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Boat Winterization Checklist

Hard 26 items · 1 day
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testuser Published 1 week ago
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Water left inside a boat engine can freeze on one cold night and crack the block or a manifold. A cracked block often means a new engine, which is why the engine steps have to be done before the first hard freeze.

This list covers a powerboat with an outboard, inboard or sterndrive going into storage on land or on its trailer somewhere winters freeze. Each engine type drains differently. Follow your engine maker’s winterizing procedure for every engine step, and pay a marine mechanic for any step you have not done before.

Work in the order below. The engine has to run on stabilized fuel before you fog it and drain it, and it can only run while it has cooling water, so the draining comes last.

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  1. Read the winterizing section of your engine manual
  2. Check what your insurance policy requires for winter storage
  3. Fill the fuel tank to about seven-eighths and add fuel stabilizer — Less air in the tank means less condensation, and the gap leaves room for the fuel to expand. Follow your engine maker if they say otherwise.
  4. Run the engine on fresh water for 10 to 15 minutes — Use a flush attachment or the flush port. This clears salt and silt from the cooling passages and moves treated fuel through the lines.
  5. Change the engine oil and filter on a four-stroke engine — Used oil holds acids and moisture that can corrode the engine over the winter. Warm oil drains more completely.
  6. Replace the fuel-water separator filter, if your boat has one
  7. Fog the engine as your manual describes — Fogging oil coats the cylinders against rust. Some fuel-injected engines need a different method.
  8. Drain the cooling water from an inboard or sterndrive, or replace it with antifreeze — That includes the block, the manifolds and the raw-water pump. Use the antifreeze your engine maker specifies. Anything that drains into the water in spring takes propylene glycol antifreeze sold for marine use, not automotive ethylene glycol.
  9. Store an outboard upright, tilted down — An outboard drains its own cooling water when it stands vertical.
  10. Change the gearcase oil on an outboard or sterndrive — Milky oil means water is getting past a seal, and that water can freeze and crack the case. Get the seal fixed before spring.
  11. Take the propeller off and check the shaft for fishing line — Line wrapped behind the prop can cut into the shaft seal.
  12. Grease the steering, tilt and other fittings your manual lists
  13. Drain the freshwater tank and water heater
  14. Pump non-toxic antifreeze through the water lines until it runs pink at every tap — Bypass the water heater first, or you will fill it with antifreeze.
  15. Pump out the holding tank and put non-toxic antifreeze through the head
  16. Drain the raw-water strainers and any livewell or washdown pump
  17. Clean and dry the bilge — Look at what you clean out first. Oil or fuel in the bilge can point to a leak.
  18. Charge the batteries fully, then disconnect them — A fully charged battery is much less likely to freeze. Keep it on a maintainer or recharge it once a month.
  19. Take off electronics, cushions, life jackets and anything that holds damp
  20. Check the expiry dates on the flares and the fire extinguisher while they are out
  21. Prop open lockers and hatches and set out moisture absorbers
  22. Wash the hull as soon as the boat comes out of the water — Growth and scum come off easily while wet and are much harder to shift once dried on.
  23. Cover the boat with a frame or supports and vents — A sagging cover collects water and snow until it tears, and vents stop mildew underneath.
  24. Grease the trailer wheel bearings and check the tire pressure
  25. Write down every repair the boat needs and book it with the yard now — Spring is the busiest time for marine repair shops.
  26. Check the boat and its cover after the first heavy snow
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