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I am about to become the owner of a 78 Ericson 27, but my question is pretty general. I am getting a lot of conflicting quotes for winterizing the boat for outdoor storage in winters that get below 0 fahrenheit. For a boat with a head, pressurized water tank, manual and electric bilge pumps and a gasoline engine (Atomic 4), does anyone have a checklist of the must do items for winterization.
I'd be interested in what others do also. We own a 36foot sloop that, normally, we keep in the water over the winter at Seward, Alaska. We've owned her for two years now; this coming will be our third winter. Thus far, the only damage we've suffered has been a broken head. Temps at Seward get as low as -10 to -20 F. but don't stay down that low for long.
We puts tabilizer in and fill the fuel tank, empty out the water and holding tank, put in about 5 gal of the pink RV antifreeze and run it thru all the faucets. We flushed about a gal or so down the head and that's about it. The engine is fresh water cooled so I check the antifreeze with an automotive antifreeze tester (kind of a basting bulb with a specific gravity meter that rates the protection level). We strip off all of the sails and canvas, cover the main companionway hatch with a tarp (to allow us entry without dumping a bunch of snow inside) and that's about it.
Once a month or so we trundle on down to Seward (we live in Peter's Creek, about three hours North) and camp out on her over the weekend. Makes for a good winter retreat.
I'd be interested in hearing what others have to say, though. We're still pretty green at this and welcome suggestions from more seasoned hands.
This'll be the first year she's wintered over on the hard.
You should really check the Pink RV Antifreeze, as most antifreeze has to be mixed with water for the maximum temperature protection. This may be why you had a broken head, as the pink stuff may have frozen under low enough temperatures.
You should also flush the cooling system of the engine and change the oil in it. Letting used oil sit in an engine over the winter is not really good for it, as used engine oil has some very corrosive byproducts in it.
I would also recommend removing your batteries and putting them in storage, as allowing them to freeze is really not good for them. A smart charger should also be used to top the batteries off occasionally, as they will self-discharge over the winter, and not keeping them charged is bad for them.
I would also cover any gear left exposed on the boat, like winches, windlasses, etc. I would also remove the tiller if your boat is tiller steered.
Another thing to do is open and close all the seacocks and lubricate them. Pull the transducers—speed and depth—and replace with dummy plugs.
Check the zincs on the boat, and replace any as needed. They should be replaced when they are half their original size—a new brand of zinc has come on the market and has a red plastic button embedded in it...and the button shows when it is time to replace them.
I'd also pull the propane tank, if any, from the boat and store it elsewhere.
Fogging the engine is a good idea, as is topping off the gas tank with a stabilized gas, however, with the new ethanol blends, the topping off of the gas tanks may need to be re-thought, as the ethanol appears to allow the gas to degrade faster and also attacks certain parts of the fuel system, especially on older boats.
I'll have to read up on the antifreeze. I know you dilute automotive antifreeze to a 50/50 mix but most of that stuff is ethalene glycol (sp?) and is very toxic. We've lived up in Alaska for over twenty years now and have used the pink stuff in several campers/trailers/RV's we've owned over the years and we've always used it full strength, but maybe we've been doing it wrong all this time. I never thought about old oil wintering over in the enging as being bad, I change it out in the Spring but I guess if it's corrosive, I might as well change it in the fall and get a jump on my Spring chores. Do they put ethanol in diesel fuel?
Normally (not this year) we keep her in the water and hooked up to shore power with a trickle charge going to keep the batteries up. When we go down to shovel the snow off of her (once a month or so) we fire up the espar heater and stay aboard over the weekend. We use the propane stove to heat coffee and such, so I don't want to take the tank off.
I forgot to mention, we do cover the winches, remove the steering wheel, and cover the binicle.
Well, not all kinds of pink stuff. But I hate the pink stuff I put in my water system to winterize it. To this day, the water still has a funky odor that drives my wife crazy even though I've emptied and refilled the tanks at least three times this summer.
I think I'm going to switch to cheap vodka this winter.
I think Sailingdog covered it all. I don't do all that he suggests, although I probably should.
Diesel is not cut with ethanol. Only gasoline is...mainly as a fuel additive that both oxygenates the fuel and boosts octane. I hope you're not using a standard automotive trickle charger, but a smart three-stage marine battery charger. A trickle charger will often over charge the batteries and boil off electrolyte.
As for the odor in the water system. Try shock treating it with chlorine bleach, per Peggy Hall's instructions.
The trickle charge is actually a function of the boat's on-board 120v power system when I'm hooked up to shore power. The Seward Small Boat Harbor has enough folks that pull their boats out for the winter (mostly 6 pac fishing charter boats) that they graciously allow us a winter slip with power during the off-season. We paid a deposit on the electricity and pay a monthly meter charge (usually about $20/month) and that keeps the batteries up and allows us to camp out on her over the winter as a sort-of winter cabin.
I did look up the specs on the pink RV style antifreeze and it is used full strength. Can be diluted but looses some of it's effectiveness. I think the frozen head had to do with the head intake seacock not being fully closed. (I discussed that in another thread).
It is with some trepidation that I look forward to seeing how she fared on the hard this winter...I may have to replace the batteries if they don't take and hold a charge in the Spring. I wish I had taken time to install a solar powered trickle charger to keep them up over the winter...oh well, water under the bridge, I suppose.
BTW - I talked to my wife yesterday and she said there was snow on the hills about 500 ft in elevation above town. Looks like it might be a heavy snow year back home.
thanks - the site has some good advise. Tell me, do you fog diesel engines? I'd never heard of that one. I didn't ask before after sailingdog's post because I focused on the warning about ethanol. I think the only thing I missed was the business about changing the oil in the fall rather than in the spring. Can't do much about that now so I hope I haven't caused any dammage to my engine. Wish I'd have invested in a solar trickle charger to keep the batteries up while she's on the hard, too.
no antifreeze, no trickle chargers, no removal of canvas,
no removal of sails---just head south.
it is a lot more fun than winterizing.
fair winds,
eric
FoxGlove: Here is how you get rid of that nasty anti-freeze taste and smell:
1. fill up your tanks with water and drain them.
2. Add a cup of Chlorox and fill the tanks. Drain Them.
3. Add a cap full of Chorox and fill them. That should do it.
Though I use the pink stuff on the boat I have used air to clear the water lines in the RV. It's a little harder to prime in the spring but not really a big deal. The problem with the air is that you have to be more carefull as to where you inject it so that the water is actually driven out well. Once you figure it out it's easy with a small compressor.
I also use a water tank bypass on the boat before the pump so I can pump the pink stuff in without even putting it in the tanks. The current boat had a disconnected forward tank so I just cut the intake tube for it so I could immerse it in the gallon pink stuff jug.
For the hot water tank on the boat I use a bypass kit and drain it so I save several gallons of the pink stuff.
Of course by using air there isn't a taste issue when you do refill.
For the winterization I've added access ports to the water tanks so that I can clean them after they are empty. They tend to get some orangish residues around here. One tank had some dune looking striations on the bottom before I vacuumed it out.
Make sure to hunt down any intake strainers and winterize them too. Sometimes an A/C strainer is overlooked.
Peggy says long term use of clorox in the water system causes seals and impellers etc to degrade.
fair winds,
eric
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