Winter Pull Out Questions

[GaryMayo]

My 32 has always been a California sailboat that to my knowledge has never seen a hard freeze.

Last spring, I shipped her here to Nebraska. The persistent spiders are in for a reckoning this fall!


What measures do I need to take to properly winterized her so water inside does not freeze and break things? I am most concerned with the 8hp yanmar engine.

No water heads. One 42 gallon fresh water tank to two sinks.

I want the spiders to be the only fatalities in the soon to come first hard freeze this 40 year old boat has ever experienced.

No blisters on the hull that I know of, but I could see a hard freeze doing a number on fiberglass, and delaminating.

No water in bilge, but moisture collects everywhere to some degree in sailboats.

Is a first hard winter going to harm my sailboat?

[kthoennes]

We shipped our boat from Texas to south Dakota. We thought the extreme cold would kill the spiders, mud wasp cocoons, and any other Texas freeloaders. The spiders survived, but it did kill everything else. Although maybe we just swapped Texas spiders for SD spiders, hard to tell.

[Vasco]

1. Winterize engine, run anti-freeze through if fresh water cooled, remove thermostat and run anti freeze through if raw water cooled. You should change oil and filter before hauling the boat.

2. Empty fw system and run potable anti-freeze through lines. Leave taps open. If pressurized hot water drain tank, connect in and out hoses, run potable anti-freeze through.

3. If you have a garboard strake plug, open it for the winter.

4. Remove upholstery, wet lines etc. If you have storage space take as much home as you can.

5. In Toronto most of us store with the masts down. If you leave yours up slack the shrouds a bit. It doesn't hurt to slack the belt(s) on the engine a bit too.

6. Make sure the boat is sitting so that any water in the cockpit will drain.

The spiders will be there to greet you in the spring.

[Jake Tanley]

Check out the following from Maine Sail. Research what you want to do with your batteries as well, there are differing opinions on it.

Engine
Raw Water System Winterizing - How Much? - SailboatOwners.com

Fresh Water systems
Fresh Water System Winterizing Photo Gallery by Compass Marine at pbase.com

Freeze point
Fresh Water System Winterizing Photo Gallery by Compass Marine at pbase.com

Index of all articles
Compass Marine "How To" Articles Photo Gallery by Compass Marine at pbase.com