What are the steps for Winterizing to stay in the water?

GWADE · #1 (**permalink**) 11-11-2006

I live in Atlanta GA where the winters dont get cold enough to freeze the lake, so everyone keeps their boats in the water. However, I know that their are still precautions that need to be made to prevent freezing of freshwater on board.

I have purged the water out of the fresh water tank, as much as possible. Ive poured AntiFreeze in the holding tank. Ive closed fresh water valves for the deisel cooling lines, and for the head intake.

What else am I missing? Any reason for Bilge heaters? Any reccommendations for alternatives, like ceramic heaters?

camaraderie · #2 (**permalink**) 11-11-2006

1. Get the water out of all your water lines and replace w/ non-toxic antifreeze by pumping it through your lines till it comes out of each faucet or shower head. HOT & COLD!
2. Do the same with your engine's sea water intake by starting engine while you let it pump antifreeze till it comes out the exhaust.
3. Same for head intake ... pump till you see it in the bowl...then flush to holding tank.

sailingdog · #3 (**permalink**) 11-11-2006

Cam-

I don't think that will help, especially the part about the engine sea water intakes, since he's keeping the boat in the water. The anti-freeze will just diffuse out into the water and have fairly little effect.

If the lake doesn't freeze, and the engine and tanks are below the waterline, the raw water cooling system on the engine should probably be okay...but a bilge heater...one of the goldenrod type heaters is probably a very good idea.

camaraderie · #4 (**permalink**) 11-12-2006

Dawg...it does work. You close your through hull and remove the intake hose and stick it in a bucket of anti freeze and start the engine till it starts to come out of the exaust. This puts anti-freeze thorugh the entire water cooling system /heat exchanger so a freeze doesn't rupture anything above the water line. There is no way for the anti freeze to diffuse into the water as the seacock remains closed till spring and the antifreeze remains in the lines since it is not going to flow out the back because of the antisiphon loop. Sorry if I wasn't more specific as i was trying to be brief.

SailorMitch · #5 (**permalink**) 11-12-2006

Cam has it right. You want to make sure the water in the cooling system itself doesn't freeze -- and I don't think whether it's above or below the waterline makes that much of a difference. Play it safe and run the cheap anti-freeze through the raw water side. Also, Boat/US does not advocate unattended heaters on boats of any kind as far as I know.

sailingdog · #6 (**permalink**) 11-12-2006

Cam-

In your initial instructions you don't mention closing the seacock.. If that is the case, then the antifreeze is unlikely to diffuse out...and the raw-water cooling system will be protected...

I also agree with the bit about not having unattended heaters on board a boat...and the goldenrod heaters my friends use are on a liveaboard boat, not an unattended one.

GWADE · #7 (**permalink**) 11-13-2006

Awesome, I did all this for the head and fresh water system, except for removing seacocks for the heat exchangers. I will be sailing her all winter, so I installed the bilge heater instead of this.

Thanks for all the advice!