"Idling at 1400rpm" isn't a load Marin .. It's a high idle...I suspect/think your description of the weather is grossly exaggerated. Buck up like Tom White would say.
Well, you obviously have no clue what the weather and water conditions can be like in Bellingham Bay, particularly during the winter. We've been boating there for more than 16 years now, and we do. Winters are actually getting windier. This is not just our observation but that of other boaters we know who keep their boats in Bellingham and try to boat year round.
You also have no clue what my work and travel schedule is like and how they match up to the weather. We don't have the luxury of going boating whenever we want. So we do what's necessary to keep the boat from just sitting with no use at all for weeks at a time.
Given that the cruising rpm typically used with these engines is 1500-1800 rpm, I would say that 1400 rpm in gear is a "load." 1000 rpm is considered "high idle" for the FL120. Idle rpm is, or should be, 600 rpm.
The engines do not come up to temperature at anything less than 1300-1400 rpm. At 600 rpm the coolant temps get perhaps half way to normal and go no higher, normal being 180-190 degrees).
Since the engines get to normal operating temperature by the coolant gauges at 1400 rpm, and the EGT gauges also get to their normal cruise setting, the same settings they get to at at our typical cruise rpm of 1650 rpm/8 knots, I would say that 1400 rpm is not any sort of "idle" setting.
It might be for a modern, high-speed diesel. But for a 1950s thumper like the Ford Dorset (FL120) 1400 with the load of the prop is definitely not any sort of "idle."
But you can call it whatever you want. You can call it "stopped" if you want to.
It makes no difference to me or the engines what term you want to stick on that particular rpm. The point is that the load on the engines at that rpm is sufficient to get the engine temps and EGT readings up into their normal operating range, and that's all that matters.