Warm(er) Climate Winterization

Hello all,

I know that the topic of winterization has been discussed at length across this forum, but I had a difficult time finding the answer to my question. Apologies in advance if this question is answered elsewhere. If it is, please point me in the right direction!

I have been water skiing and around boats my entire life, but finally got to pick up a CC of my own earlier this summer, a 2005 Ski 206. It has been a blast! I am looking for some guidance as the winter months are approaching. I am originally from Cleveland, OH where I know boat owners do a full winter lay up in the fall and then the poor thing doesn't see the light of day until the spring. I now live in Dallas, TX where the winter months vary quite a bit. The temperatures have the potential to go below freezing but we also saw some days in the 60s and 70s last January. Being from Cleveland, the thought of water skiing in January is pretty exciting!

My question is simply is there a more minimalist winterization procedure that I can use in order to take advantage of the warm spells in North Texas throughout the winter months? I basically want to be able to take the boat in and out of winterization quickly and multiple times throughout the winter. It is stored under a covered boat lift on the lake so would be exposed to whatever the temperature is outside.

I am definitely not a gearhead like some of you are, but I am handy, have a basic working knowledge of marine engines, and a strong desire to learn. I would love to be able to handle winterization as well as basic maintenance and repairs myself. That being said, I may require a bit more detail and description of procedures as I am still getting my feet wet with owning this boat and doing the maintenance myself.

Thanks in advance for the help and advice.
Charlie

If you have the Excalibur or the 5.0L draining is a pretty easy process, remove the (2) exhaust manifold plugs, the knock sensor on the starboard side, drain plug on the port side, drain plug at the J-Tube which is adjacent to the water pump, the trans cooler plug and also drain the strainer. Use Teflon tape or paste when reinstalling everything except the knock sensor, that goes back with nothing and only needs to be tightened to like 20ft lbs. Might not be a bad idea to pull the impeller as well.
If you have a hot water shower it will likely be tapped into the block plug on the port side so just run the pump until it stops squirting water, be sure both H&C valves are on when doing this. If you have a heater just remove the red hose at the intake manifold and use your lungs to blow the water out, it will drain thru the J-Tube plug.

Of course Pete's suggestion would work as well, mine is just a bit cheaper :)

DVskier wrote: cracked block, cracked heads. Very expensive. Take 15 minutes to drain and don't worry.

+ 1 on that Charlie ....

Many years ago, 2 boats ago I drained my boat because I thought we may be done for the season but I didn't do the full winterization because it was still fairly early ( mid October, which for me is still kind of early) and I thought there may be a chance we could go out again before the weather turns. We live in southern Kansas and it usually doesn't drop below freezing overnight till sometime in November or even early December. Well, a surprise front came though much earlier that year and naturally I was out of town for the week. I spent the entire time biting my nails hoping I didn't come home to a cracked block. As it turned out, I was fine, but it could have gone the other way just as easily.

What Pete said...

When I lived in Houston, I did not drain the engine or accessories for lay-up. I have a similar engine compartment heater as Pete showed. Never had a problem.

JQ