[Minnewaska]

My fingers are crossed for you. More than one has forgotten, but why would you choose not to check?

 

[Minnewaska]

If you're really worried... is there any reason you couldn't keep a small block heater (like a sump oil heater) under the engine plugged in and running over winter?? All it needs to do is keep the chill off..

Besides, it would keep you toasty warm and allow you to get a few odd jobs attended to.

Power outages.

 

[Minnewaska]

Righto.. Still, even if the power goes out for a bit, perhaps the boat might stay warm enough to survive until the power comes back on?

(..or maybe not - I confess I've seen snow on a few occasions but really have no concept of life in any environment colder than zero. )

If you store the boat in the water, the bottom of the hull isn't going to go down below freezing temps, so it will ironically retain more heat than when on the hard. Up on stands, the hull and interior will cool very quickly in cold windy conditions. Get below zero F and everything freezes quickly.

I've even just tried to close all the doors and warm the salon, with one of those Mr. Buddy propane heaters that you would expect would drive you out. It was a windy 20 degrees F outside and the best I could get the interior temp to was the upper 40s. An engine enclosure would be a smaller space, albeit you would use a smaller ceramic heater too, but I just wouldn't trust it,unless the boat was stored in the water.

Then, of course, there is the issue that most marinas I know will not let you remain plugged in with extension cords on the hard. Fire hazard I suppose.