It isn't Chicago or New England here. It may get into the 20s. I'll be sailing through the winter on weekends. What do I need to be thinking about? I assume 20 gal of vodka in the fresh water system isnt. serious suggestion
Winterizing in the pacific northwest
- Thread starter Davefromoregon
- Start date
My boat been floating in Puget Sound for ten winters and nothing has ever frozen, with me doing no winterizing other than relieving the pressure in the fresh water lines. My motor is raw water cooled though.
There have been some difficult winters up there so that is telling.
Mine is too, but it is moored in the Columbia
Do you keep a small heater on board? That seems to be a popular solution with two obvious dangers, the first being a source of fires, the second is how long it takes after a power losses to get some real damage to happen. We have had some pretty catastrophic blackout/freezing/storm combinations in Seattle in the last few years. If you are around and can get to your boat if that happens that may be ok. That's my plan.
I just bought the boat so this is all new. Are there 12v heaters? With 3 house batteries, that should last long enough for the power to come on. I suspect that plan has its own problems.
I think that only works if you are permanently hooked to shore power so you can use a 110v heater. And there are household heaters and marine heaters for 3x the price and 1/10th the choices.
We moor our 340 in Bellingham, and also go out through the winter if the weather cooperates. Wanting to have all systems ready to go at any time, we don't winterize anything.
What I have done is utilized a small 110v space heater plugged into a battery powered thermostat, that will dial down to 40 degrees. None of the space heaters available with built in thermostats would dial down far enough (most only go down to 60 deg.), nor would they come back on automatically after a power outage.
The thermostat I use plugs into a GFCI outlet at the nav station, and the heater is plugged into the thermostat. The only modification I made was to extend the sensor wire from the thermostat so it was roughly in the middle of the cabin.
Though I hate space heaters, I figure that I have many layers of protection:
Thermal overload in the heater
Tip over protection in the heater
Over current protection in the thermostat
GFI outlet protection
Circuit breaker for outlet
AC main breaker on panel
AC breaker on the dock
I figure if all of those fail, my insurance company can buy me a new boat.
The first winter I utilized this set up, we pulled into the parking lot where the car thermometer indicated 10 degrees. Opening up the boat, the cabin was a relatively toasty 40 degrees. The whole thing works great, keeps everything from freezing up, and I don't really see any difference in the power bill.
If you're interested, I can get the makes/models of what I've used next time I get to the boat.
What I have done is utilized a small 110v space heater plugged into a battery powered thermostat, that will dial down to 40 degrees. None of the space heaters available with built in thermostats would dial down far enough (most only go down to 60 deg.), nor would they come back on automatically after a power outage.
The thermostat I use plugs into a GFCI outlet at the nav station, and the heater is plugged into the thermostat. The only modification I made was to extend the sensor wire from the thermostat so it was roughly in the middle of the cabin.
Though I hate space heaters, I figure that I have many layers of protection:
Thermal overload in the heater
Tip over protection in the heater
Over current protection in the thermostat
GFI outlet protection
Circuit breaker for outlet
AC main breaker on panel
AC breaker on the dock
I figure if all of those fail, my insurance company can buy me a new boat.
The first winter I utilized this set up, we pulled into the parking lot where the car thermometer indicated 10 degrees. Opening up the boat, the cabin was a relatively toasty 40 degrees. The whole thing works great, keeps everything from freezing up, and I don't really see any difference in the power bill.
If you're interested, I can get the makes/models of what I've used next time I get to the boat.
Ours is in the Columbia. We keep alow profile heater in the cabin. The so called frost setting on the heater doesn't work so I bought a plug in outlet adapter from horse.com that switches on at 40F and plug the heater into that. I usually keep the heater set at 900 watts.
I make sure the cabint doors are open under sinks and expose plumbing as much as possible to the cabin.
If extended cold is predicted I turn on the water heater which thermal siphons some heat to the engine and being adjacent to it warms the compartment some. I have also set the Espar at about 45 but not that comfortable with that.
I can see the boat from the living room so check on it often.
A foot of snow a few years back damaged the bimini before I could get it off.
When we had our Newport in Olympia, I had a similar setup and trusted the thermostat on the heater. I also had heat tape wrapped around the engine and cockpit drain lines.
I make sure the cabint doors are open under sinks and expose plumbing as much as possible to the cabin.
If extended cold is predicted I turn on the water heater which thermal siphons some heat to the engine and being adjacent to it warms the compartment some. I have also set the Espar at about 45 but not that comfortable with that.
I can see the boat from the living room so check on it often.
A foot of snow a few years back damaged the bimini before I could get it off.
When we had our Newport in Olympia, I had a similar setup and trusted the thermostat on the heater. I also had heat tape wrapped around the engine and cockpit drain lines.
I saw a heat based switch device at Home Depot that could be paired up with a space heater. That would probably work along with having all the doors and cabinets open. That assumes AC power is working. That should take care of most situations.
It sounds like not much else is necessary assuming regular use.
It sounds like not much else is necessary assuming regular use.
Didn't you say you don't have shore power? I don't think any of these heaters in this thread will be feasible unless you have shore power or a huge battery bank
This is the thermostat that I use.
http://www.pexsupply.com/Lux-PSP300...ng-9547000-p?gclid=CJv9x4-GoboCFRFxQgod50kAnQ
Again, I lengthened the sensor bulb wire to about 4' (though the manufacturer doesn't recommend it), and use a basic 1500w space heater (no digitial controls).
Works great!
http://www.pexsupply.com/Lux-PSP300...ng-9547000-p?gclid=CJv9x4-GoboCFRFxQgod50kAnQ
Again, I lengthened the sensor bulb wire to about 4' (though the manufacturer doesn't recommend it), and use a basic 1500w space heater (no digitial controls).
Works great!
So, the dehumidifier doesn't help much when it gets to 15 degrees and stays below 32 for most of a week. Now performing a slow thaw with a couple heaters on low heat.
not trying to hijack here, but looking for more ideas that should be done for winterizing an "active" vessel for the winter time temps...
so with the lower than usual winter temps that we have recently experienced here in the Pacific NW, has anyone had any boat problems because of it?... or wished they would have done more?
mine is on the hard, emptied of all liquids, (EXCEPT the vodka and rum) cushions, bedding and provisions, well ventilated and tarped over.... so, other than all these thing I mentioned, its about as good as it gets this time of year for me...
so with the lower than usual winter temps that we have recently experienced here in the Pacific NW, has anyone had any boat problems because of it?... or wished they would have done more?
mine is on the hard, emptied of all liquids, (EXCEPT the vodka and rum) cushions, bedding and provisions, well ventilated and tarped over.... so, other than all these thing I mentioned, its about as good as it gets this time of year for me...