Not the Time to Skimp

Not the time to Skimp By Nick Fugate     If you live anywhere in the country where snow falls then you know it is about time to take your boat out of the water. What does that mean? Well it means that it is time to protect your investment and WINTERIZE.     The most important thing to winterize on the boat is the engine. The last thing you want to happen is to have a cracked engine block. Think about it, it is much less expensive and less time consuming to winterize your engine now than to have to rebuild or replace a cracked block in the spring. You will want to use marine grade, -100, blue antifreeze to do the job correctly. Though the temperature may never go below -20 F you still want to use the -100 antifreeze. Over the winter antifreeze may dilute and become less effective. We at Crowley’s only use the -100 when winterizing engines. We take no chances with your engine.   See the link below for information on how to winterize your engine. http://www.boatus.com/boattech/casey/winterizing-your-engine.asp     Next it is time to winterize your water systems. Be sure to use marine grade, -50, pink antifreeze. We recommend purchasing marine grade antifreeze instead of the cheap RV antifreeze for a couple of reasons. For one, the RV antifreeze does not have any rust inhibitors in it. Also, many manufactures or bottlers of the RV antifreeze will add some water to the mixture therefore diluting and making it less effective. At times they may also be bottling reclaimed or used antifreeze which makes the product less effective. See the link below for information on how to winterize your water systems. http://www.cruisingworld.com/how/get-your-water-systems-ready-winter          One more tidbit of information; the -50, pink antifreeze is usually made with Propelyene Glycol which is non-toxic and has a higher freezing point. The -100 Blue is usually made with Ethylene Glycol which is toxic, but has a lower freezing point and therefore offers extended protection. Our -50 and -100 are made with Propelyene Glycol making them non-toxic. You can even winterize while still in the water. Take the time and winterize.