I’ve heard I don’t have to winterize but it’s going to be 18 degrees....

I called the marina. The water temp right now is 48. Another thing I’m thinking about is my engine compartment is outside on the rear deck, away from my cabin. So the only heat it’ll see is the water temp.

He sugguested I throw a light bulb in the Bildge, and that’s a good idea but I don’t know where to run the extension chord.

Panic is starting to set in

Ski in NC said:

Is there a key on the boat or does dockmaster have one? Call dockmaster and give him like 40 bucks to do what you want. Our local dockmasters are always doing that sort of stuff.

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Nope....we didn’t plan to stay at this marina long so it never crossed my mind. I’m definitely doing that from now on.

Ok I have formulated a plan. I’m going to bring my small space heater with me and throw (gently place) that in the engine compartment between the engines. I’m going to run the extension chord to the shore power. It has a place to plug in an entension chord but I neee a 30-110 adapter apparently.

Are you guys familiar with what he’s talking about? Is this something that’s common on all of the shore power towers on docks? He thinks bass pro shop might have it.

Steve91T said:

I called the marina. The water temp right now is 48. Another thing I’m thinking about is my engine compartment is outside on the rear deck, away from my cabin. So the only heat it’ll see is the water temp.

He sugguested I throw a light bulb in the Bildge, and that’s a good idea but I don’t know where to run the extension chord.

And...

I left the Boat earlier this month with the fresh water pump off and the tank mostly topped off. Basically I need to decide if driving 3 1/2 hrs each way today will be worth it to just open come cabinets.

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What marina? Yesterday the Osprey guys told me their local water temps were in the high 50s... although I have no way to verify how correct that is.

Forecasts include some low temps for Myrtle Beach, but... those are overnight lows, not constant temps. Day time temp forecasts aren't wonderful but they're all above freezing, well above except for Mon, Tue, and Fri.. IOW, there shouldn't be (so far) any long-term sustained zub-freezing temps in the area, and the water temps should be staying high enough so reverse cycle heating will mostly work.

Disconnecting the shorewater hose and letting that thaw out on the dock won't hurt. The dockmaster could do that for you.

Relieving pressure on your freshwater system, and draining exterior pipe runs (cockpit shower hose?) probably won't hurt. If you have a cockpit faucet or shower, just opening that tap or valve could be enough... and that's probably another thing the dockmaster could do for you.

-Chris

Steve91T said:

Ok I have formulated a plan. I’m going to bring my small space heater with me and throw (gently place) that in the engine compartment between the engines. I’m going to run the extension chord to the shore power. It has a place to plug in an entension chord but I neee a 30-110 adapter apparently.

Are you guys familiar with what he’s talking about? Is this something that’s common on all of the shore power towers on docks? He thinks bass pro shop might have it.

Click to expand...

Yes, not uncommon, West Marine usually carries those adapters.

-Chris

ranger42c said:

What marina? Yesterday the Osprey guys told me their local water temps were in the high 50s... although I have no way to verify how correct that is.

Forecasts include some low temps for Myrtle Beach, but... those are overnight lows, not constant temps. Day time temp forecasts aren't wonderful but they're all above freezing, well above except for Mon, Tue, and Fri.. IOW, there shouldn't be (so far) any long-term sustained zub-freezing temps in the area, and the water temps should be staying high enough so reverse cycle heating will mostly work.

Disconnecting the shorewater hose and letting that thaw out on the dock won't hurt. The dockmaster could do that for you.

Relieving pressure on your freshwater system, and draining exterior pipe runs (cockpit shower hose?) probably won't hurt. If you have a cockpit faucet or shower, just opening that tap or valve could be enough... and that's probably another thing the dockmaster could do for you.

-Chris

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I have a fresh water shower/hose that sits in the transom. When I left I opened that to relieve any pressure.

He said yesterday he was on a 60’ Boat in my Marina (Grand Dunes) and said the water temp gauge was showing 46. So idk.

What scares me about the forecast is Sunday night low of 22, then Monday a high of 35, then down to the teens, then a high of mid 30’s. It might be warmer than that, or it could be colder. Either way there’s going to be long periods of below freezing temps.

Are you taking any precautions at Osprey?

Steve91T said:

He said yesterday he was on a 60’ Boat in my Marina (Grand Dunes) and said the water temp gauge was showing 46. So idk.

Are you taking any precautions at Osprey?

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Yes, but not much special. Freshwater pressure is relieved (but not drained), one of the interior reverse cycle systems is on at the lowest heat setting.

If you've decided you're going, and if you have an air compressor, you could maybe buy yourself some additional peace of mind by blowing out your freshwater plumbing. That's not really a recommendation, though...

I'm not thrilled about the predicted temps either, but even 46°F water temp is usually enough to keep the interior and systems from freezing. We usually winter in the water even up here where sometimes our marina freezes in... although that's with the freshwater and raw water washdown systems drained and engines/genset/ACs fully winterized. But my point is that even when the marina is frozen in, water temps right around the boat hull don't usually really get below freezing, at least not enough to freeze, even without the de-icer running... because the hull movement in the water mostly prevents it.

-Chris

Go there and fire up the main engine. Get it warm/hot. Got shore power? get a small heater going. Fans can help. Your surrounding water temp is NOT 18 degrees so keep air moving and you will be OK.

It is easy to check the water temperature in the AICW from your home. It is 58 degrees at the moment in little River SC. Check on your location with this handy site.
Tides and solunar charts for fishing in South Carolina in 2018

Thanks, Cliff, hadn't seen that site before.

The 48°F at Socastee and at Myrtle Beach Combination Bridge both seem to agree with what the Dunes dockmaster told Steve earlier... even it if is from a prediction algorithm instead of measured temp.

-Chris

Thanks for starting this thread! I cam to start the exact same thing, as this is my first year with a boat in the water. I'm in Charleston, SC, btw.

I'm going to drain my freshwater. -- Or, at least, turn off the freshwater pump(I keep it off, anyway) and open all the lines.

I'm very nervous about keeping a space heater down in the engine room/bilge, even though, I could keep it safely on the aluminum floor.
What about dipstick heaters?

Went to the boat today. I have both heat/ac on the lowest heat setting. Even with 46 degree water it was cranking out some decent heat. I also left cabinets open and placed a space heater in the Bildge. I’m pretty confident that’ll keep it nice and warm. It was a long day but I’m so glad I did it.

The dock master said I’m the only one so far doing anything at all to prevent damage. I’ll be interested to hear if anyone has any problems.

Thanks everyone!

Record cold? Smart move. Radiant grid heater between two gas engines? Humm.

sunchaser said:

Record cold? Smart move. Radiant grid heater between two gas engines? Humm.

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My concern may be unfounded, but I'd be very concerned about a spark from the heater.

I knew you guys wouldn’t like that and I wish I had another option but it was either that or a 100 watt light bulb like so many people do. I feel the heater is much safer option than a bulb that could easily break even in a drop light housing. I’ve had that space heater for years and I use it all the time. I felt it was the safest option.

My engine compartment is outside and the cabin heat probably won’t help the engines or generator.

The mains and generator sit under the rear deck. The generator is up against the transom, as far away from there cabin as possible.

radiator style at home depot or equivalent?

psneeld said:

radiator style at home depot or equivalent?

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Yes. The oil filled ones. I have a large one in the main salon and a have size one in the engine “room”. Did I say that already? I will go look. ;-)

-yep... post #27... apologies for repeating myself.

Putting a heater in a gas powered boat engine room does not freak me out too much. If Steve did not smell gas when rooting around down there there is very little risk of combustible vapor and the heaters are pretty reliable too.

Probably overkill, but I would sleep just fine.

And dang, looking at the forecast, this cold snap has got some legs. Looks like the low in the teens for at least a few days...

I drain 5 heat exchangers and the one strainer for gen. Here in Seaford VA hampton, I have seen the harbor freeze over. I also drain fresh water pipes. The mufflers have drains but never drained them. We will have low teens. I am in a creek. I also put a 40 watt bulb in the cabinet that holds lectrasan. I turned on er lights and replaced one led bulb with standard incandescent. My er lights are 120vac.

Pics from 2014. Ice stayed in harbor 2 weeks. Bilge water froze solid. Power went out.

Last week a slip mate lost his water heater. It froze and cracked. Saw it sitting on the dock. Stuff freezes and it gets expensive. On mine all I need do is open the drain valve, easy to do that. And why don't they design heat exchangers to self drain??

Other thing is moving water does not want to freeze, but still water in pipes is not moving, so say the harbor water temp is cold enough to freeze the water but does not. This could fool you, as that same water sitting in a pipe could freeze since exists no flow.

Its why they tell you to drip your faucets to keep the water pipes from freezing. My concern is not rubber hoses, but the nickel copper hard tubing in heat exchangers and all my copper fresh water lines etc... anything that is full of water and metal could crack..

Even if no one else has damage you at least were concerned enough to do something.
Take heart.
Enjoy the New Year.

Winterize

Winterize!
You can always reverse the process and enjoy your boat as the weather predicates!
LM-D
First mate
Mila Vera

Yeah, easy to say...

But when the average temps in an area are said to be 38/61 in Dec and 36/58 in Jan... and surrounding water temps are usually much closer to the upper end of those ranges...

Winterizing wouldn't seem necessary. Even knowing "averages" can include lots of variance.

An unexpectedly long cold snap can be (is) worrying. It'd be different if it weren't an 8 hour drive... and competing priorities here getting in the way...

-Chris

Going to be really cold next few nights, and friday night, 7* which is unheard of here.

Maybe I should shut the thru hulls for the engines, I did shut the ones for the gen and heat pump as that area is more exposed to the cold than the engine room. I have heard of thru hull valves cracking in the cold. I kind of doubt this can happen, I mean hull at that point is sitting 2 foot down into the water, and bronze ought to be conducting that heat energy into itself from the warmer water.

Maybe better to not shut the valves, the water trapped in the valve has no where to go when it freezes. I do think some valves can drain themselves or maybe remove a plug.
https://forums.sailboatowners.com/i...oes-it-have-to-get-to-break-a-seacock.158490/

A further potential freeze victim are those raw water impeller pumps, I have weathered every winter so far without any damage since 1998. And the one for the gen has frozen before, you're supposed to drain them. And the engine mufflers too.

My Onan waterlift muffler has no way to drain, never had a problem. The fiberglass mufflers do have drains, but never have I drained those.

Be very careful. Major marina fires in the winter are started by what? Electric space heaters and overheated wiring caused by electric space heaters.

Engine block heaters are safe to leave on for a few days, right?

We are in Florida so no need to winterize where we are but we have a sailboat in NC and have always winterized the water system...we add the cheapest vodka we can find. We have done that for many years and it always works great. Very easy to clear out in the spring too.

I have now twice said that we should be fine in New Bern, NC, but dang... two night are forecast to be 11 degrees and that makes me squirm. I have never left the boat unattended (for days) with the reverse cycle heater running, but I am thinking I might have to break my own rule.

Since I winterize every fall, I have found it is relatively easy if you do a couple of things. For the water system, I leave the tanks mostly full. I have installed a ball valve with faucet in the intake water line to the pump after the valve from the tank. I take 5 gallon bucket of RV antifreeze and connect a hose to the faucet. Turn on the pump and run each faucet until they run pink. This also winterizes the sump. For raw water in the toilets I do the same thing with the bucket of RV antifreeze but shut the through hull. Winterizing the generator and main, are done through the strainer with the thru hull closed. Start the engine and dump RV antifreeze in the strainer, 8 gallons in the main and 3-4 gallons in the generator. The whole process takes about 1.5 hours.

Tom