Winterize Boat

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richie30's picture
richie30
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Joined: 12/12/07
Posts: 159
Winterize Boat

Not sure why it takes so much  plumbing antifreeze, but I used 
Gallons

2 for enjine
​1 for head / toilet and shower pump
1 in bile
8 in water tanks

This was about 2 in each back tank and 4 in the bow tank.
It took this much to see pink flow.

The water heater was bi passed!!

There must be a simpler way, perhaps blow out the lines??
Maybe the boat was too bow high and there as still water in the tanks??

Any suggestions apprecited?
Don't say move south so I don't need to do it!! Would love to!

Thanks

Rich

rich

 

Rich

Richard & Joan Bain
PAZZO Hull#1670
1997 Catalina 36 MK11
Bayfield, Ontario

My Day Job Below
www.richardbain.com
www.bineapress.com

Wally-1840
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Joined: 11/9/09
Posts: 117

Sounds about right to me. I use 3, (-100), for the engine though. I have a wash down that takes about 3/4 gallon by itself. I bypass the heater too. I use -60 for all plumbing. I don't seem to need that much in the forward tank as you use though. I make sure all tanks are empty before starting to winterize. I use the center tank to winterize all the fixtures as it it close to the manifold.

Wally
"Onanne"
2000 MKII, deep keel, tall rig
​Lake Champlain
 

jhenderson
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Joined: 1/9/14
Posts: 81

I usually poor a little down the sink drains and the fridge drain. My boat has AC also, so I pump some through that as well. 

Don't forget to drain the strainer at the engine water intake, and AC intake (again, if you have AC). 

Hummina
1987 Catalina 36 MKI
#741
Bayfield, WI. Usually. 

caprice 1050
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Joined: 7/1/07
Posts: 345

Beautiful photos Rich. I was going to submit a photo of us sailing on Christmas day here in sunny Punta Gorda, Florida, but after seeing your artwork I don't think so. I better get Caprise winterized by taking off the Bimini top then go sailing for the rest of the day.

__/)__/)__/)__Capt Mike__/)__/)__/)__
Punta Gorda Florida
1990 Std WK M35 Hull #1050

gsteeves
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Joined: 11/6/10
Posts: 4

I do not put any antifreeze in my water storage tanks.  I run the fresh water pump with kitchen taps open until each tank is basically empty then bypass the water heater - just let HX drain into bilge then drain.  Remove hose after tank valves and T and run water pump to run pink antifreeze to all taps (one at a time).  Never had an issue in 7 years up here in the Great White North :-) .     M25 engine (raw water filter, pump, heat exchanger & water muffler) takes about 1.5 US gal.  I pump the toilet dry and put in a cup of pink antifreeze.   None in bilge - try to keep it as dry as possible although some water comes in via the mast when up for the winter.  Never been more that 1 or 2" - frozen solid but no problems with bilge pumps (just never turn them on when frozen).
I flush the fresh water tanks (via taps) with tap water three times in the spring.
Gary Steeves  Aluna MK1 Hull #405  
All winterized and tarps on - now waiting for skiing season :-)

Gary Steeves
1985 C36 MK1
Sail #405
Hull # CTYR0405L485

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Pgutierrez
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Posts: 224

1) First drain ALL water tanks by using the water pressure pump. 
2). Duct tape shop vac to the kitchen sink suck out any remaining water.
3)  Dump one liter cheap rum or vodka in each fresh water tank. EASIER in spring commissioning to minimize or avoid "freshening the tanks" routine.  Allows for Bloody Mary or rum & coke for spring commissioning routine.  Helps kill bacteria sitting in lowest points of the tanks. 
4). Critical to blow out AC heat exchanger:  first disconnect raw water intake filter) and run antifreeze through top AC heat exchanger until it comes out of the disconnected AC raw water filter bowl.  
5). Make sure to open ALL Marlon fittings to drain any remaining water in through hull water lines.  
6). Disconnect hot water heater intake & out lines, blow out (or suck out) with shop vac.  
7). Disconnect fresh water pressure pump in & out lines.  Blow out or suck out water pump (or run one cup cheap booze thru intake line of pump until it comes out the out spigot).
This has worked fine on the Upper Mississippi (Lake Pepin, 60 miles south of Minneapolis).  February ice often gets three feet thick.

peter g

2000 C36, MK2, Hull. #1897
wonderful, wonderful, wonderful ! ! !.   5 th Catalina

 

 

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Pgutierrez
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Posts: 224

Yes, Pente is out of the water today. Earliest I can ever recall coming out in the fall.  Weather for the next two weeks forecast to be cold and crappy. Possibility of snow showers in Wisconsin this weekend along with 28-32 degrees F.  

Again winterized my freshwater tanks with cheap vodka, $8.50 per liter!   I prefer to only use my two aft tanks. I buy one bottle of booze for each tank.   I no longer suck out or blow out the water lines.  

- Open one tank at one time under galley sink.
- Turn on galley faucet and run the water until pump starts to spit and stutter.  
- Dump vodka in to the tank.  
- Run faucet in galley sink, and stop when you can taste vodka.   

Repeat procedure with tank #2, but this time turn on the bathroom sink.   After the pump sputters with the fresh water dump in the liter bottle of vodka.  Run the bathroom sink, occasionally tasting until vodka comes out of the tap.   

Did you use all three water tanks?  Repeat the procedure using one of faucets.

Advantages of using cheap booze (vodka, rum or brandy) is less flushing in spring start up and kills off most of the bacteria in fresh water line.  You might see some red coming out of the faucet next spring as the alcohol tends to loosen up any accumulated crud in your fresh water lines.  

If you don't mind the chunkies coming out of the water lines next spring, you can start off with a Bloody Mary, rum and coke or brandy coke.  The chunkies is usually minerals in the water.  (We do bring drinking water from home for drinking and coffee as it tastes better than municipal water from the village where our marina is located   

 

peter g

2000 C36, MK2, Hull. #1897
wonderful, wonderful, wonderful ! ! !.   5 th Catalina

 

 

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KevinLenard
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Posts: 209

Doesn't a lot of the vodka evaporate over 6 months on the hard?

Kevin Lenard
"Firefly"
'91 C-36 Mk. "1.5" Tall Rig, Fin Keel, Hull #1120, Universal M-35 original (not "A" or "B")
CBYC, Scarborough, Lake Ontario, Canada

Pgutierrez's picture
Pgutierrez
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Posts: 224

Kevin, in six months winter better be over with!  I can't tell you how much evaporated but I don't think it is much.  My trusted marina mechanic says not too concern myself with plastic hoses breaking-they would expand.  The alcohol trapped in pump probably stays trapped.  It's worked for me 4-5 years now with out problems.

peter g

2000 C36, MK2, Hull. #1897
wonderful, wonderful, wonderful ! ! !.   5 th Catalina

 

 

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KevinLenard
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Posts: 209

Sadly in Canada our cheapest Vodka is the same price as Cognac!  Any cheap stuff we bring north I use in cocktails and relish the huge discounts over the same stuff sold at 250% markup in our provincially-controlled liquor store...

Note that up here in the Great White North the boats come out of the water the last weekend of October and go back in the last weekend in April.  6 full months of winter as it is pretty cold in November and April.  :-)
 

Kevin Lenard
"Firefly"
'91 C-36 Mk. "1.5" Tall Rig, Fin Keel, Hull #1120, Universal M-35 original (not "A" or "B")
CBYC, Scarborough, Lake Ontario, Canada

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Parsons
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Posts: 95

I follow MaineSail's excellent advice on winterizing - ​https://marinehowto.com/freshwater-system-winterizing/
He makes some good points on why not to use vodka for winterizing, the most important is the additional cost and evaporation. 

I use about seven gallons of pure propylene glycol for the head/holding tank (2 gal) fresh-water system (3 gal) and the AC (2 gal).  I open the connection for each throughhull and put the inlet tube into a gallons of pink stuff, or a bucket of it.  That way, it runs all through the systems, including into the rim of the toilet.  I  pump all fresh water out the rear shower, then open the connection from the water tanks prior to the fresh water manifold and let the remaining water drain into the bilge.  I never put pink stuff into the tank itself as it's dry.  If you have a difficult time removing any hose, heat it for a minute with a hair dryer and it comes right off. 

I leave all through-hulls open on the cradle so that the system continues to drain and can't accumulate in the seacock. I stuff a bit of plastic scrubbing pad up from the outside to prevent any bees from making a home in the tubing.

Don't buy any pink stuff that is not 100% propylene glycol.  The cheaper stuff is flammable, poisonous, and can cause corrosion in non-noble metals in your pump.  It's not worth the $1.50 savings per gallon.  If it says poison or flammable on the bottle, put it back on the shelf.

One good (cheap) tool is the sight refractometer.  For less than $20 you can make sure that the "running pink" at the faucet really is the same concentration as the stuff in the bottle.  I check each faucet with a drop on the refractometer to see it reads the same as the pure stuff from the bottle. Any dilution is a potential freeze and damage to your non-flexible parts (faucets, pumps, fittings - the expensive stuff).  Don't forget to run some through all your bilge pumps and leave some in the head and bilge.  If you have ever replaced a water pump (or worse, a holding tank hose!) you will not think about 'saving money' for a good, thoughrough winterizing.

John Parsons
"Water Music" 1999 Catalina 36 Mk II - Hull 1771
Tall Rig, Fin Keel
Bay City, MI, USA

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KevinLenard
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Posts: 209

Thanks for that, John!  I had not read MaineSail's post and you brought up some points I'd not thought of (bilge hoses above the backflow preventer). 

Kevin Lenard
"Firefly"
'91 C-36 Mk. "1.5" Tall Rig, Fin Keel, Hull #1120, Universal M-35 original (not "A" or "B")
CBYC, Scarborough, Lake Ontario, Canada

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