Why Winterize Your Boat?
Whether you live in Virginia Beach or any other place where the temperatures dip below freezing, winterizing your boat is essential to keep your boat safe. Freezing temperatures affect water. Water does expand when it freezes. This creates a danger for boat systems that use water: head system, water holding tanks, livewells, faucets, showers, flushing systems. If water is any of these systems, you risk expansion and breakage of pipes or worse. Catastrophic events occur with the engine system if the water used for cooling the engine freezes. Draining the water out of the systems and adding antifreeze to prevent any water left in the systems is smart.
Fogging your engine is not temperature related; it is usage related. Corrosion of the engine’s internal parts can happen when the engine is not used or turned over every 6 weeks or more. Inactivity can be due to putting your boat away for the winter or just caused by cold snaps or just life getting in the way of boating. Fogging the engine is an inexpensive way of keeping your engine in good shape.
Stabilizing the fuel does just that – it stabilizes it. This step eliminates the possibility of phase separation in your fuel tank. When you do not use your boat for a few months, the ethanol will settle at the bottom of your fuel tank and mix with the water. And we all know that gas and water do not mix.
Disconnecting the batteries is a good idea if you have pulled your boat out of the water for the winter. This eliminates any accessories such as the automatic bilge from draining the battery. Some choose to put a trickler on their battery. This accessory delivers a consistent low charge to the battery so your engine when you are ready.
100 Hour Engine Service on your boat. Hopefully you were out enjoying your boat for at least 100 hours this year. But most of you are thinking, “I did not put 100 hrs on my boat?” The service is called “100 hr Service,” but it is genuinely an annual service that keeps your engine in top running condition. This service consists of a few things. Oil change. New oil and engine filters. Gear lube. Replacing the water pump. Having the 100hr Service done on your boat ensures it will be in top running condition whether you take it out on the next beautiful day or get back on the water next spring.
Winterization Service at Coastal Marine Sales & Service
Single Engine $330.00 + parts
Twin Engines $420.00 + parts
includes:
· 100 Hr Engine Service (full synthetic oil, lube, filters, engine inspection)
· Drain Fresh Water Systems
· Add Antifreeze to Fresh Water Systems
· Stabilize Fuel
· Fog Engine
· Disconnect Batteries
Additional considerations:
Water Pump Replacement
Bottom Pressure Wash
Boat Systems Inspection
All other repairs: Shop labor rate is $90
For estimates:
Call 757-880-1499