# Do you winterize your boat?



## gabrielh (Jun 3, 2009)

I was wondering how many of you winterize your boat every years.I'm new to the area and new to boating and some ppl told me it's important to winterize every years and others told me they don't do it at all (even with boat outside).


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## fisheye48 (Sep 28, 2007)

i never have...ill just put the boat in the water and run it or put the ears on it and run it for a little bit


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## ammo angler (Oct 21, 2007)

I am pretty suremost anglers around here do not "winterize" their boat like folk do up north. Ourwinter's (on the coast!) are very mild in comparison. I love to fish (use my boat) during the wintermonths, but this is not always possible as theGulfcan be rough for weeks on end. When I say rough; anything above 4 feet isnot for me these days. Bigger boats and youngeranglers might think different. The only precaution I take is to put STABLE in my fuel. It gives me a piece of mind and helps fight the ethanol problem. I also start the boat on a regular basis. If in doubt: contact your favorite marine mechanic.

Welcome

Rich, 23 Hydra Sport

26 year vet :usaflag


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## Telum Pisces (Sep 27, 2007)

I never stop using mine long enough during any part of the year to worry about anything related to a boat sitting up. The cold water just means a thicker wetsuit for me. I like diving in the winter around here better actually.


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## Kevdog540 (Aug 7, 2008)

I never have. I pretty much use mine through the winter. The only thing i do is empty the fresh water tank when we're expecting below freezing temp.


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## polar21 (Nov 5, 2007)

Like others have said, it does not normally get cold enough here to have to winterize your boat. The more important thing to do is run your boat every couple of weeks just to keep things moving freely and also use a fuel additive like Sta-bil. We never had a single problem with our motor until it sat for 4 months without use. Cranked it up, headed out of navy point, and fouled an injector. This was probably related to water in the gas but that is just an assumption.


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## gabrielh (Jun 3, 2009)

Cool thanks for your input guys. Guess I won't have to worry about that then. 

Going to make sure I make it run averey few weeks like you suggested.


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## DavidT (Apr 25, 2008)

first year i had my boat but i probably will be fishing through the winter


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## flappininthebreeze (Jul 13, 2009)

Just don't stop, and there is no problem with lay up or winterizing. Fish on, dude !!!


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## sosmarine (Sep 28, 2007)

I recommend to my customers to winterize if you know you are not going to use it for 3-4 months. Better to be safe than sorry if the temps do drop and you happen to be out of town. Filling the tank and fuel treatment is a must regardless.


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## X-Shark (Oct 3, 2007)

> Guess I won't have to worry about that then.




Do NOT leave the outboard tilted up in the winter.



Trim it down. [I always trim mine done] Water can get collected in places and if it freezes it can expand and crack parts.



By tilting it down the water runs out.


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## Curtisimo81 (Nov 10, 2007)

I never have winterized any boat I've owned, but like most of us I use my boat a good bit in the winter also. So I never seen a reason too.


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## oceansbreeze (May 1, 2009)

<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f5080; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">When I owned a 2 cycle outboard, I normally fogged it whenever it was not going to be used few weeks. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o><P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f5080; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Wasn?t that hard, just remove the cowl before you run it to flush, then fogged after you flush and it still running thru air intake. Since I had a 6 cylinder I used one can in each hand when I fogged it.<o></o><P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f5080; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><o></o><P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f5080; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">I feel by fogging it helps protect the crank and rod bearing from rusting due to condensation from our humidity with the varying temperatures. <o></o><P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f5080; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><o></o><P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f5080; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">In the winter I always removed the drain plug and used a large jack stand to keep the front of the boat higher than the rear by at least 6? on a 27?; I couldn?t go much more without the motor hitting the payment when it was all the way down.<o></o>


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## recess (Oct 8, 2007)

we never put the boat up cause the winters fishing is incredable around here just got to grin and bear it, we try to never let the engines cool down.Plus work slows for me in the winter so that means more fishing time.FISH ON!!!

TIM


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## Fiver (Nov 6, 2008)

> *recess (9/15/2009)*we never put the boat up cause the winters fishing is incredable around here just got to grin and bear it, we try to never let the engines cool down.Plus work slows for me in the winter so that means more fishing time.FISH ON!!!
> 
> TIM


nothing quite like knocking ice off the boat and then shoving off to catch some grouper with 6 layers of clothes on...lol...


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## Jighead (Feb 11, 2009)

> *sosmarine (8/7/2009)*I recommend to my customers to winterize if you know you are not going to use it for 3-4 months. Better to be safe than sorry if the temps do drop and you happen to be out of town. Filling the tank and fuel treatment is a must regardless.


What kind of fuel treatment do you recommend for a Optimax 150?


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## Hook (Oct 2, 2007)

Just run it


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## Juan (Aug 21, 2009)

I probably should do more, but all I do is "usually" keep thefuel tank full, and put a water pipe heating wrap around the lower unit if the temperature is predicted to be in the teens, (which seldom happens)...


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## sosmarine (Sep 28, 2007)

If you have ethanol in your tank, I would strongly advise draining as much out as possible if you are not going to use the boat for 3-4 months. I would also advise adding Marine Sta Bil to a small amount of gas, running it thru the motor and let the motor run out of gas prior to storing.


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