Winterizing Question

[Wayne Estabrooks]

Since I leave my boat in the water all winter, here in NC I wanted to know if the way I winterize the thru-hulls for the vanity and galley sink drains is sufficient. I read the winterizing stuff and archives. I pour some pink stuff (polypropylene glycol)down the drain, about 2 cups to displace the water that is in there and then close the valve on the thru-hull.The water in the harbor has frozen slightly some years but my guess is since the thru-hull are below the water line 12 to 18 inches, that they won't freeze. On the head intake, I remove the hose from the thru-hull and remove the little bit of water in the valve with a turkey baster. I put the hose in the pink stuff and pump it through the head. Haven't had any problems yet doing it this way. Thanks for your help.

 

[Peggie Hall/Head Mistress]

You should be ok on the thru-hulls, but...

Any plumbing that's above the water line could be vulnerable. You never have to worry about over-night dips into the 20s, as long as the day time highs are in the high 30s or better. It's those occasional 3-5 day really hard freezes with temps that never rise above the 20s and drop down to teens or single digits that can get your plumbing. If your boat has heat, and it's not 4 hours away, you can always scoot for the marina and turn on the heat till it's over...but if that's not practical, you might consider completely winterizing the plumbing...bringing bottled water and portapotty aboard. It's hard to know what to do any more...the winters have been so strange...but I've found that it's hard to go wrong erring on the side of caution.