Winterizing for Second Year on the Hard

[DaveInGeorgianB]

My boat will remain on the hard for a second winter. Do I need to do anything again for this period? It has a Yanmar 2GM, manual head and cold water only for 2 sinks.

[Morgan Sailor]

As long as you haven’t “De-winterized” anything since you last winterized it, it should be just fine.

[Shrew]

Is everything still filled with propylene glycol from last fall when you winterized? Did you run water through any of the systems since it was previously winterized??

[DaveInGeorgianB]

It’s hard to say regarding the Yanmar…should I put more antifreeze through it? Should I start it?

The water system appears to still have antifreeze.
I did put some water (about a gallon) through the head and will re winterize it. I can’t get a pump out. Will the gallon of water be okay in my waste tank? When I again winterize the head I’ll put a gallon of antifreeze through.

Does the antifreeze break down with time?
Should I put more diesel treatment in my tank? I have a full tank.

Thx

[rslifkin]

For the head, use the strongest antifreeze you can find, that way it'll still be enough after dilution.

[Mike OReilly]

As others have said, you are fine for the items you haven't dewinterized. If you've run water through any systems, then you should add more antifreeze. Unless you've run the engine, the antifreeze should still be in place and doesn't need to be added to.

I've had boats sit through two Canadian winters at times. I did nothing the second winter. And if it's any consolation, my current boat is destined to sit through a third Newfoundland winter with nothing additional being done to it. I don't expect there to be any issues (at least not with the winterizing).

[David B]

Originally Posted by DaveInGeorgianB

My boat will remain on the hard for a second winter. Do I need to do anything again for this period? It has a Yanmar 2GM, manual head and cold water only for 2 sinks.

I feel you are far from alone on this issue - then there are those of us with boats on the other side of the world that we still cannot get to.

My thoughts - as long as you used plenty of biocide/stabiliser in the diesel (I always overdose), it should be adequate.
Anything you have put water through should be flushed with antifreeze/disinfectant, and drained. With the holding tank, add plenty more antifreeze then if you can't drain (not even into a disposable 20 litre container?).

The engine is a question I am pondering for ourselves (4JH4TCE winterised in 2019 including oil change and running for a minute or so flushing antifreeze through the raw water intake) as it will not be until 2023 that we can escape 'cage Australia' to return to our boat. That will make it four winters before we return in the following Spring.

My current thought is that with the impellor still in there (yes - forgot ....), there could be issues asking someone to run the engine for me (boat is on hard-stand), but then there's the fact I didn't fog the inlet (never have for just one winter - who would have guessed .....).