Unwinterized yacht in arctic Texas-Questions for my Yankee Hatteras friends & experts

[mgernes]

Early Winter.jpg
Up north we are used to early snow-falls...this was the weekend we needed to get the boat ready to come out of the water. What a PITA moving around the slippery docks

[52CMY]

One of the advantages of walk-in engine rooms.

Exactly. I am disappointed on my 52 how tricky the engine through hulls are to get to--on my belly with a lever extender tool, thru hull valves buried in the narrow valley between the keel longitudinal beams and the holding tank platform--When I exercise them, I occasionally imagine an actual catastrophic flooding situation of those large hoses or strainers and cringe, wishing they were much quicker and easier to access. Maybe I need to consider a bigger boat??

[Captain Ralph]

Maybe I need to consider a bigger boat??

Maybe you need to consider a bigger boat?

[oscarvan]

All of them? There are like 7 or 8 of them. Engines, Generator, HVAC, Toilets, maybe a wash down pump.

All of them.... and yes, walk in engine rooms are good.

1 Master head is in a cabinet in the stateroom. 5 seconds.
2 SB engine and mid lav head in SB engine room. 10 seconds, no tools. Have to check the space anyways before I leave.
3 Port engine and AC pump in port engine room..... 10 seconds, no tools.
4 Forward head and generator are in the space under galley floor. I have to lift the hatch, but here too it's not a bad idea to take a look around before leaving the boat. 30 seconds.....

So total less than a minute. I should have my wife time me...... OK maybe it's two minutes..... still the peace of mind is priceless.

[yachtsmanbill]

It never ceases to amaze me at the way people over think this stuff, yet "if the factory did it it HAS to be correct" Remember this, the average school grade completed in New Bern is probably 11th. On mine I kept the seacocks in situ and moved the strainers to where they can be accessed. The OEM location for the seacocks, strainers and packing access was plain 'ol stoopid.DSCN2471.jpgDSCN0040.JPGDSCN1105.jpg

[52CMY]

UPDATE on what I found when I got back to boat (for historical "data"):
bottomline is zero damage (except the transom hand shower sprayer died from neglect--I should have left it drained last time I used it in nov 2019!
Even 12 pack cans of coke and fizzy water stacked in the open on the Aft deck inside strataglass enclosure were fine.
After a long week of history Houston Texas lows (14degF), ice/snow storm and howling winter winds (25knots) and no power or heat for most of 3 days, no boat issues, belongings or food damage. Key was harbor water temp (SST in the harbor started the week at 56deg and ended at 45deg). would have been bad if on the hard or floating in near freezing water.
Lessoned (re)learned:
1) writing now and plan to use a winterization checklist for my specific boat
2) writing now and plan to share winterization checklist for marina (marina under dock PVC waterlines were inadequately drained and have shredded. Also sewer line damage. Water still down for a few more days (but OBE as local water supply is still nonpottable and unavailable) .
3) add to my list of boat tasks to improve location and access to seacocks/strainers (but doubt I'll get to that anytime soon).

Thanks everyone!

[Captain Ralph]

UPDATE on what I found when I got back to boat (for historical "data"):
bottomline is zero damage
Even 12 pack cans of coke and fizzy water stacked in the open on the Aft deck inside strataglass enclosure were fine.

Glad to read all is good.
I don't put ice in my drinks, May have to let the cola warm up a bit before you mix one fer me.

[52CMY]

Glad to read all is good.
I don't put ice in my drinks, May have to let the cola warm up a bit before you mix one fer me.

TX is back to normal---it's 70degsF today here again this afternoon! Come on by for a cola!

[Bob Bradley]

TX is back to normal---it's 70degsF today here again this afternoon! Come on by for a cola!

Oh thank God. Those of us who spend our winters up north are tired of hearing all the whining.