Winter And boating!
Using your boat in the winter:
Be sure to dress warm, bring survival gear and extra blankets. Also you may add a couple pieces of dry kindling in a bag, or make fire starters out of egg carton, candle wax, and dryer lint. Also make sure you have spare prop, spare water separating fuel filter and belts.
Inboard/Outboard Motors will need to be drained each time you return as well as filling up your gas tank. Be sure to drain Block, Heat exchanger, Water pump, Manifolds and Risers.
Outboards, are self draining yet can still freeze in the Raw Water Pump.
Be sure to fill out a float plan when ever you use your boat in the winter time. Float plan is a piece of paper, listing out who is on your boat, your boat type, and the location you are boating in.
Damage that May happen in the winter freeze:
Water starts to freeze at about temperatures of 32 degrees. If you have any cracks on your deck that water can seep into damage can start to happen, once water is soaked inside the crack, it then expands first then becomes denser, thus opening the crack and causing more damage.
If you have forgotten to drain; Block, Heat exchanger, Water pump, Manifolds and Risers, damage may occur.
Lower units can freeze in the winter, though rare! You can avoid this by angling lower unit in the fully downward position.
Your belts may become brittle during the cold, be sure to keep a spare.
Be aware that mud daubers (wasp) that may infest your outboard boat, clogging up lines. Avoid this by setting off bug bombs around the boat storage area.
If you wake to find ice has formed on top of your Vinyl do not attempt to pull it off, it is best to let it melt and dry it up, rather then pull on vinyl made brittle by freezing temperatures.
Snow is heavy and will break down your canvas, sweep off snow each time.
Make sure you have Replacement Value insurance on your boat at all times.
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