Chrysler Sailors Forum

I am considering leaving my boat in the water all winter. I live in western NC where it can get down in the single digits at times. My question is what do I need to do to keep my boat in the water all winter. Do I need to pull the outboard out except for when I am using it? It doesnt stay cold long enough for the lake to freeze...

My wife and I were talking about this issue last night...

Here in Minnesota, we have been very busy this week:

We have moved the Harley motorcycles into winter storage and cleaned the garage so that both of our cars can be parked inside and out of the snow. Anytime past Halloween, we can expect snow.

Once my boat is taken out of the water, it will be almost six months before it will return. I want to delay that time in any way possible.

Cold weather is not much of a problem, since that is what winter coats and gloves are for. As long as ice has not formed on the lake, there is no reason why I can not keep my sailboat on the lake.

My primary problem was figuring out how to row the dingy out to my sailboat's mooring without getting wet. If I got wet, then it no longer matters how warm my winter coat is.

We ordered fisherman's waders (full body with suspenders) for me to put over my winter clothes while rowing out to the sailboat.

Once I am on the boat, I then motor over to the dock, where my "princess" softly walks onto it, without any danger of getting wet.

Minnesota does present some rather interesting problems, but if you keep dry, there is no reason to get the boat out of the water until ice starts to form on the surface of the lake.

Did this help?

Well,


Here in the Pacific Northwest on Puget Sound we generally do not see the extreme colds a lot of you see. It did however freeze up our marina last year!

Here is a few things we do on Destiny.
Keep in mind, Destiny is at a dock and not on a mooring bouy so we have access to shore power.


We close all the through hulls.
we run two west marine de humidifiers and two marine safe heaters with thermostats set to about 50 degrees.

We open each and every cabinet, drawer, lazerette, settee, door, curtain, etc etc etc. We even remove the steps over the engine. This allow air and HEAT flow to all the under cabinet hoses and lines. Air circulation is key.

Any items with standing water must have anti freeze or be drained completely.

Also keep in mind that if there is sheet ice around your boat do not move her! She is NOT an ice breaker!! If you are in a marina and are comfortable moving your boat through thin sheet ice DON"T DO IT! there are many boats with thing fiberglass hulls that can be damaged or sunk by a persons lack of knowledge or simple lack of courtesy. Thin ice can slit an inflatable dinghy two docks down if you move your boat!! EXTREMELY UNCOOL manuver!!


Well, this may or may not be of any help but it is what we do!
Scott

I live in western NC where it can get down in the single digits at times

I live in Northeast TN. Windward lives in her slip on a deep lake there, and is sailed all winter.

Motor stays down so that any water that failed to drain from the lower unit doesn't freeze. I have Stabil in the fuel, and disconnect fuel line/run motor out of gas whenever I leave.

The greenwater thru-hull gets closed. I leave a small light on under the sink, which usually keeps that tank from freezing, and drain the main water tank. Porta Potti gets flushed with antifreeze. I have shorepower, so I put a small 120v fan in the port fwd settee locker, then remove the stbd aft locker lid. It's not much, but circulating air through the bilge does keep the cabin a bit more temperate, and as a bonus I've had no problems with mildew that way. If I remember to, I also open for locker lid under the v-berth. There's a solar/dc exhaust fan in the head, and that's on all the time.

If I'm going to use the boat, or work on her, I leave a small, thermostatically controlled 120v heater in a stable position to keep the interior above freezing, but it's really not necessary. When I plan to overnight, especially with the family, I crank up a couple of heaters to take the chill off the cabin before we leave the dock. With advance notice, I'll swing by the night before, or early in the day, and just turn the one heater up some. Heaters can pull close to 15 amps each, so you need to be careful or you can overload your wiring (a euphemism for possibly cause a fire).

No heat underway, but once we're on the hook (or tied off to shore) a Mr Heater Portable Buddy keeps it pretty cozy while we're awake. I have enough ventilation to handle it, practice safe propane handling, and never, ever have it on while we're asleep.

Coldest weekend sailing so far was a couple of Januarys ago... low of 13 deg F Friday night (on the hook), high next day of 22, low of 10 on Saturday night. Heat wave on Sunday... it got above freezing!

Our marina had 8 boats sink last winter...

a couple sail and the rest power... pretty much each one was from folks not getting out after heavy snows. It was collapsing "tents" on the boom and filling cockpits. The snow would then melt some and drain into places that wouldn't normally be under water like scupper drains,, then freeze in near zero temps and split pipes and hoses.

Sounds like ya need to do what the folks have already said, but also keep on eye things and be ready to go check out your boat yourself. The marina folks had enough trouble just keepin up with the storms, don't think they are responsible for cleanin everyone's snow loads. It was a record snow year. The folks with insurance had repairs goin all summer or it was a write off...

Luckily we only get about 10-12 inchs of snow a year here. I can see the boat from my front porch so it will be easy to keep an eye on it. I guess the main concern for me is that the motor doesnt freeze up and bust. Does the water in the water jackets drain down when the motor isnt running? should i leave down or up?