Winter Storage

[Mikes342]

Does anyone store their boats inside for the winter?  I am planing to this next winter.  A friend of mine takes his boat to a different marina closes it up and gives the keys to the owners of the marinal.  They take it out clean the bottom and put it inside storage at a cool 55 degrees.  The building as generator back up in case their is a power problem.  All for a about 3K.

My other alternative is to have My Marina take the boat out and have Mikes Dockside service come in and winterize the engines and leave it on jackstands all winter, outside.  A few bucks cheaper but not worth the risk of snow and wind.

Since they have access to the building year round I will probably go up after it is in storage and still put some antifreeze in the fresh water system and the A/C system.  As well as puting some down the sump pump for the shower drainage.  Since I have I/O's I wll run the engine with ear muffs and change the oil Genny.  I have done this before and other than time it should be pretty easy.  

Sorry guys I like to have all the bases covered before the seaon starts.

Mikes 342

[nwaring]

Hey Mike

Our boat is in a heated inside storage down in Warren.  The cost was $55 a month.  I did go ahead and winterize both the fresh water system and the engine myself.  For me it was an easy decision because I have trailer and the price wasn’t much more than shrink-wrapping would of cost.  In your case you have a lot more involved and 3k is a lot.  What is the difference?  I would think the 3k got to be almost double over pulling, cleaning, winterizing and shrink-wrap.

Niles


Separate subject…what kind of bottom paint are you going to do on the new boat.  I was really impressed with the Interlux  VC 17m Extra with Biolux that I used.  Nothing stuck to it, it didn’t get slimy and it cleaned up real easy.   I also will be able to get a second year out of it.

[pedromerk]

It all comes down to money.Personally i prefer to do the winterization myself. I have it stored outside with a good quality cover.I figure i save about two grand, but it is a little bit of work. I live in the "Great White North" were we do get alot of snow in our winters.Most of us just go down to the boat and clean off the snow if it gets to heavy. All depending on the winter. i have only been down twice so far this year.

[merwin10]

Like you I opt to store inside a heated building. I do all the winterization myself only because once I did let the marina do it and it cost me a small fortune to repair the damage after the Northeaster put the power out for a week. They short cut the winterization due to the heated building, No generator back up! Besides the inside storage includes pull out, power washing, then a hull wax and splash down in the spring. It cost $30 a foot per month. November thru March 30. I do pay to have the bottom painted every year due to the marine growth we have in this area. Besides I dislike the toxic nature of the bottom paint. I do all the commisioning in the spring! It is just that I am a little nuts about certain things and I like it my way! The marina tends to do what is needed and I do things based on what has worked in the past on a plan mantenance program. They laugh at me because I replace things that are not broken but then again I don't break down during our boating season, it is to dam short!

Mike -  

[Mikes342]

Niles,

I will find out  what kind of bottom paint they will be using.  are going to put several barrier coats and the bottom paint they will be using looks like copper at first until it is in the water for about a month then it will turn black as I wanted it to.  However, I will liet you know.

I have to call my dealer anyway.  I decided to have them put a color depthfinder/ fishfinder(not that I'll do any fishing) GPS.  I want it flush mounted in the area above the C70 Radar/Gps.  It will probably be a lorwance.

The price includes removing the boat, Cleaning the bottom and launching the boat in the spring.

I guess I will check with my dealer for their prices for outdoor storage.  I will keep everyopn advised as I research this issue.

[Talon]

Mike - you may want to check out Raymarine's site - you can add that to the existing C70. It's a multifunction display. Just a matter of adding the DSC300 digital sounds module. And the best time to do that is before they drop it in the water. If you want more info, we can talk in the electronics forum, but it saves helm clutter and integrates with your system much better. Raymarine will let you then view waypoints on the chart, radar, AND sounder.

Merwin can probably chime in, but I ALWAYS recommend integrating where you can.