sailing and motor boating for 45 years out of Rhode Island. We've always hauled the boat for the Winter, but last Winter, I stored the boat in the water. We were up the Pawcatuck River, where it turns to fresh water in Westerly RI. There are many marinas in CT and RI that have in-water storage capacity. Here's my experience.



1. At the end of November, we washed and covered the boat with a coat of wax (not buffed out). I've stored all my boats uncovered but for a coat of wax. While the marina had shut off the water, for washing, I was using my washdown system drawing fresh water from the river.



2. Fresh water system was flushed and winterized with RV antifreeze.



3. Engine acid flushed and filled with the RV stuff. If you're running the engine periodically, at this location, we could have waited and winterized the engine just for January and February. At the dock next to us, a local seal watch downeaster was running seal watch trips until December 31st, and resumed March 1st.



4. My Cummins diesel has an immersion heater that I keep plugged in from November to March. That alone keep the engine and engine compartment warm (relatively speaking).



5. During the super cold January and February days, the marina had a blubber system going, so there wasn't an ice problems.



Would I store in the water again? Not really, at least in this location. I can keep the boat in the water at my boat yard until about the middle of November, and be relaunched by mid-April. I've hauled as late as December 1st, and re-launched by April 1st. The problem I see is that, at least in New England, there isn't any real reason to take the boat out in the Winter. And if you need assistance out on the water, other than commercial fisherman, there are no other boaters out, and the tow services are not running. Besides, hauling over the Winter allows some hull and running gear maintenance, ding repairs, and you can even get a jump on bottom prep and painting during those rare 50 degree days.



A friend on mine has always stored his boat in the water in a well-protected marina in Wickford RI. He did a short-haul in October for bottom cleaning, zincs, and paint. He simply winterized his fresh water system and engine, and covered the boat with clear shrink wrap. Never had an issue. Of course, his boat, cosmetically, looks like it's been stored in the water. Difficult to get polishing, rubbing out, and dings taken care of while in the water. Oh, by the way, he retired a couple of months ago and moved to Charleston SC.



The biggest problem I had is that I was not able to get the boat hauled for bottom prep and paint until after Memorial Day. The yard was just too busy with normal boat prep and launches. Photo taken January 8, 2014.

Thanks for all the great info. Your boat looks very lonely and cold!

I think I am going to get the engine room heater Heron recommended, although I hope to only use it once. We will be much further south next year at this time!

[FF]

>I'll actually be pulling the boat during the worst months Jan-Feb<

Still can freeze hard enough to brake stuff on land

She wont sink, but it could be expensive.