Preparing Boat for Winter: If you are living in a seaside town with a moderate or continental climate, you have probably learned to expect harsh winters with lots of below-freezing temperatures and snow and ice rain. And if you are a boat owner who wants his boat to live to see another boating season, you should prepare in advance and start thinking about winterizing your yacht or a boat.
It’s only familiar to forget about this chore, lockup the yacht and forget about it until May, but the chances are that if you do that, there might not be much of a boat to come back to in the spring. The time and effort you might put into making your vessel winter-proof will pay tenfold come warm weather.
But if you choose to be lazy now, you might have to shell out for some big repairs to fix the damage the winter weather can do to any vessel. You should keep an eye on some things if you are taking your boat out of the water this year.
Preparing Boat for Winter
Firstly, make sure that the water-cooling system is dried out and that the impellor is removed. If you neglect to do this, you might risk splits and breaks forming in the coolant hoses and the life of your impellor will be significantly reduced. You should also make sure that the fuel tanks are full, especially if you own a diesel inboard engine boat. If you leave the fuel tanks empty or half empty, you run into the risk of water contamination and damage to the insides of your tanks.
Freshwater tanks should also be drained to reduce the risk of the water freezing. When water turns into ice, it can damage the tanks and the pipes. If you are not taking the battery out of the boat, make sure that the charge levels are maxed out. If the battery dries out during the winter, it can buckle the plates and become ruined, so it’s essential that you leave it on trickle charging.
It’s probably the best strategy to take the battery out and leave it in your garage or somewhere close, where you can check on its state with less hassle. You should pay some attention to the engine bay and the accommodation space.
Below zero temperatures can damage these spaces, end the best way to prevent this is to fit a cheap heater in the engine bay too keep the heat up. If you don’t have electricity available near your boat, you can use an old blanket to cover up the engine.
Hopefully, this will be enough to keep the engine from freezing and prevent damage to it. And speaking of engine health, you should probably change the oil before your boat is laid up. An oil change at this point will prevent moisture and other impurities being left to sit inside the engine for months and reduce the risk of corrosion and rust.
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Meet Tyr Alan, your trusted guide on the high seas and calm lakes alike. A seasoned mariner with over two decades of hands-on experience, Tyr’s passion for boating is as vast as the open water. From navigating the rugged coasts to gently cruising down tranquil inland waterways, Tyr’s voyages have taken him across the globe, gifting him with an encyclopedic knowledge of boating that he’s eager to share with you.
