Hey guys, I live in Dallas, TX and our season still has some time left in it. I usually close out the season in late October, but starting to wonder what I'll do this winter. I store my boat in an indoor warehouse, always indoors and always covered. Given the storage unit, I'm wondering if winterizing is required. I've always winterized in the past, but wondering if it is 100% necessary. We have mild winters to most standards, but we get some really cold stuff from time to time. The boat stays protected, but the warehouse isn't heated, so that's my only concern. It can get pretty cold in there. I'll probably winterize, as usual, but wondering what the rest of you southern boys do with your boats?

Here in UT we usually wait to mid Dec when the lake freeze to put the boat away! <BR> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/734649.jpg" alt="Upload">

CMurda - I'm in Dallas, keep mine in a non-heated indoor storage like you, do NOT winterize, and have never had a problem. It isn't going to hurt to do it, but with you keeping it indoors (even though not heated) you won't have any problems. You could always drop a bulb in the engine compartment for peace of mind. <BR> <BR>I've been doing this for 10 years without any problems. I have even left a temperature guage in the engine compartment and when it is 25 degrees outside it never gets below 38-40 in the engine compartment. <BR> <BR>I think President Dave even has a chart demonstrating this. Right Dave?

Looks like Dec-Feb you consistently hit get down to freezing or just below at night about 1/4-1/2 the days of the month. Is that long enough to freeze and crack a block in a covered boat inside sheltered from the elements? Probably not. <BR> <BR>If you're not going to be using the boat in those months I'd make sure your engine is full of antifreeze just to be safe. A couple gallons of RV antifreeze is a lot cheaper than an engine. I've never been in Texas over the winter, but if in doubt I wouldn't chance getting a cold snap and being in a rush to go winterize the boat.

I'm down here in College Station and have only winterized my boat once. And I only did that just to do it to see what it all entails. Granted we are farther south than you, I think that if it is kept indoors you will be fine. <BR> <BR>The only thing that I would recommend doing is to empty out the water strainer bowl for the fresh water intake. Not sure if you BU has one, but my '03 SANTE does and I neglected to do that one year and was greeted with cooling issues the next year due to air leakage from cracks it the plastic bowl.

Whether stored inside or not, you should still do some of the 'winterization' steps, like add fuel stabilizer, fog engine, change oil (debatable), and get all the detrious out of boat. Personally, I would still drain block, hoses and balast lines / pumps unless you are going to use it over winter since it does not take much time and the cost of freeze damage is so great, though you are probably OK like others have posted from your area.

Takes a lot longer to freeze the engine block than any plastic check valves, pumps and hoses for ballast system. Here in the Richmond area, I keep the boat in the garage with a drop light, was warned however that most heater cores are far enough away that it is best to add 2nd light in that area or at least drain the heater.

Obviously no point in doing a full scale winterization with fogging the cylinders &amp; filling with RV antifreeze. But even a mild freeze will pop a heater core. So it's worth it to drain it. It's pretty easy to set your boat up so you can drain everything in a minute or two so there is less chance of any freezing problems. Then it just takes a minute to close the exhaust, replace a couple of caps &amp; plugs so you can ride again. <BR> <BR>Or put a bilge heater in the boat. Boatsafe or Xtreme make them for about $300.

I am in North East Texas and do at a minimum drain the block, add fuel stabilizer, and change my oil. Usually I will add some RV antifreeze to help cut back on rust build up from sitting all winter. <BR> <BR>What most people dont realize is fresh oil is actually pretty important. Sulfur from gas makes its way into the oil and can cause some pretty serious corrosion from the fumes. Its pretty cheap to change at the end of the season and you will know you are ready to go when the season kicks back off.