You might be eager to get back on the water once the clouds start clearing and the temperatures warm up. However, you need to dewinterize your vessel first, undoing all the measures you took in the fall to protect your boat before storing it throughout the winter. Dewinterizing generally involves removing your boat from storage and preparing it for smooth sailing throughout the spring, summer and fall.
Dewinterizing your boat before you relaunch prevents damage to crucial parts like the engine and assures the safety of everyone onboard. This guide provides a detailed explanation of what dewinterizing is and why, when and how to dewinterize your boat.
What Is Dewinterizing?
Boat dewinterization is the process of undoing winterization measures. Winterization prepares your boat for long periods of storage during the winter. It’s especially important if you live in areas where temperatures drop below freezing. The winterization process involves draining water from all the components on your boat, running antifreeze fluid through the entire system, adding a fuel stabilizer, disconnecting the battery and unhooking ballast bags.
Thus, dewinterization prepares your boat for summer by reversing the winterization process. Generally, it involves flushing out the antifreeze, reconnecting the battery, checking all the boat’s systems and verifying the condition of your safety gear and equipment for proper functioning.
Why Dewinterize
Dewinterizing prevents damage from drastic weather changes and ensures it performs optimally in warmer weather. Here are other benefits of dewinterizing your boat in the early spring:
- Flushes out fuel stabilizers and other protective additives to ensure the engine is ready to run.
- It replenishes fluids like coolant, transmission and hydraulic fluids drained during winterization to prevent freezing.
- Checks the charge on batteries to ensure they function properly.
- It helps identify and address any electrical issues the boat may have had while in storage.
- It guarantees safety by verifying all your safety gear and equipment are not damaged or expired.
When to Dewinterize a Boat
Timing determines the effectiveness of your dewinterizing efforts. Doing it before the last freeze leaves your boat susceptible to damage when the temperatures dip again. However, waiting too long means losing out on fun days on the water.
Therefore, the best time to start dewinterizing your boat is when overnight lows are above freezing. You can also determine when to expect the last spring freeze by checking maps or local weather forecasts for previous spring freeze data.
How to Dewinterize a Boat
Dewinterizing your boat depends on its make and model. So, it’s best to consult the manufacturer’s manuals and instructions. However, you can follow several general best practices to dewinterize any boat.
Remove the Cover
The first step of dewinterizing your boat is removing the tarp or canvas cover you used to protect your boat during the winter. Before taking it off, inspect it for tears and other signs of leakage to determine whether you’ll need to replace or repair it before the next winter. Once the cover is off, check your vessel for bugs, snakes, rodents and other pests.
This is also the opportune time to clean the dirt, dust and grime accumulated while the boat was stored. While cleaning, you may also identify and fix any issues on the boat’s exterior, such as scratches or sections with chipped paint.
Check the Engine
Check your engine after your boat’s been in storage for extended periods. Start by inspecting the levels of the engine fluid, steering fluid, coolant, and outdrive fluid. Inspecting and changing these fluids ensures your engine is ready to start when the temperatures get warmer.
Add oil additives when changing the oil to boost performance and keep the engine corrosion-free. You should also replace your oil filters to remove accumulated debris, keep the oil clean and prevent wear and tear.
Check the Cooling System
Winterization requires draining the cooling system to prevent it from freezing and causing problems in the spring. Dewinterizing involves refilling the system with equal parts fresh coolant fluid and distilled water. But before you refill the system, check the hoses, impellers and stainers for cracks, holes and other signs of damage that could result in leaks.
The thermostat is an essential part of the cooling system that helps maintain the pressure. To enable effective and efficient heat transfer, replace the thermostat and the impeller every 200 hours.
Reconnect the Battery
Reinstall or reconnect the battery you removed when winterizing your boat to prevent discharging. Before powering your boat, ensure the battery is functioning properly and fully charged. You should also check the battery using a tester to determine the volts and amps and confirm that it can hold a charge. Additionally, check and clean any corrosion around the terminals before reattaching the cables.
If necessary, top up the battery fluid levels with distilled or deionized water to prevent introducing minerals and chemicals that decrease battery life.
Conduct Safety Gear and Equipment Checks
Gear and equipment safety checks could save a life in an accident or emergency on the water. Some of the safety checks to conduct when dewinterizing include:
- Confirm that you have life jackets and fire extinguishers. Verify that they are not expired or damaged.
- Replace old and damaged life jackets and floatation devices.
- Test the deck lights, cabin lights and navigation lights.
- Check that the signaling equipment works. Signals include horns, flares, visual distress signals and sound signaling devices.
Save Time and Money Dewinterizing Your Boat With a Floating Boat Dock
A floating boat dock can help ease the winterizing and dewinterizing process to examine and clean the boat. It protects your boat’s hull from damage and reduces the risk of corrosion. EZ Docks are made of high-density polyethylene (HDP), a highly durable material that can handle any weather, including harsh snowfall and vicious tropical storm winds.
Our versatile docks rise and fall with the water levels in different seasons without rotting or splintering like wooden docks. You can customize them to meet your unique needs and improve your cruising experience when spring rolls in. You can purchase or rent our floating docks.
Learn more about EZ Docks, and request a quote today.