Brrrr-getting cold this weekend

Bottom Line

Bottom Line

Well-Known Member
Oct 6, 2006
1,809
Table Rock Lake(Branson MO)
Boat Info
2003 360 DA
2002 Sea Doo GTI (sold)
2002 300 DA (sold)
Engines
Twin Mercruiser 8.1L
Westerbeke Generator
Need some advice....boat was de-winterized about 2 weeks ago..awesome weather in Missouri for late March and early April. A cold wave has moved in and this weekend they are calling for temps in the low to mid 20's :smt013 :smt013 . I normally do not leave the air/heat on when I leave the boat. I am goint the drive to the lake tomorrow night (about 45 min. one way) and turn the heat on. I have the fresh water tank filled up...should I turn all of the faucets on and drain it out? The lake temps have been 55-60 degrees...so the water is warming up. Anything else I should do or check? Thanks for the input.


(Added 4/5/07)...what if I drained the freshwater tank..and added a couple of gallons of antifreeze???
 
Your freshwater system is going to be the biggest concern. I have had fresh water lines in both the transom (for the shower) and along the hull sides for the head freeze in times past. Keep in mind that the reverse AC system only works in the heat mode for so long when the water temp drops into the 40's or so. Below about 45 degrees the system cant make much heat and will often code out and shut down. Turning on all the fresh water taps and draining the water tank is pretty easy and probably worth doing. I would then shut off the pump and leave all the taps open. With the boat in the water I would not be too concerned with the engines, though I would run them before you leave just to heat them up a little. A day or two of sub 32 weather should be ok if you take some precautions.
 
In colder water than you describe I run the a/c and keep the cabin at 75. I turn a ceramic heater on in the cockpit. The heat from the ice maker keeps the wet bar from freezing and the transom shower does not freeze because the line hangs down into the bilge. If it's really cold, I'll warm up the engines around 10:00 PM to add heat to the bilge. That is almost never required although I do it if the temp falls into the 19-21 degree range. If you have lake temps in the 50s you should be fine. Our water is still in the 40s and we do ok.
 
Stuff towels in the cowls that vent the engine compartment to keep the cold breeze from blowing in. You could use painters tape.
 
If your really worried about it you can always put a drop light in the bilge close to the freshwater pump. For the couple of days of cold weather and the water temps. you have that should keep you from freezing.
 
All of us in the south are in the same situation as you. We expect three nights of below freezing weather here as well with temperatures in the mid 20s. But with lake water as warm as it is, we probably don't have too much to worry about in terms of a hard freeze on the boat itself as long as it sits in a wet slip. Just the same, this is what I am doing with mine and you may want to consider doing it on your boat as well.

Turn the heat back on. Turn off your freshwater pump. Open the faucets in the galley and head and leave them open. Open all faucets that are in the cockpit and Lazarette and leave them open. They should drain down because of the open faucets in the cabin which are at a lower level then the ones in the cockpit.

The bilge itself will stay above freezing because of the warm water so all the freshwater stuff below deck should be fine.

I guess next week we can all meet back here and discuss if any of us had issues but I suspect with a little extra awareness we will all be just fine. :thumbsup:
 
Our lowest in SE Ga will be 33 on Sat night and 62 high on Sun. Good weather for the grandkids to hunt Easter Eggs.
 
I went to our Marina in Lawrence, KS yesterday because I was concerned about the same thing. Temps are supposed to get down around 17 degrees at night this weekend for a couple of nights. The owner of the marina said there were about 60 boats that were out and no longer winterized. She was pretty concerned about the boats, but she was surprised that I was the only one who came down and seemed concerned. The tech from the local service shop was down there and he said he would drain the engine for me and that I would be fine. I had not put water in the fresh water tank yet. The lake temp was 62 degrees on Monday and the temps are still in the 40s during the day. It's a brand new boat and I felt it was better to be safe than sorry.
 
High of 36 tomorrow, with low of 28 tonight and 2 to 4 inches on snow expected at the marina. (I’m sorry I ever said it was Christmas in April in another post. :smt009 )

Guess I’ll spend most of the day planning and storing routes in the chart plotter for everywhere we plan to visit this summer.
 
I went down to the boat last night and drained all of the freshwater tank and left all of the taps open (except to the transom shower, because it still have the blue antifreeze in it). I also set the heat to 72. In addition, I left the cabinet doors open under the galley sink and under the head sink...hopfully allowing heat to spread. Just a few days ago it was in the low 80's...now tonight, low to mid 20's. Lake water is 58. Hopefully all will be well....
 
Ran the big girl today, so there is some residual heat in the engine room. Set the cabin heaters to 70, shut off the fresh water pump and opened the outside taps--shower and cockpit sink anyway. Worked just fine last night, but it did not get as cold as the forecasters predicted. A water bowl on our deck was not frozen at 6:00 a.m.
No worries.
Skip
 
Am I the only one going out on the water this weekend in NY? :smt101

I've got my parka and ski gloves ready to go.
 
Mee too ... just took the cabin and bilge heaters out and commissioned everything and ran her for an hour last Tuesday and now we are getting snow here and at the lake ... lows around 29, so I am sure I am okay ... won't be that cold at the lake. The water is already around 57F from all the warm weather in the past month.
 
Had to plug the bilge heater and drain the fresh water system on MS Judy. We got down to 23 last night and it was snowing :smt021 They say it is going to be colder tonight. :smt009
 
It appears our cold temps are gone :smt038 :smt038 or at least the below freezing temps. I will go down to the lake in the next few days and turn the heat off. Several locals say with the lake temp around 60, the engines will be fine. Is there away a rookie can find out if there is any internal damage before the engines are started??
 
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