My summer is done...

[Woody_tobius_jr]

We had to end our boating season a little early, for the simple fact that our Nautique dealer doesn't take appointments for winterizing/service, it's on a first come first serve basis. They told me that on the Tuesday after the long weekend, that we just had, they get about 75 boats a day for the first week or so then it slowly tapers off. Our mornings are going o start cooling off in another couple of weeks, to the point of frost. I'm not 100% confident on winterizing myself this year, maybe next year.
How long do you usually boat until?

[crobi2]

You really don't want to know

[Yiger]

You mean the boating season isn't year-round everywhere? I knew I loved Florida!

[HS]

You guys are harsh. It's decent enough for October here, but when the rain comes it complicates things, like the timing for getting out and keeping the interior clean and dry, plus there is the kids' sports, so this year I am targeting oct. 1 to get it done. For me, in autumn the focus shifts to mountain biking and training for snowboarding. Frost can come by the end of October. Deep cold snap usually not until December.

[SkiTower]

can year round it if I'm young enough, crazy enough, and can find someone else just like me. Reasonable is through Oct, but like it was mentioned Sept/Oct tends to get real busy doing other things. Hoping to get out a few times in Sept and winterize sometime in Oct.


2007 SV211 SE
2005 F150 SuperCrew
Dealer: www.Whitelake.com

[toddrswenson]

We are going to have a feels like temperature of 104 today. We still have a while.

[GCSuper]

You really need to learn to winterize the boat yourself so you can control your last outing. Pretty sure there is a sticky about it here. Your owners manual covers this also. I feel you pain though but for a different reason. I put my boat in the barn early this year. Not for cold, but low water levels. We need rain bad here in Texas, lot's of rain.

[Double D]

You really need to learn to winterize the boat yourself so you can control your last outing.

Agreed! Or heat your garage, build a garage you can heat, or rent a spot that is heated. Just sayin some options...

[scottb7]

Usually mid October for me.

[DanielC]

What is the year, and model of your boat?

If it has a GT-40, or an Excalibur GM 5.7 engine, reality is you only need to drain the water for an unexpected cold snap.

[biggator]

http://www.xtremeheaters.com/

[ES]

http://www.xtremeheaters.com/

That is VERY interesting and it makes sense.

Has any of you used these? Do they actually replace the winterization process?
I would be just concerned about losing power at the dock and not being there to realize everything is freezing up...

[vision]

I second learning to drain the water from your system. There are many important yearly maintenance items that folks often do at the time of winterization. But, simple freeze protection is fast and easy and takes less than 10 minutes for most engines/cooling systems.

[crobi2]

Extremeheaters are great (I have one), but if it's 8 deg outside and the power goes out, you better be able to drain it all out pretty fast!

[Nauti-by-Nature]

+1 for learning to do it yourself. There are a lot of great resources on here and also in your manuals about winterizing and maintenance in general. The more you learn about how your boat works the better off you'll be IMO.