Cold Snap in NC

[Pops]

The temperature is expected to reach 26F tonight, stay below freezing all day Friday, and return to above freezing on Saturday. I have not winterized my Hunter 27 as we don't get much, if any freezing weather. I don't worry because I live 15 minutes from the boat and can react instantly to temp. changes. I will be spending tonight on the boat with an AC space heater to keep it warm (I won't need a cooler, nor ice to keep the adult beverages cold). I plan to pump out the drinking water tank and pump antifreeze into the pump and lines. I'll put a fresh charge on the batteries and run a fan to get warm air into all the nooks and crannies. My question to the experts is, should I worry about my raw water cooling on the yanmar? I'll have the boat heated before the temp drops below freezing tonight and keep the heat on until I leave in the late morning. It is suppose to be sunny tommorrow, so I also have the sun heating the boat all day. Should I stay on the boat Friday night as well, or will the boat retain enough heat to be OK? The water that the boat is sitting in is a 10 ft deep 50 ft wide canal and probabaly won't surface freeze. Do you guys have any guesses? Thanks

 

[larryw]

I wouldn't put antifreeze in any potable water supply; put a gallon or two of cheap vodka in there instead, then it won't be a problem later. Raw water shouldn't freeze in those conditions, but, since I live in So Cal, I'm no expert on winterizing. I wanted to ask; when was the last time you had an Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test?

 

[DougM]

That's not cold!

It's a balmy 9 degrees where my boat is right now... its been on the hard since September.

Yes we put RV antifreeze in the water system, you just have to flush it really well when you re-launch.

 

[BobM]

Given this is a relatively short even, I don't know how carried away I'd get for 26°F. The boat is probably sitting in water significantly above the freezing point (I found one temp today in NC of 45°C. If your boat is somewhat sheltered (in the canal) contact with the water should make <48 hours at 26°F of little concern.

I assume your water tank and plumbing are low in the hull and that the boat is reasonably closed off to the elements otherwise (no solar vents running / dorades open, etc...). We had no heat for ~72 hours and my house only dropped 10 degrees per night, your boat isn't insulated, but I should think it wouldn't drop below 32 degrees inside over a 48 hour period. Especially if the daily highs hit 40.

Being up here in Boston I certainly woudn't lose any sleep over a few nights of 26 degrees even with my boat on stands. Zero would be another story though.

If you are worried, run your engine to temperature then shut it down and pump out your water tank, but don't sleep on it or worry about running a heater for the duration. I'd pass on anti-freeze and any other winterizing if its January and this is the worst of it for you.

I was going to visit my boat to check on it for the first time since winter started, but its REALLY cold here inland, never mind on the water. I am feeling guilty as I haven't been aboard since November and I'd like to how my winter cover is holding up. It's all relative. If it was 40 today and 26 tonight up here and my boat was in the water I'd blow out of work and go for a daysail in my bermuda shorts. However its 10°F with a windchill making it feel like -4°C so I'll pass.

 

[Chuckbear]

Your boats engine is an expensive piece of equipment to gamble with. Maybe it will be OK or maybe not. If it were mine I would err on the side of caution. If you plan to use the boat than get a little heat in the engine compartment to keep it above freezing. Some folks do this by simply putting a 60 watt light bulb in the compartment. If you are not going to use it for a while it only take a few minutes to winterize it. Get gallon or two of the pink marine anti-freeze, put it in a bucket, undo the raw water intake hose, stick it in the bucket and run the engine until the pink stuff come out of the exhaust. The next cold snap could be colder and longer, so now you will be ready for it. Chuck

 

[Ross]

I keep a couple of 2 quart plastic bottles filled with water on my deck rail. Normally it takes 2 days and nights in the upper 20's to freeze them or one night in the low teens. The engine is a very large thermal mass and the temps in the boat must get down below 25 before the engine will even start to chill down to freezing, then it will take quite a long time. 32 degrees for a week wouldn't be enough to cause damage.

 

[Paul356]

I couldn't resist mentioning that it's 8-below right now, and is not supposed to get above zero until sometime tomorrow. Yes, the boat is winterized. Has been winterized for months. Will be winterized for months. Summer, where art thou? For that matter, 26 degrees, where art thou!

 

[Ross]

I couldn't resist mentioning that it's 8-below right now, and is not supposed to get above zero until sometime tomorrow. Yes, the boat is winterized. Has been winterized for months. Will be winterized for months. Summer, where art thou? For that matter, 26 degrees, where art thou!

Paul, Doesn't Milwalkee have four seasons? Almost winter, winter, still winter and construction?

 

[Pops]

Thanks for the thoughts guys. I didn't think I was in too much danger. I am thankful for the excuse to go and spend a night on the boat. It's on a dock at the back of my buddy's house and we can always use more bs time. (larryw, I will have to plead the fifth, but it's been some time. I don't have the Afro any more either). I would try the vodka trick but, after me and my friend started slinging the bs, we would run the batteries down again pumping it out tonite.

 

[kloudie1]

Prankster, down on the bayou, I worry when the temp gets down in the teens and doesn't unfreeze for a few days.. With the heater on inside, open the engine box and the fresh water tank covers and it will be fine.. We'll see 25 ish tonight here .. but it is 50 something out now and will be again tomorrow.. I wouldn't worry about the fresh water system (unless you have a transom mounted shower, then that piece might freeze)..

 

[sailaway78]

Not cold enough

IMHO thats not cold enough to damage anything. For no longer than it will last. I am in the same area as Kloudie1, and am going to take no special precautions. I have been through several days over the past few years, when the temp. dropped into the mid to lower 20's, and have never done anything special. The water is much warmer, and will keep the interior of the boat warmer than the outside temp. But if I were you, I would go ahead and go to the boat, sling some bs and maybe hoist a couple.

 

[Bill Roosa]

Don't set yourself on fire

This is probably the first time in a long time you stressed your shore power with a big load like an electric heater. BE CAREFUL. Keep an eye on all your AC circuits from shore power connection to heater plug. Know what to do if you get an electrical fire and keep the right kind of extinguisher handy.

 

[Ian4781]

-30 c here and Tumbleweed is on the hard....I only wish I could be dealing with 20 ish F...at that temp,little expansion will occure so no damage will happen to quality products....just watch exterior plumbing fixtures.

 

[Ken Honeycutt]

The Antifreeze will freeze soon here

Chicago temps have been below zero in the double digits for the last 2 days. . Haven't been able to visit the boat since November due to the snow and cold.:bang: It may be July before the lake thaws out at this rate.

 

[Steve Dion]

It has been down into the mid 20's in the Sacramento, CA area this winter. We have the boat in the water and ready to go. So far no problems with anything freezing. I think that the water is warm enough to keep everything on the interior in the mid-low 40's so far.

We have had warm days and very cold (for Sacramento) nights.

 

[Jerry Clark H356 SV Persi]

Shouldn't be a problem for a day or two

My 356 has seen several 14-19 degree days on Kentucky lake in the fall before I winterize. I have never had any problem at all. When the temps were down, the water was in the 42-44 degree range and the boat stays pretty warm. If you had several days in a row way below freezing with below 40 water temp, I'd then winterize.

 

[Terry in Naples]

You do know that antifreeze is poison ? That is why you do not let your dog lick up the spill over whern you are refiling your car in the garage. Do not put it in your drinking water tanks. Terry

 

[Dan Johnson]

Terry...

The green stuff (ethylene glycol) that you put in your car engine (and the closed cooling system of your boat) is the poisonous stuff.

The pink stuff (propylene glycol) is what everyone is talking about. You put it in your water tank, lines, head, and any other water source/vessel. Some people use the purple stuff for greater temperature protection-also a potable use antifreeze.