Hi Gang,
another [probably silly question] from a member who’s not made a meeting yet.
I’m at Ridge Wharf and am thinking of leaving the boat in the water over this winter. When I had a Dutch Barge I never inhibited or de-inhibited the engine for winter even though it was in fresh water on the UK canal system. My question is, will it be okay if i leave it in the water and do nothing but just use it, or will it just freeze up and blow the engine apart through freezing?
best wishes, Nick
I used to have a boat on a Jetty above the bridge at Wareham, it had a raw water cooled on-board, I kept that afloat every winter and never had problems.
Thanks for that Brian. That’s reassuring.
Hi Nick I'm guessing yours is an inboard but for anyone with an outboard you may find this interesting:
And for fuel injected motors:
I don't winterise while my boat is in the water. Except to make sure the outside fresh water shower head is drained down (it cracked once).
While on the hard I use a low power heater if it's going to get well below freezing.
Same for me , antifreeze in the heat exchanger , drain fresh water and remove shower head, small electric heater in the cabin over the cold part of the winter. A dehumidifier is useful to catch condensation.
Take all your lifejackets off the boat and keep them at home in a dry environment.
They tend to go off on their own during these damp evenings and mornings