Fun at the Lake Last Night...BRRRRR!!!!!!

[PUCKER]

I decided that it would be a good idea to cover the engine room/bilge vents on my boat...of course, I decided this at 8 pm last night! Temps were in the teens/20's with wind chill in the single digits or just barely above that (what can I say, I'm a procrastinator sometimes). Did a little brainstorming and got some cardboard, tape, knife, scissors, pen and an old folder to use as a template.

I've never seen ice from my AC/Heat discharge, crazy!! Did I mention it was CCCCCOLD last night???



First I made a template of the vents, my fingers were freeeeeeezing....then came inside to the salon and cut the covers out of a PS3 box. I found out that I'm pretty good with a knife, maybe I have a future in the arts & crafts biz? LOL



Look how pretty my arts and crafts project turned out! LOL The point of these vent covers is to help the engine room heater keep the heat in and keep the wind/cold out. This is the port side.



Remember it was freesing with a windchill in the teens and I wasn't wearing gloves, not bad for frozen hands. It was nice and toasty in the cabin though, took lots of breaks.



The other side (starboard).

[USA1]

I heard on the news ..warning boat owners that there is no antifreeze in boat motors like there is in cars.
They said that without extra precautions it could cost several thousand dollars to repair potential damage from freezing.

It looks like you did good to protect yours.

[joe817]

Good job PUCKER! Duct tape and cardboard are wonderful inventions.

I'll BET it was cold on the lake last night! Brrrr. At 10:44am just now, it's 18F with a wind chill of +1F.

[PUCKER]

Some boats, typically those that are in salt, have closed cooling systems. But most boats, like mine, will get their "coolant" (if you will) from the lake/body of water they are in. I don't winterize my boat other than keeping the interior heating system on when it's REALLY cold and then I've also got the engine room/bilge heater that's marine-approved and hard-wired into the 110v power system, so no worries about engine/generator damage due to freezing (other than if the power goes out but then I'd go down and fire it up) and we get to boat year-round. I like winter boating, I still wear shorts but then I add a light jacket, we've got a heater on the bridge so it's toasty while cruising, have been out in sleet/snow, some crazy stuff, well, at least for Texas!

[PUCKER]

Thank you Joe! I actually used paint masking tape, previously I've used *just* this tape to cover the vents...that was a pain and not as effective. This is paint/masking tape, it comes off pretty good...and the majority of it is on the vent, not the hull. No mess last time, other than little bits of the tape streaking off but it all came off with no residue left. I did think about duct tape for the strength, but the mess it leaves behind makes me shudder!

Yeah, you'd think I'd do it during daylight/sunshine, naaaaah, that'd be easy!! LOL

[92f-fan]

a few years back I had a 22 foot boat at Pier 121 - Lewisville - Like you I would often find myself freezing trying to prep the boat for a cold snap

the Jerks that run the place liked to unplug everyones battery chargers when It gets cold

It was against the rules to have any drop lights in the boats as block heaters so the retards would just unplug any extension cord they saw - no matter what it was hooked to or if it was in use 365 days a year ... Sorry for the off topic rant - But I feel better ...

[budroux2w]

I probably should have done more to our boat to get it ready for the cold

[PUCKER]

92 - I know exactly what you mean! My slip neighbor's boat came from Ohio originally so it doesn't have built-in air/heat...every winter I notice a "new" power cord...I'm pretty certain I know what it's running. In my first boat I did the "drop light in the bilge" for an unexpected snap freeze, no worries with it. Our marina is owned by the same folks that own Pier 121 and they have the same policy. What's interesting is that some boats have built-in heat lamps, they look pretty similar, if not identical, to a drop lamp, but they're affixed to the boat with a good cage around the lamp. I wonder if they're are any cases of folks with freeze damage due to the marina unplugging their power cord? Haven't heard of any at our place...as you probably know, word/rumors get around a marina FAST...ie - coconut telegraph/as the dock turns, etc.

[92f-fan]

I had a prewired battery charger for a dual battery setup - a cord ran under the front cover into a plug in the front passenger compartment - from there it led all the way around to the chargers in the back. I left it connected 24x7x365 for years - Had it approved by the office and the jerks would still unplug it in a cold snap - the volvo penta engine took like 10 minutes to winterize and 15 to un winterize so I didnt need heat - I always wondered what would happen if you tried to sue for the disconnect - for the $$ the water cost to rent they should have winterized the boat for me..