What Happens If You Don’t Winterize Your Boat?
As a famous television show says, “Winter is coming!” This is bad news for boat owners in general, since winter tends to bring an end to outdoor boating excursions. However, the news could be even worse for your boat, especially if you don’t winterize it.
The process of winterizing your boat is both easier than it sounds and harder than it looks. Here we’ll look at the different things you should do during a boat winterization and what happens if you don’t do these things.
-Take Out Any Excess Water-
Extra water in your boat needs to be evacuated. Systems such as faucets, live wells, showers, holding tanks, and head systems should be emptied of any and all water. Also check your motor and engine systems. With outboards, you can just tilt it down to drain and empty out the water pump. Inboards should be double checked in case there’s any internal water.
Not evacuating this water could create serious issues once winter is over. Water has the annoying habit of expanding when it freezes, and its expansion can cause cracks in tubes and pipes to the point that they may just break completely.
-Fog Your Boat’s Engine-
This is a fairly simple maneuver that should be used even when you’re just leaving your boat alone for a few weeks, especially in humid weather. Fogging your boat’s engine isn’t so much a winterization staple as it is an inactivity staple.
If your engine isn’t fogged, you could be dealing with corroded internal parts when you next approach your boat.
-Gas Up-
There are two schools of thought when it comes to how much fuel should be left in your boat during the winter. Filling up the tank all the way can minimize the space allotted to condensation, lessening the amount of water in the tank. Using the fuel up until it’s almost to the point of “running on E” can make it so that the condensation that does happen is more easily handled when you go to fill up again. Either way, it’s best to go ahead and add some fuel stabilizer to keep your tank in good condition while it’s at rest.
Failing to address your gas tank can lead to too much water mixing with your fuel, which can help eat away at your boat’s insides.
Be sure to winterize before the cold season gets here! If you’re not sure how, check around with local dealers for deals on winterization.