Tips to Prepare Your Boat for Winter Storage
With the winter season approaching, it is important to understand what is needed to properly prepare your boat for winter storage. In this article, we will be going over some of the key tips that you will want to implement in order to get your boat ready for the colder climate.
Tips to Prepare Your Boat For Winter Storage:
-
Change Your Oil
As with any sort of vehicle, you want to completely change out the oil prior to the winter season. Any water that might have seeped into the engine could cause corrosion during the colder months. Therefore, you will want to completely flush out the engine prior to the winter months which will help you avoid dealing with this issue entirely.
-
Flush the Coolant
You will want to completely flush the coolant prior to winter storage. The manufacturer of your boat should have specific instructions that you can follow which will allow you to successfully flush the coolant as the process can vary from boat to boat. Once you do that, you are going to want to add an antifreeze which is properly diluted to avoid freezing issues that could occur during the more cold points in the season.
-
Look for Excess Moisture.
You want to be sure to do a thorough inspection of your entire boat when you are looking to prep it for winter storage because any excess water that exists can ultimately freeze and cause a lot of issues. Along with this, the water can result in mold or mildew buildup which can spread quickly. By removing this excess moisture, you should be able to avoid the issues that come along with it.
-
Use Waterproof Grease.
You also want to be certain that you are greasing all of the mechanisms that feature moving parts. This will help to keep everything running as smoothly as possible. During the winter months, your steering mechanism and any other mechanism that requires movement can freeze up and get stiff. By keeping things greased, you should be able to avoid having this issue which can help to make the mechanisms work properly when you need them to.
-
Fill Up Your Gas.
Just like your vehicle, you want to fill up your gas tank prior to the winter season for long-term storage. This is primarily because you don't want your gas lines to freeze and condensation to occur within your gas tank. Condensation can easily build up when your tank is empty which can cause issues with both corrosion and freezing. By using a product like gasoline stabilizer, you should be able to keep your gas tank healthy for when you plan on taking your boat out of storage.
-
Give Your Boat a Thorough Cleaning.
You will want to give your boat a thorough cleaning prior to long-term storage because having dirt and grime sitting on your car's interior for the entire winter can completely damage your boat's interior and cause issues with mold growth. By cleaning your interior prior to storage, you will be able to minimize the chances of this happening and keep your interior looking great.
Overall, there are a lot of different ways to prep your boat for the winter. By following the tips above, you should be able to avoid the issues that can stem from long-term boat storage in the winter season.
Once your boat is well prepared and ready for storage, let us find a boat storage location near you.