PNW Winterizing

[Head Sail]

Here in Puget Sound, not to many pull boats for the winter. Just wondering what type of winterizing others do in the PNW. Last year was my first year with the boat and didn't do anything except put an electric heater on the frost setting when temps dipped below freezing which were only a few days. Feel bad for you norther boat owners.

 

[Hello Below]

Oh boy. You are asking a lot in an area (PNW) where a forecast of any accuracy greater than a day in advance is a stretch and most times 12 hours is only somewhat reliable. Last year the meteorologists predicted a warmer than normal winter for areas in Canada east of the Rockies. West was to experience normal or slightly colder than normal temperatures. Now that the results are in, the highly paid forecasters admit that they have never been so wrong like really wrong. Bitter cold for long stretches in the East and nary a snow flake on the West Coast.

I think it boils down to several things as to what one does to winterize one’s boat: the financial risk you are willing to take; the confidence you have in your marina (thus your hydro folks) in providing constant or near constant power to your heater(s); and probably more importantly is your ability and flexibility to respond to weather that your boat is not prepared for.

Let’s admit it, we are not going to get a long spell of below day time freezing temperatures in the PNW. So an overnight dip to, let’s say 25F, is not going to do much harm. Last winter the lowest day time high was 30.74F (-0.7C). There were only 2 days all winter where the day time high was below freezing. If on the other hand things do go for a crap, then you best be available to get your butt to the marina and babysit for as long as it takes.

In general heat the boat to above freezing, move the air around inside via fans, open all your lockers and spaces (including engine room) and minimize areas where water pools in small quantities. Take as much food stuff, material and paper items off the boat as possible. Remove all the goodies open to the outside that you don’t want to turn green and at least take down the foresail (main if furled is your choice) and tarp it up if you wish.

And oh by the way, Environment Canada predicts that for the period of Oct – Dec 2014 the probability of warmer than normal is 70-80%, from Jan to Mar 2015 is 40-50%. So if I was a bettin’ man . . .

 

[alexco38]

Winterize for the worst and dame the forecast. They use a dart board and if someone move it, all bets are off.

 

[Head Sail]

Alex, that certainly is the safe option but once you completely winterize your down until spring. In the PNW, I can still use the boat on the occasional nice winter day without having to re-winterize.

 

[centerline]

the northwest is a big area, but for the puget sound/san juan area and south, we have mild winters, relatively speaking...

most years all you need to do to winterize here is to open the engine compartment to the interior of the boat so you can get some heat transfer to the engine. it doesnt take much but just enough to keep it above 32-33 degrees...

we dont usually get too long of freezing spells, and when freezing temps do arrive, we usually have sunny days that help warm the insides of the boat to bring the temps back up... and seldom does the temps stay cold long enough to cool the water down to the freezing point.

problems arise when either there is snow on the deck and then the temps dip for a couple days, or when the temps dip and then the fog sets in to blanket the cold in.... when no sun is able to get to the deck and warm it in the daytime, the engine compartment will stay below the freezing point for many hours, then bad things will happen...

last year was a bit colder for a bit longer, but still, if you keep the engine compartment above freezing and you will be fine.... but you have to make sure the breakers dont trip and shut the power to your heater off...

there are others who will flush antifreeze thru the system, but in the many years ive been boating here I have never seen the need, unless you cant keep the engine from freezing by other means....

 

[Mikem]

I've had a boat in Bremerton for 16 years and never winterized. One winter the snow was so heavy that it bent my dodger frame. If you have a dodger and there is a heavy snowfall and you can safely make it to the boat knock the snow off of the dodger. The only other incident I had during a particularly hard freeze was freshwater line to the shower popping at the quick disconnect fitting.

I have four of those round 100w dehumidifier units running 24/7 during the winter and early spring and that seems to keep the mold out and the heat in.

 

[Mark Maulden]

I never "winterize". My engine is fresh water cooled with a 50/50 mix of antifreeze. I just close the seacocks and open the two faucets. Remember ur floating in ~ 47 deg water. If ur not there all winter u might want to pull the cushions. There's nothing wrong with the boat getting cold.

 

[fox islander]

I keep the boat in Tacoma. My "winterizing" basically consists of a small electric heater turned down low, a couple of small fans running constantly, 3 dri-Z-air canisters (they actually pull out an amazing amount of water) and most importantly, going down to the boat once a week to check things out.

 

[John Nantz]

Tarp and Dehumidifier

What has been working well for me the past several years is removing the sails and the dodger (to avoid mildew and stitching becoming rotten), removing the jib sheet and main sheet lines, then putting up a plastic pipe rib "cage" with a large tarp over the top. The tarp covers the area from the pushpit to just forward of the spray hood over the hatch.

A really, really great improvement has been the use of a dehumidifier that has a defrost cycle because it allows the RH to be set as low as 40%. Note that mildew can start to grow at 50% RH. With the lower setting I think it helps to combat mildew growth in the far corners of the boat where air circulation is the least. The dehumidifier has a good fan that helps to blow the air around in the main cabin but air flow becomes diminished toward the V-berth in the bow and the aft cabin.

The electricity consumption and cost for the dehumidifier has been about 1/3 for that of runing the round "dehumidifiers" (that really aren't). When the dehumidifier reaches it's set point (40% RH) it turns off while the round heaters (that's what they really are) don't seem to shut off.

When the forecast is for steady temperatures in the mid to low 20ºFs then I'll turn on a heater or two but that normally is only for a week or two.

Taking the sails off is the best thing for them. After 14 years they looked almost like new but last winter I got lazy and left them on but now I regret it because of areas where mildew got started.

One more thing - the plexiglass (hatches and ports) is kept covered to protect it from UV damage. Unfortunately, this is a tradeoff because mildew likes a dark cabin. I'd like a solution for this problem that would allow sunlight to enter but not cause UV damage.

According to the radio last week the NOAA forecast for this area is a warmer and drier winter and a wetter than average spring. We call that Oregon Mist. Missed Oregon and hit Washington.

 

[Jalepeno]

We use our sailboat year round up here on the west coast. I keep three Dry-Z-Air descant units with trays on board. One under the Yanmar, one on the Galley counter and one on the Head sink counter. They need the liquid emptying and the calcium-chloride refilled about once a month. In the winter (about from December to February) I plug into shore power to run two Caframo pancake fans units to move the air around. The measured relative humid is normally around 50% to 60% as long as the opening ports are closed, even if the outside humidity is 100% (fog and raining). I’ve been doing this for 18 years and have not had any condensation, mold or mildew inside.

 

[forbin]

I just leave the hatches cracked, turn an electric heater on, and flip up all the cushions. When it was below freezing last year I left the diesel heater on for four days and emptied the water and holding tanks.

 

[steve stark]

The best cold weather tactic...

is to have a yacht club commodore that will travel all the way to your home port and brush the snow off your canvas..... eh, Mike

Best commodore ever, and a friend to sail the rough weather with.

 

[firehoser75]

Oh boy. You are asking a lot in an area (PNW) where a forecast of any accuracy greater than a day in advance is a stretch and most times 12 hours is only somewhat reliable. Last year the meteorologists predicted a warmer than normal winter for areas in Canada east of the Rockies. West was to experience normal or slightly colder than normal temperatures. Now that the results are in, the highly paid forecasters admit that they have never been so wrong like really wrong. Bitter cold for long stretches in the East and "nary a snow flake on the West Coast."
..........
And oh by the way, Environment Canada predicts that for the period of Oct – Dec 2014 the probability of warmer than normal is 70-80%, from Jan to Mar 2015 is 40-50%. So if I was a bettin’ man . . .

Hi Hello Below,
I don't know where you were last winter (Nov. 2013 to March 2014) but the Georgia Strait area of Canada had several big snowfalls. I had to shovel the snow at least half a dozen times and actually had a bad roof leak due to snow and ice damming . My elevation is about 200 - 300 feet above sea level. The Vancouver area had some heavy snowfalls as well! In my humble opinion , it was one of the worst winters (for snowfall) that I have experienced, and I am born and bred in the Lower Mainland (now retired and older than dirt, so we are talking a fairly large number of winters). Normally we get very little snow or freezing temperatures, and that is one of the things I really like about this area.
Anyway, to the original poster, I use a dehumidifier on board and to be safe, add RV type antifreeze to my plumbing. The boat is dry, and never had a problem in 10 years of doing it this way. I also remove the genoa and bimini, but I have been a bit lazy when it comes to the main, and leave it on board under the sail cover.
Regards,
Tom

 

[pogo2]

this is what I have to do every winter, Lake Erie freezes over and then when the spring come most of the ice comes down the Niagara River and will destroy anything in its path:cry: