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could be -9 tomorrow night in CT

B

bobct

Advanced Contributor
I think the spring commissioning for a lot of guys is going to be a disaster. Probably 1/2 dozen boats in my yard with no cover, some even w/o any canvas. The freeze thaw cycle has got to be doing a lot of damage. There was one guy last year who never winterized anything. They pulled the boat for him and he came back in the spring. Dropped him in the water and he was on his way in five minutes.... the only thing he did was bring a battery. A ratty late 80's 34' Wellcraft

I don't think those guys will get away with that this year. I left my batteries on the boat and have been plugging in every 3-4 days to keep them charged. I might plug in the next couple of nights and just leave the engine room lights on just to throw off some heat. I know I winterized everything ok but with those kind of temps there's no margin for dillution in the pink or pockets of water.

Maybe I'm just paranoid but you guys probably are too.


Bob
 
I have never been a big fan of covering the boat for the winter. The sun does more damage to a glass boat's finish during the summer than some snow & ice. A loose cover flapping around can do quite a bit of damage. Shrink wrapping can cause all kinds of problems if there is not enough ventilation. I remove the bridge seats & Bimini top. The dash,compass & controls are covered all year with a fitted canvas cover. As long as the drain plugs are out & your blocked with the correct pitch to drain properly,you should have no problem. If you don't drain or use anti-freeze correctly in anything containing water, it doesn't much matter if it is 20 degrees or-20 you have a problem. A fully charged battery only needs to be charged once a month if its not being used. Use your engine room lights for light not heat. Don't leave any heat source on unattended. Freeze damage is an inconvenience. If something you left on to try to heat the boat causes a fire its a catastrophe.
 
Spoke with my mother-in-law today in northern Vermont. At 10:15 am it was -26 f. I only remember those days from the elate 1970's. Since we winterize our boat in the south (south Jersey). We don't shrink it, but I have seen lots of freeze damage in blocks and transmissions. Every year we toy with the idea of leaving it in. I AM SO GLAD we only think about it.
 
We hit single digits this morning - first time this season. Good thing there was no wind howling as that would have made it much worse on my old body.

Still floating. No internal ice damage (thru last week's visit) and none externally due to the recurring thin layer of ice on the creek's surface.

though its been much colder than normal, we haven't hit a sustained below freezing period where I'd be worried about not having a bubbler.

Congrats to FastJeff for being annointed with that Silver Medal to complement your Wrench & Screwdriver X-bones
 
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Docksidemarineservices: I just dont understand why people skimp on winterizing. After two foot itis (24 Baliner cutty to 42 Gibson) I watched the PO winterize my boat. I paniced. I can't beleive he did it that way for 5 years. So I took everything apart and did it MY WAY (Captians choice!!)

RFdlou: I had to cover my Gibson this year. Just had to. The PO did not. The '81 (edit) is in PERFECT condidtion except where the water accumulated, froze, thawed, froze expanding the joint between the top deck and the rear window. It is the only soft place on the boat. Had the PO covered the boat with a simple tarp, which I did, the boat would be a 9 out of 10!

Everyone: I'm moving some place warm!!!!

edit- I guess the Gibson is a '81. I'm so damn excited about going up to Clinton IA to see Flavor Flav open his new chicken joint that I cant think straight!!!
 
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Here is a little known fact from the Boats U.S. free online boating training:

Of all 50 states, which would you guess had
the most freeze-related claims? New York?
Maine? Michigan? Guess again.

An examination of the BoatU.S. Marine
Insurance claim files found that balmy
California had more winterizing claims than​
​
any other state, including any of the “deep
freeze” states.

While winters may be much colder in the deep-freeze states, the bitter temperatures are a fact of life and
preparations for winter are taken very seriously.

But in the more temperate states, like California, Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, and Georgia, winter tends
to be relatively comfortable in most areas with only an occasional cold spell. And if the forecasts aren’t taken​

seriously, they can do a lot of damage.

www.boatus.org
 
I believe it. We in hte frozen North know better than to take a chance.

Pink Stuff is cheap; engine replacements are not!

Jeff
 
Jeff, I concur with Mark...Congratulations ...I did not even notice the change from the suitcases . .It is snowing here now with about 3" on the ground near Six Flags in Jackson, NJ. The day we hauled out in December, the first 500 yds we had to break thru about 3/8" of ice in the lagoon since we are at the tail end. ZERO control for headway re, port or starboard control. The ice controlled it all. The engines during the entire ride (1 hour) barely hit 120.

All indications are that the next 6-7 days will repeat themselves.
 
I guess this isn't a sympathetic crowd when I mention I don't use antifreeze for coolant and have not ever "winterized". We did have a couple days already in the low thirties, but the canal hasn't dropped below 65 in water temp, and now is stable at 68 to 70.
 
Weather like this is why we use our boats as much as possable when it's nice. Somedays you have to push yourself to go to the boat. Its very easy to stay home in the hammoc or watch TV with the AC on in the summer. But than you think I really only have a few months to use the boat. So you get off your butt & go boating. I think that we folks who have short boating seasons use their boats more than the year round people who can always go "tomorrow"
 
Gee Dave,

Just to compare: The oil delivery truck could not get up my driveway yesterday because of the snow.... Last night we got another foot so a few days from now looks like it isn't gonna work either. Surface temps haven't risen about 30 in a few weeks !
 
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