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Cold Weather Worries


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I recently purchased a '99 Wakesetter with a new engine installed. I picked it up from the shop last Saturday and took it on its maiden voyage (with me anyways) for a couple of hours on both Saturday and Sunday. I was storing it outside all day Monday and part of the day Tuesday. I found a boat storage place Tuesday, and now have the boat in what I will call a tin garage (just your typical boat/car/RV storage facility).

The following numbers are the official temps on Tuesday (3/5) night from the airport that is 2 miles from where I store the boat, which was in the garage at this point:

2:35 am - 32 degrees

2:55 - 34

3:15 - 34

3:35 - 34

3:55 - 34

4:15 - 30

4:35 - 30

4:55 - 32

5:15 - 32

5:35 - 30

5:55 - 30

6:15 - 30

6:35 - 30

6:55 - 28

7:15 - 30

7:35 - 32

7:55 - 37

8:15 - 39

The high during the day on Tuesday was 63 (the boat was outside with a cover at that point....I didn't move it to the storage facility until after work around 6:30). The high on Monday was 84 and on Sunday was 73.

After I pulling it out on Sunday, I used the quick disconnect to drain the manifolds, but did not pull the plugs on the block. I know this has been posted many times, and I apologize for the redundancy, but it looks like I won't be able to take this boat out this weekend due to rain, and I don't a way at the moment to start the boat out of the water.

With that being said, does anyone have any thoughts on if I should be concerned/how concerned I should be? I put 1 inch of water in a cup and put it on my back porch before I went to bed, and when I checked it around 6:45, there were no signs of ice formation.

Thanks for your input!

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You should be fine. In the future, I would drain the block if it's going to be close. It doesn't take that long and it's worth it just for the peace of mind.

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Those temps SHOULD NOT be cold enough to do damage to the engine block. But they ARE cold enough to cause damage to other things, ie; heater core, shower valve, pumps, etc.

If you have power in the storage building, put a shop light in the engine compartment. It won't help accessories installed in the helm or the floor but should be more than warm enough in the engine compartment to keep things toasty.

Lots of threads on here about how to setup your boat so you can quickly & easily drain everything...... and sleep at night.

Good luck.

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This year I was curious. After the weather started to turn and I winterized the bu I put a cup of water in my garage. It is detached and not insulated or heated, so theoretically the same as outside. Turns out it has to be very, very cold to freeze things in there.

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I agree. You're good. I worried like crazy for the first couple seasons with my boat. Did the same as barefootpaul. It will take lots of consistent cold weather to freeze cast iron enough to freeze any water that may remain in the block.

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Yeah what most have said. If your getting up into 60 even 70 in the days your boat will easily survive a few hours below 30. And if it's inside it could survive teens for a few hours till the sun came back up.

It's those longer stretches below 32 for the entire day with no sun you have to worry about.

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I think you're fine.

Is there electricity at your storage? For about 15$ you can get a simple automotive worklight, put a 100w lightbulb on there and lay it right there where the engine connects to the tranny. Gets plenty hot. Replace cushions and your engine bay will def stay warm.

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