Winterizing

Dec 11, 2015
291
Hunter 25 Plymouth
I'm thinking of pouring automobile anti-freeze in my bilge. Does anyone know if this causes issues with fiberglass?
 
Jan 11, 2014
11,323
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
I'm thinking of pouring automobile anti-freeze in my bilge. Does anyone know if this causes issues with fiberglass?
The ethylene glycol (Auto Antifreeze) should not hurt fiberglass. It is more toxic than propylene glycol (the pink stuff). The danger with EG is getting it on the ground where animals can drink it before it decomposes. Both are sweet and an attractive danger to mammals.

It would be better to use PG than EG because it is less toxic.

Another technique to dealing with water in the bilge over winter is to install a garboard drain plug. This will allow any accumulated water to drain out of the bilge. Just remember to put the plug back in come spring.

If the boat is mostly dry, I used sponges and rags to soak up any accumulating water in the bilge. Any water that finds its way to the bilge will be soaked up by the sponge and rags and then freeze. This allows you to control where the freezing water goes.
 
May 17, 2004
5,032
Beneteau Oceanis 37 Havre de Grace
If there's any chance of it getting pumped or drained onto the ground then I would not use it either, for fear of toxicity to passing animals. If it would only ever get pumped into the water then everything that I've read says marine toxicity is low with both PG and EG. Only other concern would be whether any rubber components in the pumps are more or less vulnerable to EG than PG.
 
Aug 1, 2011
3,972
Catalina 270 255 Wabamun. Welcome to the marina
If there's water in the bilge, then what's the chance there's water in the hose and pump. The pump would be less likely to survive freezing.
 
Jan 11, 2014
11,323
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
What about vodka! :cowbell:
We've been there. I think the consensus was that vodka is better processed first through the kidneys and then deposited in an appropriate receptacle. However, direct overboard discharge is allowed, but not if it has been in a bucket first. :stir:
 
Mar 26, 2011
3,401
Corsair F-24 MK I Deale, MD
...Only other concern would be whether any rubber components in the pumps are more or less vulnerable to EG than PG.
EG is more compatible with the rubber parts. That is one of the main reasons it is generally preferred in vehicle applications.
 
Feb 10, 2004
3,919
Hunter 40.5 Warwick, RI
Forget adding anything to the bilge. Besides the disposal issues, the amount needed will be huge. Instead use a shop vac and suck it out dry. BTW, an inch of water in the bilge won't harm anything when it freezes. The damage results from water that is trapped in a line or pump and can't expand.
 
Oct 22, 2014
20,995
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
:poke:
Another technique to dealing with water in the bilge over winter is to install a garboard drain plug. This will allow any accumulated water to drain out of the bilge. Just remember to put the plug back in come spring.
Installing opening a Garboard drain plug while the boat is in the water during the winter was a bad thing... but ok in the spring if I put in a plug...
Boy this so confusing...
 
Jan 11, 2014
11,323
Sabre 362 113 Fair Haven, NY
:poke:
Installing opening a Garboard drain plug while the boat is in the water during the winter was a bad thing... but ok in the spring if I put in a plug...
Boy this so confusing...
Over here on the right coast at your latitude we have to take our boats out of the water......
 
Nov 8, 2007
1,523
Hunter 27_75-84 Sandusky Harbor Marina, Ohio
What Rich said! Water in the bilge can expand upwards if it freezes - very unlikely to be an issue.
 

RoyS

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Jun 3, 2012
1,739
Hunter 33 Steamboat Wharf, Hull, MA
You can install a stiff vinyl plastic hose from your bilge up and over the side of your boat and then down to below the bottom of the boat outside. Every mild day during the winter attach a squeeze bulb type pump to the hose and pump and syphon until your bilge is dry.
 
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May 17, 2004
5,032
Beneteau Oceanis 37 Havre de Grace
Would have to be a lot of water to fill that length of hose enough to get a siphon going. I usually just just dry the bilge in the fall and it stays dry until spring, except for a little antifreeze that comes out of the grid from winterizing. Our old boat with a keel stepped mast got more water in, but a couple trips there over the winter with a sponge took care of that. If more water is coming in from elsewhere the root cause should be fixed.
 
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Nov 13, 2013
723
Catalina 34 Tacoma
Would have to be a lot of water to fill that length of hose enough to get a siphon going.
Not necessarily. That would depend on the diameter of the hose. A shop vac is much quicker than a siphon though.
 
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