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Winterizing Boat While In Water

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Pepper2482

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I have a 1987 Sea Ray Sundancer with twin Mercruiser Alpha One 260/V8's that I recently purchased. Have always done my own winterizing but the boat is to wide and big to trailer. The boat has Recently been completely redone and in great shape. Has always been on the water and never trailered. So is anyone Familiar with winterizing while on the water our marina has a bubble system so the water around the boats does not freeze. I know I have to of course pull all the drain plugs and I believe I have 2 on each side of the block and 2 on each manifold. Im a strong believer in A/F and i know that air does not freeze but Im always on the water and like to keep as much corrosion away as possible. Any advice would be appreciated. Sad to say another great season has come to an end Happy boaters to all may next year come sooner.

Jon

 
Just Serviced Drives my buddy has a trailer for his 33 sea ray. I Replaced All bellows in April. The drives are alpha one gen One. Replaced both gimbal pins and housing they where in bad shape. Redid bottom Replaced old carbs manifolds risers coil ignition plugs wires runs like a champ compression test both engines with-in 5%
 
Jon:

Since you are leaving the boat in the water you will need to use the drain and dry method. Adding antifreeze will cause some pollution when you light the engines in the spring. I believe the trick is going to be keeping the bilge warm--above 40 F. http://www.xtremeheaters.com/choose
 
I am not thinking this is a good idea......Leaving boats in the water over the winter is for very large boats.in excess of 75 ft.......

I understand you do not have a trailer but in your case a marina with a gantry crane can pull it most likely tow it to there yard or yours and with the use of (not sure what they are called) boat hull lifts/supports store it on land.......You are taking a HUGE change leaving the boat in the water.
What will it cost to keep the bildge warm and the water from freezing VS having it on land winterized normally and PIECE OF MIND??

Do others where you keep it do this also?

As far as anti freeze, RV non toxic antifreeze. One area of concern if you do this is the power steering coolers If they are horizontal they need to be drained also.........if vertical no issues

Just my opinion,
 
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So, when you say drain the horizontal power steering cooler, do you mean just to unhook the lower intake hose coming up from the drive? I notice there are two other smaller hoses leading into the cooler which I assume are hydraulic in/out lines full of the power steering fluid.

Usually I just unhook the intake hose up by the thermostat housing and pour RV antifreeze down it until it comes gushing out of the drive intake ports. I figure any water in the cooler will get pushed out or at least diluted with the antifreeze.

So far this has worked and I haven't had any problems. Or have I just been lucky?
 
Ace111799 said:
So, when you say drain the horizontal power steering cooler, do you mean just to unhook the lower intake hose coming up from the drive? I notice there are two other smaller hoses leading into the cooler which I assume are hydraulic in/out lines full of the power steering fluid.

Usually I just unhook the intake hose up by the thermostat housing and pour RV antifreeze down it until it comes gushing out of the drive intake ports. I figure any water in the cooler will get pushed out or at least diluted with the antifreeze.

So far this has worked and I haven't had any problems. Or have I just been lucky?
Click to expand...

Yes but he is saying he will keep his boat in the water so the drives will be under water (at least part of them).
What you are doing is the same way I do it. pour rv antifreeze into the hose until it drains out the drive and done!
 
Don't forget to disconnect the circulation pump hose. Are you mooring just off the Ohio River in a lagoon or a reservior?
 
Lake monroe In Indiana. biggest lake in Indiana there are hundreds of boats docked there all year round. Its a covered slip. The boat is a 1987 and has only been pulled from the water to do bottom paint and drive work. The only thing that the previous owner disconnected was the water inlet hose from stern drive and zip tied them up to the risers after he has drained and poured his A/F off the T housing so A/F gets to the drives. I doesn't make sense to me because basically I ask my self where is the A/F going to end up? Back in the lake of course... They have a bubble system there so the water will not freeze around the slips the drives are submerged under the water at all times but still the temp gets below 0 Can someone Break it down of how they would do it. Have twin Mercruiser Alpha one 260 V8 Thunderbolt Ignitions. One of those motors ties in with hot water heater take the in and out hose off by pass it when doing my winterization. Im New to these ancient motors I believe there are 2 plugs on the block Left and right side 2 under each manifold and 1 on each riser. Also curious what to do with the AC Unit blow it out run a gallon of A/F threw the outlet and when i think its gone threw shut the seacocks off. Thanks for all the advice

Jon
 
...there are 2 plugs on the block Left and right side 2 under each manifold and 1 on each riser....
Click to expand...

I know right where you are located Pepper2482; you are about 100 miles to the west. Do you have an engine room or just a pit w/a cover and no room to work? Do the following if the engine is RAW water cooled:

Open all the drain petcocks and probe the drain openings while the water runs out--you want a strong stream of water. I use a 6" length of heavy solder but a length of copper wire will work. Some use a long drywall screw.

Disconnect the water circ. pump hose from the T'stat hsg. and lower it to drain it and the front of the block. Disconnect the water inlet hose at the transom and lower it to the floor to drain it. Make sure you raise any low hanging hoses to help them drain.

Now the seasoned veterans from the north will tell you that the job is done..."air don't freeze".

I wouldn't install antifreeze that could get into the lake such as through the water inlet via the T'sat end. You could pour a quart of -100 F. pink RV antifreeze into the block via the circ. pump hose and a pint into (4) each exhaust manifold hose from the T'stat connections. Then drain the 4 petcocks into a gallon jug using a soft clear plastic hose attached to the drain petcocks. If there was any residual water in the engine/manifolds it will have been mixed w/antifreeze and drained out.

You are right about the power going out...you won't need it if you follow the above.


Drain the water heater and A/Cunit and any hoses attached. You may need to use compressed air to blow the residual water out.
 
Thanks for the advice yea I have an engine room pretty big an easy to work in. So you would drain and manifolds and block run -100 A/F threw let is back out and done so don't keep the A/F left in the manifolds and block. Just flush with A/F and leave dry I think i Understand
 
That method will dilute residual water in the system and not pollute the water. DRAINING every petcock and hose is the key to stopping ice damage. Reconnect hoses when done but leave the petcocks open until spring. Tie a note to the steering wheel as a reminder.
 
I really don't like this method of storing a vessel off season but if you're going to do it, you need to educate yourself on everything that could go wrong. If you use an internal heating system, know that it can fail. If you have strainers for you AC, generator, head, and in the case of inboards; the engines, simply draining these doesn't guarranty anything; seacocks can leak and water will get by and fill the strainer again. If the temp is right, the strainer will burst and the seacock will crack.

How do you guys handle Bravo drive applications where the raw water inlet at the pump is below the water line?

I would also check what liability the marina has (in writing) should thier bubbling system fail.

Good luck!
 
Pepper2482 said:
Lake monroe In Indiana. biggest lake in Indiana there are hundreds of boats docked there all year round. Its a covered slip. The boat is a 1987 and has only been pulled from the water to do bottom paint and drive work. The only thing that the previous owner disconnected was the water inlet hose from stern drive and zip tied them up to the risers after he has drained and poured his A/F off the T housing so A/F gets to the drives. I doesn't make sense to me because basically I ask my self where is the A/F going to end up? Back in the lake of course... They have a bubble system there so the water will not freeze around the slips the drives are submerged under the water at all times but still the temp gets below 0 Can someone Break it down of how they would do it. Have twin Mercruiser Alpha one 260 V8 Thunderbolt Ignitions. One of those motors ties in with hot water heater take the in and out hose off by pass it when doing my winterization. Im New to these ancient motors I believe there are 2 plugs on the block Left and right side 2 under each manifold and 1 on each riser. Also curious what to do with the AC Unit blow it out run a gallon of A/F threw the outlet and when i think its gone threw shut the seacocks off. Thanks for all the advice

Jon
Click to expand...

Ok, let's get this straight. The bubbler will stop ice from forming outside the boat

1. By the churning of the water not standing still long enough for the ice to from, BUT it will do nothing to prevent any water from freezing that is not exposed to the bubbles and subjected to sub freezing temps. The drives immersed in sub freezing water (ice) will freeze, internally. Your exhaust "Y" pipe and water passages in the drive . bell housing and gimbal are prime candidates for damage, due to being below the water line. Pouring antifreeze down the "Y" pipe is just pouring antifreeze into the surrounding water and as the boat moves around in the wind and such, raw water will infiltrate the pipe, diluting the antifreeze and if it gets cold enough, will turn into a block of ice. Pouring antifreeze into the raw water hose coming from an Alpha will not help, since the raw water pump is in the drive leg and will prevent antifreeze from "flowing through" the leg. Winterizing all the parts within the hull is a no brainer and is the same proceedure for all boats, in the water or not.

2. The only saving grace to all this, is the surrounding water usually doesn't get below freezing (If it did, then the lake would turn into one huge ice cube) and sort of insulates everything from the cold air, especially once the 1st layer of ice forms, and the bubbles also help to raise the surface temp of the water a little, by introducing the slightly warmer water just below the surface (known as thermal stratification) up to the top. This actually introduces a small amount of warmth into the boat hull and drive unit, counteracting the cold outside air, actaully keeping anything submerged somewhere between the air and water temps, but not at either extreme.

If the power goes out, and the bubbler stops, then it's any man's guess what will happen when the water starts freezing and the sub freezing temps of any ice in contact with anything begin to migrate (removing residual heat from) into the drive / hull.

Hope this helped explain some of this
 
Thanks for that info it's helps me out alot and feel more comfortable about the subject. So sense the bubbles are keeping the water from freezing the water temp has has to be above freezing and the drives are well below the service water constant movement and circulating of the water keeps drives and y pipe from freezing. Now if the flappers in the y pipe or the power goes out and bubble system quits working I'm pretty much in trouble. Thanks for the advice o4fxdwgi and guyjg very useful. New to this fourm and I really like it and appreciate all the quick responses. This will keep me busy in the winter and away from the wife. Thanks everyone

Jon.
 
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