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Old 01-05-2022, 07:12 AM   #1
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Winterize in New Bern?

Average temperature charts suggest boats might not need winterizing in New Bern... but then I know "averages" can sometimes come back to bite.

Do folks winterize their boats in New Bern?

-Chris
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Old 01-05-2022, 08:57 AM   #2
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Average temperature charts suggest boats might not need winterizing in New Bern... but then I know "averages" can sometimes come back to bite.

Do folks winterize their boats in New Bern?

-Chris
So true… the old saying you can drown in a lake that has an average depth of 1’.
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Old 01-05-2022, 09:10 AM   #3
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It's rare that the area gets the kind of weather that necessitates winterizing. We did have a cold snap a couple of years ago that froze the marshes in Morehead City, but it was predicted well in advance.

If you can't reach the boat with a week's notice, winterizing may give you peace of mind.
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Old 01-05-2022, 09:16 AM   #4
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When we lived in Oriental, about 30 miles from New Bern, it would occasionally get down to 20 F and once in a while the creeks and harbor would freeze over with a skim of ice. I kept a small heater set at 600 watts in the engine room which kept all water systems from freezing up. No need for pink stuff winterizing.

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Old 01-05-2022, 10:38 AM   #5
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We spent a winter in New Bern and I can echo what has been said.
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Old 01-07-2022, 07:00 AM   #6
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Thanks, all. Maybe we'll add New Bern to our future "over-winter places" list...

-Chris
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Old 01-07-2022, 07:38 AM   #7
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Do you stay on board during the winter? If so you don't need to do anything special to keep from freezing up. The boat will be plenty warm for you.

You do need to consider how you are going to replenish water and deal with waste. Most marinas in that area shut off their dock water in Jan-Mar. Sometimes live aboards congregate near the land so they can run a temporary water hose from an active spigot like in a restroom.

Waste is another issue.

But if you are a winter live aboard, you probably already know this.

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Old 01-07-2022, 10:08 AM   #8
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Yeah, we have stayed aboard all winter a couple times, once in Charleston, once in Jacksonville. Made sure in advance that they had services...

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Old 01-07-2022, 10:17 AM   #9
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Near Charlotte, NC, we faced the same dilemma. People who kept their boats at marinas and in dry storage would regularly refuse winterization as "they'd never done it." Then one winter, there would be dozens of destroyed engines. Now, I'm not a proponent of winterization as I used year round. But I am a proponent of alternative protection. If you have electric and heaters running then that works, but then you must have alarms for loss of power. If you live on the boat or by the boat then you can always monitor things, but, if not, then you need someone to do so and it needs to be paid as that's the only way you have recourse if they fail to do the job. Or otherwise, extremely trustworthy. But not just the neighbor at the dock. They may find themselves sick or hospitalized and your protection is gone. Regardless, I'd still have temperatures available remotely so I could check what was going on at any time. Easy enough to have cameras aimed at thermometers if nothing else.

Freezes hit New Bern about as often as destructive storms do. Rare, but must be prepared in case. All my years in NC, I never winterized, but I always took precautions and checked regularly. Even before I was old enough to drive, I'd have my parents drive me to the marina after school when there were freeze warnings and I'd check the heater and wrapping and temperature (before cams and all the convenient monitoring of today). On an I/O, I'd often run the boat for a while and then drain the water from the engine again, always had petcocks to do so. I sadly remember the one year that in spite of notices and advice, 15 boats in dry storage froze (obviously not heated dry storage) at one marina. Only time I remember a problem, but enough to scare me.
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Old 01-07-2022, 11:08 AM   #10
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The main marina in New Bern, the one in front of the hotel (can't remember its name) has lots of over wintering boats, and some liveaboards. They do turn the water off at the docks if the temps are forecast to be low, but they turn it back on after a few days, so no real problem.

Much further north like Annapolis, water is a bit more difficult sometimes being off for months.

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Old 01-07-2022, 12:25 PM   #11
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Much further north like Annapolis, water is a bit more difficult sometimes being off for months.

Yep, too much trouble (for me) to stay aboard over winter around here. It's cold enough (right now, for example) here at the house, no sense arguing weather from a boat.

Some people do it here, actually, but it takes work, including finding the right place, etc.

At least I didn't have to plow snow again today; it was a couple inches but very light/fluffy and melted off of the driveway (at least) in the sunlight. OTOH, we had to do an unscheduled swap-over from mower to snowplow on this last Monday, and we've lost at least the tops of several trees from that event, about 10" and very heavy/wet.

Which of course is what reminded me to plan ahead for the next winter... or maybe the one after that...

Seems to me, that hotel/marina was maybe a Sheraton last time we were there... but that was many years ago...

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Old 01-17-2022, 10:24 AM   #12
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It is a Doubletree now. We are down river a bit at Northwest Creek. We have neighbors who do winterize because they are gone all winter. Our marina turns off water when temps are below freezing and turn it back on when they rise, usually with enough notice to make arrangements. Most folks don’t do any winterizing as most winters we can still go boating!
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