How do you leave your boat in the winter?

[stickleback]

I always worry when it gets frosty in the winter - in case of bursts etc. I don't want to drain the boat down and completely "winterise" it as I love to come up for weekends. How do you leave your boats? In the summer I leave a couple of windows slightly open to allow ventilation, but does that allow extra cold in when it freezes?

 

Today, I'll leave all windows closed and an oil filled radiator plugged in and switched to come on just above freezing, placed near the loo/shower room with door open. And I'll worry that if it freezes, the thermostat won't notice and the radiator won't switch on! Not that I really expect bad frosts before I come back. But last winter it froze enough that the few boats that were moving along the GU were making fascinating noises as the ice broke when they moved through it...

 

Stickleback.

[alan_fincher]

We take no great precautions other than.....

 

1) Ensure the engine cooling circuit has right mix of anti-freeze.

2) Drain down the hot water side of the fresh water system, because allegedly Morco's are very vulnerable to frosts. (That said, having had one in pieces, it's hard to see how severe damage would occur unless it got very cold.)

 

We always leave all window toplights open, irrespective of season, as I think good ventilation is the key to avoiding damp problems.

 

Keeping windows shut, or lagging things may slow down the rate at which things get cold, but if there is no heat source, ultimately they will only delay something freezing up, not actually stop it.

 

However, if you are leaving electric heating on, (which we don't have), then shutting windows will help keep the heat in. Personally I wouldn't shut them all though, and would still aim for good ventilation.

 

Getting a solid fuel stove lit up every few weeks does more to keep the boat dry than any other action, in my view.

 

Alan

[Machpoint005]

Water tank half full (or less - below the level of the cut) and all switches and stop-cocks off. You can drain the internal domestic piping to some extent, then leave the taps open and the water pump switch off, but it takes a very long time to drain the system down, and it would be a pain if you went back to the boat in the depths of winter and couldn't get a brew!

 

Apart from that, the antifreeze in the heating and the engine should be able to do its job.

 

I'd leave a window or two open for ventilation, as the ambient temperature in the boat will be exactly the same as outside anyway. Pedantic point maybe, but you don't let the cold in, you just let out what heat there is. Once the temperatures have equalised, that means there is no net flow of heat.

[John Orentas]

I have never been too sure about the ventilation thing, I always took the view that if you have the statutory standard of ventilation that was more than enough, the only positive actions I would take was draining down the Paloma.. Never had any kind of problems and mine was the highest boat in the country for many years.

 

The most important thing, get out there every 2-3 weeks, run the engine up to temp, light the stove get the boat warm and dry for a couple of hours.

 

Better still go for a cruise !

[NB Alnwick]

The most important thing, get out there every 2-3 weeks, run the engine up to temp, light the stove get the boat warm and dry for a couple of hours.

 

Better still go for a cruise !

 

Excellent advice John and, from our limited experience, we would say get out on the boat more frequently if possible.

 

When it gets really cold we usually put the house central heating on 'frost protection only' and de-camp to the boat - cruising during the winter is a very nice and rewarding way to spend the the coldest days - especially when you have a hot meal, a good Squirrel stove and a comfy chair to look forward to at the end of each day - far cosier than sitting in a house . . .

[dor]

If it looks as though it will be freezing for more than a day or so, then I drain the calorifer and the pipes. We do go out most weekends right through the year, and if we have drained down then we take a 25 litre poly jerrycan full of water for washing up and a quick splash in the morning, then have a shower when we get home.

 

Hep20 type is pretty resistant to freezing, but the elbows etc are more prone to splitting.

[jake_crew]

We always go for more, rather than less, ventilation to keep the damp and therefore mould at bay.

 

Cold and draughty is so much better than warm, damp and still.

Edited November 9, 2008 by jake_crew

[OptedOut]

The only precautions we take are to drain the fresh water filter and pump out the calorifier.

 

The boat is never heated unless we visit.

[stickleback]

Thanks for the comments.

 

I can see the point about ventilation - mould etc is not something I'd want. But it seems counterproductive to have a heater on against the frost and at the same time have a window open - even the vents in the front doors, back doors and the roof vents can cause quite a draft. I'll open a couple of window toplights a bit and hope the electric heater still can keep a hard frost at bay - though as I'm able to get there reasonably easily I'll go up if a bad spell is predicted, light the fire for a weekend and close windows until it gets milder again.

 

Draining a calorifier is way beyond my technical skills - where it is, what it looks like and how to drain it would all be on the "to find out" list!

 

John, I take great comfort from your comments - if your boat was high then it must have been exposed to the worst of the weather. I know when we had a flat in Buxton it could be pretty extreme - while down in sunny Bakewell it was above freezing and snow free!

 

Stickleback

[Speedwell]

I got caught by the frost a couple of winters ago. The ceramic drinking water filter and a ceramic inset in the shower mixer valve were both broken, so now I remove the filter and shower valve for the winter. None of the piping (Hep2o type) was damaged.

Arthur

[alan_fincher]

I'm interested in thoughts on calorifiers.

 

We don't currently have one,and part of my reticence to add one, is that I don't want something else to have to worry about over the winter.

 

It would have to go in a fairly restricted location under a bed, so arranging to empty it of water could be "interesting".

 

Do people always drain these, or are people successful in leaving them full in an unheated boat with no problems, please ?

 

If you drain, how do you get that water out and away quickly without spillage ?

 

Also if you do drain them, is it then OK to run the boat, thereby heating the coil, but with no water around it ?

[zenataomm]

I use it

[ditchcrawler]

I'm interested in thoughts on calorifiers.

 

We don't currently have one,and part of my reticence to add one, is that I don't want something else to have to worry about over the winter.

 

It would have to go in a fairly restricted location under a bed, so arranging to empty it of water could be "interesting".

 

Do people always drain these, or are people successful in leaving them full in an unheated boat with no problems, please ?

 

If you drain, how do you get that water out and away quickly without spillage ?

 

Also if you do drain them, is it then OK to run the boat, thereby heating the coil, but with no water around it ?

I drain mine after the Christmas /New year trip when it tends to get colder. I have a pipe tee'ed into the feed to the calorifier with an isolation valve, the other end is tee'ed into the suction side of the bath emptying pump.

I isolate the cold water tank, remove the inlet filter to the pump, turn on hot and cold taps and start the pump, pumping air into the system and water out. Once as much water is out as possible I open the valve between the calorifier and the bath pump, put the plug in the bath and start the pump to draw the water out of the hot water system (leaving taps open so as not to form a vacuum). When the system is empty I remove the water pumps and drain them, I don't fancy splitting the pump bodies open.

[OptedOut]

I'm interested in thoughts on calorifiers.

 

We don't currently have one,and part of my reticence to add one, is that I don't want something else to have to worry about over the winter.

 

It would have to go in a fairly restricted location under a bed, so arranging to empty it of water could be "interesting".

 

Do people always drain these, or are people successful in leaving them full in an unheated boat with no problems, please ?

 

If you drain, how do you get that water out and away quickly without spillage ?

 

Also if you do drain them, is it then OK to run the boat, thereby heating the coil, but with no water around it ?

 

We have a 3 way valve in the suction of the shower/bath pump which is tee'd into a spare bottom outlet on the calorifier.

Swith off fresh water pump, open a few taps and pump out through bath/shower outlet, takes a few minutes for a 11 gallon calorifier.

Taps are only open to prevent vacuum damage to the calorifier.

[LEO]

I'm interested in thoughts on calorifiers.

 

We don't currently have one,and part of my reticence to add one, is that I don't want something else to have to worry about over the winter.

 

It would have to go in a fairly restricted location under a bed, so arranging to empty it of water could be "interesting".

 

Do people always drain these, or are people successful in leaving them full in an unheated boat with no problems, please ?

 

If you drain, how do you get that water out and away quickly without spillage ?

 

Also if you do drain them, is it then OK to run the boat, thereby heating the coil, but with no water around it ?

Hi,

 

I used to have a calorifier on a boat moored in the same marina as you, I never bothered with draining the hot water tank it as I found they are very well made and insulated. It was shorter than normal, but with a greater diameter and was really efficient and sat on the swim in the engine bay, (Trad stern, containing BMC 1.5). I had a self contained draining bucket under the prop shaft seal and drained all my over flows to that, which activated a bilge pump. This facilitated easy draining of the calorifier (if necessary), engine overflow and drips from the Jabsco circulating raw water pump.

 

All pipework was in Hep2o and fully lagged.

 

If it got really cold (usually in late November or Januaury) I hung a small paraffin fired greenhouse heater in the engine bay, this ran happily for a week on one fill.

 

If needed it is OK to run the engine with the calorifier empty.

 

Albi.

[ChrisPy]

I'd leave a window or two open for ventilation, as the ambient temperature in the boat will be exactly the same as outside anyway. Pedantic point maybe, but you don't let the cold in, you just let out what heat there is. Once the temperatures have equalised, that means there is no net flow of heat.

What do you mean by ambient?

 

The temperatures will hardly ever equalise. There will always be a lag as the temperature inside the boat will cool and heat up slower than the outside temperature, unless you have a howling gale through the window openings. And solar gain means on a sunny day the inside of the boat may get quite warm compared with the outside air temperature.

 

I have left half of the top vents open for the past 3 winters and never seen any significant damp except condensation on the inside of the windows.