Winterizing in the PNW

[rapscallion]

Wondering what steps folks here in the PNW take to winterize their boats? This'll be the first winter for me with my boat.

Where I live (Vancouver, BC) winter temperatures near the water typically hover a degree or two above freezing. At night it often dips below freezing, but not much. We can get a few days or even a week of below freezing temperatures.

My boat is a 30ft Carver with twin FWC 220 Crusaders, head with holding tank, pressurized fresh water system, 12 gal. water heater, two group 27 batteries on a smart charger; 30A 120V shore power. She'll be kept in the water, in the open near where I live. The water is brackish, tidal; mouth of the Fraser River.

I understand some folks keep a 120V radiant heater on board in the cabin space to prevent freezing, and that's about it. Do others here in the PNW go to the same lengths boaters in the colder regions do with full winterization procedures (drain domestic water system, run antifreeze through fresh water cooling system, change oil and filters, apply fogging oil to cylinders and carbs, drain and flush holding tank, etc)? Does anyone employ a bilge heating system? Shore power is fairly reliable where I am, but I've never gone a full year without at least a couple of electrical outages due to storms taking down power lines, etc. All it takes is a few hours of freezing temperatures and no shore power to mess up your life.

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

 

[NorWester]

How often do you intend on using the boat over the winter?

It all has to do with your use pattern and how local you are to the boat.

If you will not use it, then winterize all systems, just in case. Keep a small heater / circulating fan / dehumidifier in each cabin area to prevent mould. Open up lockers and bilges. Etc...

If you do plan on using it frequently, then keep it as is. Plan on taking trips to the boat whenever the weather gets cold to check on systems.

Personally, I would still drain /winterize the domestic water system and heads, just in case. I would keep the engines operational (assuming anti-freeze in the FWC system) for quick trips on nice afternoons. Heaters / frequent visits, as above.

 

[Kuredu]

We have kept our boat(s) in the water in Horseshoe Bay for 6 years now. We cruise year round so the boat has to be ready for cruising at all times.

We have two Caframo fan heaters inside the boat at the lowest points (fwd head and mid stateroom) on the 800W setting and about 6 degree on the thermostat. When it gets really cold we open all cupboards to allow warm air to reach the inside spaces where water pipes run.

The engine room has a bilge heater which runs constatly. When we expect sub-zero temps we also tape the engine vents closed (remember this is a diesel - not sure I would do it with gassers) so that the little heat that the bilge heater produces does not simply blow away.

Another factor to remember - in salt water the temps rarely drop below 3 deg (went down to just above zero last year but that was exceptional) so the hull is essentially sitting in a heater (compared to -13 air temp last year). This is not true in the river. Two friends have their boats in the river and last year they both froze solid in the water. One caught this early and although all his fresh water pipes were frozen he managed to thaw it all before he sustained any damage. The other guy was not so lucky and had a few burst pipes but no engine damage. A few boats also sank in Capt Cove Marina after their strainers froze, broke and thawed again later.

Last year was exceptionally cold and snowy and we had to remove snow from the boat a few times. A couple boats in our marina did not do so and one went belly-up because of the weight. A few of us decided to clear the boats that looked like they were in distress after that. There was also a lot of canvass and enclosure damage due too the weight - so keep your boat clear of snow and ice. Kuredu is fully enclosed so we don't have an issue with drainage being iced up and blocked (so water can't drain) but look for that too.

Bottom line - with the right precautions and a little TLC your boat could be just fine through the winters here.

 

[Ghost]

If power is going to go out, it will happen during a freezing spell. Most years I ultimatley don't winterize as my engines are pretty well insulated and we have to have freezing conditions for more than a day to really freeze in the engine bay. That give me time to go drain and antifreeze a system if I think we will have days of freezing without power. The lazarette is a different story. The genny is in there and it gets cold quickly. I winterize the genny with antifreeze each year. Once got a little slack and showed up at the boat to find my glass sea strainers with solid ice ready to burst. The head and water tank I just drain and don't run antifreeze. Oh...and close those seacocks.

 

[Kuredu]

What Ghost says is true - be aware of power loss. This is especially an issue in Horseshoe Bay but perhaps not so much where you will be keeping the boat.

We have an inverter on board which will power the 2 heaters and bilge heater for a couple of hours (which is why we keep them at 800W rather than full blast) and most times power is restored within that time frame. The inverter charger is also set to a fairly low charge rate (aroiund 30-40% to avoid over powering and tripping our dock power when it is restored. The inverter will also start up the genny if it runs low. So, barring a complete catastophy, we pretty much always have power on the boat.

Remember you not trying to keep the boat cozy and heated - just keep it from freezing. Manage your power usage accordingly. There were a few days last winter where temps were forecast to drop to around -13C and we just did not feel comfortable with the boat un-attended so we stayed on board and made sure she was heated. Our dock power was limited (all the boats were drawing max) so we often ran the genny (12Kw-95amp) to power all the systems on board (and the genny running provided heat in the engine room) and at least once a day brought the main engines up to (almost) running temp (with diesels you pretty much have to put load on them to get them all the way up to running temps).

 

[rapscallion]

Thanks for all the advice.

The marina where I keep the boat is near where I live, so, unless I'm out on it, I'm at the boat every few days (it's my "happy place" after all). I won't be boating during the winter months, but I'll be keeping up the routine of making trips to the boat every few days, or as needed.

A 120V West Marine air drier came with the boat. I keep it running constantly to help prevent mould. I also purchased one of those solar ventilation units. I plan to install that in the forward hatch. I see it being good for circulating air, but I'm a bit worried about rain water getting in through it. Anyone have any experience with those?

I'm aware of what happened at Captain's Cove Marina last winter. I'll certainly do whatever is necessary to prevent snow load from causing damage. Wet snow falling at sea level, however, can accummulate pretty quickly. Liveaboard friends at the marina should be able to help out if I can't get to the boat quickly enough. My boat has a bimini which helps somewhat in keeping rain and UV off the command bridge, but I will retract and stow it when the snow starts to fly.

It sounds like preventative winterizing measures will be a good idea for me regardless. We always get a couple of dry, calm weeks in January, though, after all the "Pineapple Express" frontal system activity in December. It must be nice to get away on the boat during those days. My boat has a Dickinson propane heater... It's tempting to keep the boat in running condition year 'round like you do, Kuredu. I'll winterize her this year and see how it goes.

Thanks again for all the advice.