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Boating season ending soon

colenighthawk

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Hey guys, now that the boating season ending soon, for me at least, what you guys do for winterization?
I keep my boat in Havasu the entire winter. How cold does it get? is running antifreeze needed it?
 
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4Waters

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I put my boat away on Sunday 😭😭 earliest I have ever put it away, got cold fast.
 

Singleton

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Sitting in my trailer at the Islander starting the end of season tear down process.
Winterize the boat = get covers washed and put on the HD cover on for the winter.
 

BUDMAN

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Headed out for the next two weekend. For me I don’t do anything different from the summer. I’ll be back out in December for a weekend run then back in February or March. Boat doesn’t sit long enough to worry about it. The most I’ll do is put it on the tender.
 

RiverDave

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Hey guys, now that the boating season ending soon, for me at least, what you guys do for winterization?
I keep my boat in Havasu the entire winter. How cold does it get? is running antifreeze needed it?

Shot answer is no, if it’s kept inside. There are rare winters where it gets cold enough to have problems but it is rare
 

Jay Dub

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Hey guys, now that the boating season ending soon, for me at least, what you guys do for winterization?
I keep my boat in Havasu the entire winter. How cold does it get? is running antifreeze needed it?
Add Sea Foam to the fuel. Batteries on tenders. Go back in a month or so to "check on " the boat. Winter/fall runs are awesome. sweatpants and a fleece pullover.
 

mesquito_creek

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In my experience RVs are 10X more vulnerable to winterization than anything boat/truck/toy related... and I bet hardly anyone winterizes an RV in Havasu beyond draining the lines.
 

Ace in the Hole

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Wash boat, dump in stabil, drop off at shop for annual the Monday after thanksgiving (our last hoorah of the year), set garage at 58 for heat, put boat back in garage, plug it in on timer. Drive home, see ya next April lol.

If you are worried about it pull all the water drain plugs to drain the block out.
 

PlanB

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We boat year round now, and our boat only comes out of the water for about a week a year for detail and service. It spends the rest of the time on it's lift with a cover. When we rented our house in the past for five months a year we did not do anything special. Tenders for the batteries is about it. It does not get cold enough (at least a sustained cold) in Havasu to cause any issues. Even when it snowed a few years back the temp did not stay cold long enough to cause any issues.
 

rivermobster

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Sitting in my trailer at the Islander starting the end of season tear down process.
Winterize the boat = get covers washed and put on the HD cover on for the winter.

Now this is more like it. 👍🏼
 

HowardRC

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Looking forward to an empty lake and 85 - 90 degree temps next week. Be in Havasu this Sunday until next Sunday. Haven't looked forward to a trip this much in a long time!!
Heading out Thursday night and leaving next Saturday night. Got a slip for the boat Sunday-Thursday. Hope to see you out on the lake.
 

Wizard29

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Doesn't hurt to suck some antifreeze up into the system if you can do so easily. Better safe than sorry if one of those rare winters Dave mentioned comes along. Also keeps things nice and slippery in the impeller area.

I also roll the engines over once a month or so. Not start them, but spin them a few revolutions with the starter. Never thought it was a good idea for the valve springs and other parts to sit in one position for months at a time. Also lets you know how your batteries are holding up.
 

C-Ya

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Here in Florida…….. Boating season starts in November and ends in October. Christmas boating is so crowded, it seems like Havasu in July. Just saying.
 

Riverbottom

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Just winterized this morning.:) First time the wet suit has been out since April. Water is great, but the air temp was 49* skiing at 8:00 A.M.
 

OldSchoolBoats

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Heading out Thursday night and leaving next Saturday night. Got a slip for the boat Sunday-Thursday. Hope to see you out on the lake.

Shoot me a PM or a text msg and lets try and meet up for a couple libations. Boating Monday, Tuesday, Thursday (Parker), Friday and Saturday. Probably on the water around lunch time most days.
 

25Elmn8r

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North Idaho - Winterized the boat last Friday. Drained the block, disconnected all the water lines to ensure all the water was out. Stabil in the fuel tank, and drained the carb bowls. Done. Just in time, we're getting our first snow this morning.

Havasu - I never did anything to winterize. 20+ years and never had a problem.
 

rrrr

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Hey guys, now that the boating season ending soon, for me at least, what you guys do for winterization?
I keep my boat in Havasu the entire winter. How cold does it get? is running antifreeze needed it?

It's not applicable to you, but for boaters in freezing areas, here's what I do. l prime the engine and drive with water using a muff on the drive. I run the engine until it's warm and the tstat is open. Then I shut it down, and fill a five gallon bucket with 50% water and 50% RV antifreeze.

Using a short hose placed in the bucket and connected to the drive with the muff, I start the engine and it ingests the antifreeze mix. I run it long enough for the mix to come out the exhaust, and then shut it down. There's no need to disconnect hoses or drain anything. All hoses, the engine, and drive are completely protected from freezing because the solution has run through all of that.

The propylene glycol RV antifreeze is non-poisonous (unless you drink a lot of it straight). Next spring, either run it on the hose or launch the boat, and it'll clear the antifreeze. It won't harm the environment, and the procedure is easy to perform.
 
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HB2Havasu

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Looking forward to an empty lake and 85 - 90 degree temps next week. Be in Havasu this Sunday until next Sunday. Haven't looked forward to a trip this much in a long time!!
X2 - Will be in Havasu next weekend (Oct 22-24) for probably our last boating weekend until Desert Storm 2022. Best time of year on the lake IMO. :D

On our last weekend I always fill up the boat each day with Non-Ethanol Fuel and then add Stabil to the tank towards the end of the last day to get all the fuel lines and injectors loaded with Stabil. The only real winterization I do is give it a really good cleaning/wax, disconnect the batteries and hook them up to my battery tenders, throw a blanket over the outboard engine for a little insulation, then put the cover on the boat to keep the dust off it. It really doesn't get cold enough inside a garage to do much more in Havasu. If it was outdoors it definitely would be a different ballgame!!
 

J&k beer can

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no such thing..
out this past weeknd and will be out again next week thur-sunday..
this is the best time to be out boating.. got the toon now so dont have to worry about getting in water..
 

Riverryder

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If you are worried about it pull all the water drain plugs to drain the block out.

This!


@colenighthawk Didn’t you just post that the boat sat with old gas and you still ran it? Did you run that gas out and fill with new gas?

Like most have said the cooler weather is the best to go out on the water. Mine is stored inside. Just gets the block drained and I usually run it every 2 weeks.
 
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Ace in the Hole

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I just put up the Insinglass and run the heaters...

@Shlbyntro replaced quite a few engines this year with people who do that in Texas...once the grid failed their blocks froze. I used to do the heater route in my older cruiser at lake travis...wouldn't do it now unless I was going to check it frequently.
 

Ace in the Hole

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This!
Didn’t you just post that the boat sat with old gas and you still ran it? Did you run that gas out and fill with new gas?

I don't think that would have been me, maybe you are talking about the OP? I've done that before just not on a boat I have now..diluted it down and ran it. .big risk if you don't know the fuel age or condition. I would never do that on my current boat but it never sits more than 4-5 months and thats in a climate controlled garage.

I do the same as @HB2Havasu in terms of fuel our last trip in November. We ran the boat damn near to empty this past trip so it will have non-ethanol and additive, our next trip after that isn't until desert storm.
 

farmo83

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I ran it on the hose to get all the lake water out of it, store it with the drive in the down position, store it with ethanol free fuel, I'll siphon fuel out of it as the off season progresses.

if it gets really cold I'll go put a light under the hatch to keep it warm. I bought a Generac after Snowmeggeddon so I shouldn't lose power. Also the garage where I store the boat never froze so I would hope it should be fine.

When I had my old motor I would drain the manifolds and block.
 

mesquito_creek

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@Shlbyntro replaced quite a few engines this year with people who do that in Texas...once the grid failed their blocks froze. I used to do the heater route in my older cruiser at lake travis...wouldn't do it now unless I was going to check it frequently.

I was talking about when I am on lake powell using the boat to stay warm boating, I am like a boat on the Deadliest catch, I sit inside the cabin driving it with my heat pump blowing on me.... I store my cruiser in an insulated shop! AND I am fully off the grid, I make my own electricity and store it, so I never have utility based outages.
 

ConcreteDr

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drain all fuel especially if it has ethanol... none of that shit they sell works ...none of it !
 

HB2Havasu

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drain all fuel especially if it has ethanol... none of that shit they sell works ...none of it !
That's why my last few fills I use Non-Ethanol Gas. It will stay good for at least 6 months before it starts to break down, even longer if you add Stabil.
 

Activated

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Shoot me a PM or a text msg and lets try and meet up for a couple libations. Boating Monday, Tuesday, Thursday (Parker), Friday and Saturday. Probably on the water around lunch time most days.

i don’t know about Parker but below Parker, the water is always low on Thursdays.
 

Wedgy

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Winter of 2014, first year in Texas, I followed the Factory PIA winterizing procedure. next time out, the motor ran unusually warm pulling all the KId's around in circles until every borderline towable on the boat had failed. After pulling out a chunk of rusty crap out I R&R Tstat housing, Tstat. So. Every year since, I put stabil into the tank, and:

Begin by pulling WP hoses, exhaust manifold hoses at Tstat manifold, which will drain block and lower unit. Reconnect WP hoses. Using a funnel fill up block with a length of hose attached to Tstat housing at top front of intake manifold. Make sure block is full with anti freeze, it will fill and flow out of Tstat manifold, engine water supply hose will also fill and run out from Tstat manifold through power steering cooler, intake water passage down into, through, and out of lower unit. Block and engine water supply, power steering cooler, are now freeze protected.

Using factory hoses attached to exhaust manifold, and funnel, repeat filling exhaust manifolds until full with anti freeze, and anti freeze runs out through bellows and exhaust. Reattach and tighten all hoses. You exhaust manifolds and wet exhaust passages are freeze protected. Ready for action.

Pull plugs and spray fogging oil into cylinders before first start in Spring. Your motor will build compression and fire way faster. Put on a fresh fuel filter full of fresh fuel prior to start.

Drain and anti freeze fill Marine engines, ONLY after running fogging oil through warm engine by spraying through carb, engine running, work throttle until engine ingests a bunch, idle back, spray with fogging oil until engine stalls. Let engine cool prior to anti freeze fill.

Even though our beloved Marine engines are very comparable to stationary units, let's face it, our boats do get around. If you know what I mean. This is the method I use for protection, never failed yet. It works better than a condom, and will guarantee your motor will never freeze or get Herpes. Even in West Texas.
 
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rrrr

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Begin by pulling WP hoses, exhaust manifold hoses at Tstat manifold, which will drain block and lower unit. Reconnect WP hoses. Using a funnel fill up block with a length of hose attached to Tstat housing at top front of intake manifold. Make sure block is full with anti freeze, it will fill and flow out of Tstat manifold, engine water supply hose will also fill and run out from Tstat manifold through power steering cooler, intake water passage down into, through, and out of lower unit. Block and engine water supply, power steering cooler, are now freeze protected.

Using factory hoses attached to exhaust manifold, and funnel, repeat filling exhaust manifolds until full with anti freeze, and anti freeze runs out through bellows and exhaust. Reattach and tighten all hoses. You exhaust manifolds and wet exhaust passages are freeze protected. Ready for action.

This is a lot of work, especially if the engine is low in the hull. It's a bitch loosening clamps and pulling off hoses in those close quarters.

For boats with a stock Mercruiser or Volvo engine and drive system, if the procedure I outlined above is used, there's no way any part of the engine, drive, oil coolers, and exhaust systems can freeze.

When boating season returns, no work is required to return the boat to action. You don't have to wonder if you replaced all of the hoses and closed the block drains. Drop the boat in the water and go.

Wherever there is lake water in the cooling system during normal operation, it's been replaced by the antifreeze and water mix pulled into the drive water intakes, passing through the stock externally mounted water pump, circulated through the oil and power steering coolers, then the thermostat housing and block water pump, the engine block, the exhaust manifolds, and out the exhaust openings in the transom assembly and center of the propeller.

Again, everywhere lake water runs through the engine in normal operation has been replaced by the antifreeze solution. That being said, before running the solution through the system, it must be verified the engine is at normal operating temperature and that thermostat has opened. This ensures the solution reaches the engine block and replaces all water.

This procedure also works on Mercruiser installations with a closed loop cooling system. The antifreeze solution replaces lake water pulled into the drive, runs through the external water pump, the heat exchanger, and out through the transom assembly and center of the propeller.

The disclaimer: I've used this procedure for years. It works, and saves hours of labor. If you aren't familiar enough with the propulsion system in your boat to perform this work, pay someone to winterize it. If you are, it's a way to escape the drudgery of pulling hoses and cursing when you can't get a hose back on the lower fitting of the belt driven water pump.

If your propulsion system isn't a stock installation, for example with headers or a sea strainer, this procedure might not work. YMMV.
 

JB in so cal

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Sitting in my trailer at the Islander starting the end of season tear down process.
Winterize the boat = get covers washed and put on the HD cover on for the winter.
How long are you there? Heading out friday to bring the boat home
 

Ziggy

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Why is that? Did I miss something?
We boated DS, one late afternoon dinner ride and McRaftup, the 4th launch I took my son and his half brother out.
Janet's suffered a pinched sciatic nerve so she hasn't been physically fit to handle any bumps/jolts. She is beginning to walk without pain unless it's an incline, uphills no bueno.
Was a snoozer of a summer😴🙁
 

JB in so cal

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We boated DS, one late afternoon dinner ride and McRaftup, the 4th launch I took my son and his half brother out.
Janet's suffered a pinched sciatic nerve so she hasn't been physically fit to handle any bumps/jolts. She is beginning to walk without pain unless it's an incline, uphills no bueno.
Was a snoozer of a summer😴🙁
Damn. Hope she recovers all the way!
 

CoolCruzin

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Havasu Winterize-
Get the polish out, polish the boat and trailer .this includes the bottom of the boat .
 
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