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Camping with cold Idaho temps?


Rambino21

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     Hey guys so I'm headed up to Alturas lake in Idaho this evening for the weekend and it's supposed to drop to like 22 degrees. Normally I don't worry about the boat being on trailer for the night if it gets back into warmer temps during the day but that's pretty cold. I might try to get the boat in the water overnight but might get there past dark. What would you do for preventative measure, anything?

     I was thinking it probably will be fine on the trailer but I might worry about it. Otherwise put in the water or pulling out the plugs on the engine would be good safe bets, correct? Anything else I would have to do if pulling the engine plugs for just the night?

 

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Hey, I was thinking of doing the same.  Was looking at the weather, and Saturday looks like less wind, though I don't think I can get up there til saturday later.  Based on what others have done late season, I wasn't going to worry about it for overnight.  I may leave the boat at anchor.  But I am a new owner, so wondering what folks say.  Another local buddy who may be going up never seems to worry about it.  Folks at Redfish leave theirs on their moorage anchors into October, and we know it gets below 30 up there over night a few times in September/October.  

 

But again, I am a new owner and just going off the local Blaine County hearsay, so I may be wrong.  Maybe I'll see you up there.  I will be in the white with blue '98 Response LX.  

Edited by sunvalleylaw
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22 degrees??....why are you even taking the boat?  Why are you even going camping?  j/k

Can you get to the ramp and run the boat this evening even if it's just on the trailer to get the engine up to temperature?  That would provide a lot of residual heat that should get you through the night if you covered the boat after that.  

But yes, if you put the boat in the water, that should keep everything fine for an overnight temp drop to 22. Especially if, once again, you could drive around and let the engine get warmed up.  But then again, who wants to drive around in a boat when it's 22 degrees out? :)

 

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I don't think a few hours of that temp is going to hurt but I don't understand what pulling the plugs is going to do to help, if the cold is your concern. Lots of great people here can tell you about light bulbs and other gadgets to keep engine compartment warm

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It's what you do in Idaho!  It will get down to below freezing somewhere after midnight, dip to its lowest temp just before sunrise, and will warm up pretty quickly after the sun is up.  S'posed to crack into the 70's both days during the day, based on the Stanley, Idaho ranger station based predictions.  

1 minute ago, RTS said:

22 degrees??....why are you even taking the boat?  Why are you even going camping?  j/kCan you get to the ramp and run the boat this evening even if it's just on the trailer to get the engine up to temperature?  That would provide a lot of residual heat that should get you through the night if you covered the boat after that.  

But yes, if you put the boat in the water, that should keep everything fine for an overnight temp drop to 22. Especially if, once again, you could drive around and let the engine get warmed up.  But then again, who wants to drive around in a boat when it's 22 degrees out? :)

 

PS, see Alturas Lake boat ramp avatar pic! ;)

Edited by sunvalleylaw
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1 minute ago, sunvalleylaw said:

 

 

Just now, itznowonder said:

I don't think a few hours of that temp is going to hurt but I don't understand what pulling the plugs is going to do to help, if the cold is your concern. Lots of great people here can tell you about light bulbs and other gadgets to keep engine compartment warm

Couldn't you take out the ENGINE plugs for super safe measure. Then you wouldn't have any water in the engine that could expand. It's an extra step but would really give you piece of mind, right?

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Gotcha...that being said, the ambient temperature dropping from 32 to 22 from midnight to dawn is probably not going to even get the engine compartment to 32 degrees or below at all, especially fi boat is covered and all plugs are left in.  Even if it did, 4-5 hours of engine compartment temps just below freezing is probably not enough time for bad things to happen.

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6 minutes ago, sunvalleylaw said:

Hey, I was thinking of doing the same.  Was looking at the weather, and Saturday looks like less wind, though I don't think I can get up there til saturday later.  Based on what others have done late season, I wasn't going to worry about it for overnight.  I may leave the boat at anchor.  But I am a new owner, so wondering what folks say.  Another local buddy who may be going up never seems to worry about it.  Folks at Redfish leave theirs on their moorage anchors into October, and we know it gets below 30 up there over night a few times in September/October.  

 

But again, I am a new owner and just going off the local Blaine County hearsay, so I may be wrong.  Maybe I'll see you up there.  I will be in the white with blue '98 Response LX.  

I normally never really worry about it but that low is getting close for me. Getting it in the water would be ideal for me because I'd like to just keep it in while I'm there and get the heat from the water.  But since it might be like 8pm when I get there I don't know if I will have much light. I'm sure it fine. See you up there. A friend of mine is having a bday up there so should be a good time. 

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I may think about Redfish too, just because it is supposed to be a little windier on Sunday, and I like the protection at the far end of the lake better for wind.  But, a ski buddy of mine with his Mastercraft I think is thinking alturas. 

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If you have heaters I would be more concerned with them. Small area that will be more able to freeze quickly.  Its not likely your engine will see a hard freeze. The boat in the water will keep it from freezing.  

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51 minutes ago, RTS said:

Gotcha...that being said, the ambient temperature dropping from 32 to 22 from midnight to dawn is probably not going to even get the engine compartment to 32 degrees or below at all, especially fi boat is covered and all plugs are left in.  Even if it did, 4-5 hours of engine compartment temps just below freezing is probably not enough time for bad things to happen.

I did a bit of data collection last Fall using temp monitors that we use for temp critical freight.  Some highlights:

With uncovered boat on the lift, the temperature in the engine compartment (not the block temp) lags the outside temp by 2 hours.

A 75 watt bulb provides a 7 degree differential over outside temp.

If you start with a warm engine the block should be no problem but things like raw water lines, showers, and maybe V drive might be vulnerable on a 22 degree night.  If you have 110 power available I would throw a work light under the engine and cover the boat.  If not I would definitely get the boat in the water.

I'm planning on leaving the Bu in late into the Fall this year because were tired of cleaning leaves out of the uncovered pontoon so I go one of these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MEMRGZE/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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