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So we have all asked outselves this question probably every winter.
In California in the San Francisco east bay I have never winterized my boat in 30 years and have never had any troubles so I just don't worry about it. I also dole out this recommendation to my friends living locally. From time to time the question gets posted here and we get several differing posts.
I just read Flipsides post about his freeze damaged GT40 for sale... He said the temperature got down to 19F. He also had the light bulb in the motor compartment which usually prevents damage. So I have a new datapoint for this discussion.
Around my house we rarely get ice on the puddles. In the past 5 years I can only recall one time when the surface of my pool started icing. I also rarely experience any ice on the roads. These are key indicators we need to watch if we don't have a winterized boat.
If you live somewhere where puddles, pools, and other standing water frequently ices over and don't keep your boat in a conditioned storage location you should probably be winterizing your boat.
If you are somewhere between these descriptions then the decision gets a little tougher.
Assuming Flipside's light bulb was actually working, we now know that a lightbulb is not enough heat when the temperatures get down in the teens. I am thinking the lightbulb trick is good for about 10F of heat increase? If the average ambient temperature gets below 22F I would be watching things very closely.
In California in the San Francisco east bay I have never winterized my boat in 30 years and have never had any troubles so I just don't worry about it. I also dole out this recommendation to my friends living locally. From time to time the question gets posted here and we get several differing posts.
I just read Flipsides post about his freeze damaged GT40 for sale... He said the temperature got down to 19F. He also had the light bulb in the motor compartment which usually prevents damage. So I have a new datapoint for this discussion.
Around my house we rarely get ice on the puddles. In the past 5 years I can only recall one time when the surface of my pool started icing. I also rarely experience any ice on the roads. These are key indicators we need to watch if we don't have a winterized boat.
If you live somewhere where puddles, pools, and other standing water frequently ices over and don't keep your boat in a conditioned storage location you should probably be winterizing your boat.
If you are somewhere between these descriptions then the decision gets a little tougher.
Assuming Flipside's light bulb was actually working, we now know that a lightbulb is not enough heat when the temperatures get down in the teens. I am thinking the lightbulb trick is good for about 10F of heat increase? If the average ambient temperature gets below 22F I would be watching things very closely.
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