This year's winterization was pretty easy and painless as I didn't get my boat out this summer. I know it's pretty sad however life got in the way for us the same way life got in the way from the people we purchased the boat from 13 years ago. Next summer will be different as we'll rent the lake house less and use the boat more. Hopefully others were able to use their boat more than we were.

Did ours a couple of weeks ago. Of course this weekend it is going to be in the 80's. Heading down to lake house in the morning to wrap up some exterior painting.

Some years are better than others for boat use. This one was pretty good.

Hopefully next year is better.

Did mine last weekend. Still need to do the outdrive and trailer bearings. Good year for us. In and out about 23 times putting around 600 miles on the boat.

Told the admiral I needed to do ours on the next couple days off block. She wants to take it out again before I do that but today winds are over 50 knots and it turned cold. Must be opening weekend of the rifle deer hunt.
got it out exactly twice as many times this year as the last couple years running...... twice.
sucks we don't use it very often, but our cost of ownership means it doesn't really matter, as those few times out a year are priceless and my happy place.
My youngest texted me last year when Home Depot had RV antifreeze on clearance. Got it at 79 cents a gallon so I picked up much more than I needed, so we're set when the time comes. No hurry as the garage she's stored in stays in the mid 50s all winter.

My boat has been out for a few weeks, winterization done. Sometimes we run a little later into the season (mid October), but this year had lots to do other than boating. I usually try to run a descaling solution through the heat exchangers (full closed cooling systems), but the stuff I ordered (phosphoric acid) arrived a day late. So, that will be a spring commissioning activity.

Overall, a good season with the new-2-me boat. I did spend the early part of it chasing some electrical gremlins. We had a lot of windy days, so we kept the boat in protected waters more than usual, and did not put too many hours on the engines . . . probably about 30 hours.

I off-loaded 55 gallons of fuel, which was more than usual, we didn't need to buy gasoline for the cars for a few weeks.

BTW - I learned that much of the inexpensive anti-freeze is not recommended for engine layup. . . . plumbing only. Since I have new(er) engines, I did not want to take any chances, so $200 later, I got the stuff recommended for engine winterization.

I still need to put the winter cover on the boat and put the truck on a battery minder. Probably next week (maybe). Since I 'semi-retired' over the summer, my schedule has filled up with a whole bunch of work. I have a new job (part time) as an IT Consultant, I'm painting my house and fixing about 20 rotted windows, and I started up a marine upholstery business. It was great having the summer off, but the time sure flew by. Not sure where it went.

I winterized my Tollycraft and a 2003ish Carver 410 yesterday (with the owner of the 410, we always help each other with Winterizing). It was a beautiful day and the ocean was flat, so it was particularly painful (mentally) to have to do it. We used a 55 gallon drum of the pink stuff with a wash down pump strapped to the top and a garden hose to deliver the anti-freeze. Between the two boats we hit: 7 reverse cycle A/Cs, 7 sinks, 6 engines, 5 showers, 4 toilets, 2 water heaters, 2 fresh water systems, 1 raw water wash down and 1 jet thruster. We used all 55 gallons. Took 2:15 to do both boats.

I recently ordered some Y valves to install in between my engine (main and genset) raw water pumps and my sea strainers. These will allow me to Winterize much easier starting next year, but the main reason for them is for fresh water flushing. My engines use up zinc anodes pretty quickly and they cost me 150 bucks twice a season to replace. I'm hopeful that a fresh water flush after using them will at least double the life of the anodes. The Y valves will also let me use the raw water pumps as crash pumps, if things get gnarly. The main engine raw water pumps are rated for 120 gallons a minute so they can easily outpace my Rule 2000 bilge pumps.

Dave - That is winterization on a grand scale

Ted, What did you end up using for engine anti-freeze? I have always used the pink stuff. Interested to learn more. Thanks

It's that old saying . . . "read the fine print" . Not all 'pink stuff' is created equal. After all, it is just coloring. There are alcohol-based AF and Propylene Glycol-based AF. The Alcohol based AF is supposedly not good for the engines (dries out seals, gaskets, etc ). The PG stuff is better. Also, much of the AF says that is is not meant for engine winterization (again the fine print).

I used the West Marine stuff that is meant for engine winterization, since I did not have a lot of time to shop around. I bought a combination of -50 and -100 strength and mixed them to come up with about a -75˚ burst rating, which would still stay liquid at about -15˚ or -20˚.

Last year (and in some prior years), I was . . . shall we say . . . less informed . . . and used the alcohol-based stuff (less expensive) and perhaps not enough of it (only ran 4 gallons into the raw water side). This year, I ran 5 gallons on each engine and then drained what would come out at the single-point drain system.

For the future, I think that I will shop around to get the PG-based stuff (and recommended for engine winterization) at a better price. . . still will be about $150, but overall not terrible considering the price of failure is much higher.

Anyway, I hope that helps.

Ted,
Thanks for the great information. I'll have some research to do before next year's winterizing.

I have used the cheap pink stuff for 17 years in everything and it works just fine with no engine issues. I'm not sure it's worth buying special stuff just for the engines, especially if they are FWC since the pink stuff does not go into the engine, just the HE and oil coolers.

Yes, I don't think I've found an adequate explanation of the dis-advantages of Alcohol-based AF . . . I've been using it off & on for years. Of course with new(er) engines, I was not going to take chances (yet)

Upon further research on the alcohol-based antifreeze, it is the ethanol drying out rubber (hoses, seals), which there is plenty of in a cooling system that is the concern.. Another factor is the flammability.

As a side note, for those who use a Winterizing Jug kit without draining the engine block and manifolds, here is a diagram that shows the flow of water (and Antifreeze) in a typical raw water cooled engine during the winterization process.
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As you can see much of the incoming AF goes straight out to the exhaust risers and the rest of it 'mixes' with the existing water in the engine. So with 4-5 gallons of AF, probably 2 gallons goes straight to the exhaust and 2-3 gallons mixes with the existing water in the engine, in a recycling fashion. The concentration of AF in the engine block and manifolds would be about 50-65% of its rated strength.

Draining - either before the AF or after the AF remedies this issue.

I guess I'll be draining the anti freeze out of the engine and leaving it dry.

Found prop glycol at WM for a reasonable price. I'll drain the ethelyne and swap it over when I am at the storage unit.