New Boat!

Well, it's a new boat for us, but in fact, the boat was built in 1971. If the registration can be believed, it's Hull #4. We are it's new owners and very excited about same. We live in Seattle and the boat is currently in Bellingham for part of the winter. She'll be in the water throughout the winter so I do have some questions about winterizing both the boat and the outboard.

Do I need to drain the two (one was added) water tanks that live under the vberth? There's no holding tank for the head at present so I think that's good. Should I put some antifreeze in the small about of water in the toilet bowl. There's a small amount of water in the bilge. Should I antifreeze that? Sink drain?
As for sails, it has a furling genoa. Should I remove that for the winter? I've never had one of those so I wonder how difficult it is to remove/put back on. How about the mainsail? Do you recommend removing it? How about the dodger? There's no cover for the boat so it will be exposed throughout the winter.
As for the outboard, on our smaller boat, I simply added Stabil to the fuel, run it through and then run out the gas in the carburetor. Is there anything else one would recommend?

I'm happy to be part of the Ericson community and thank you for whatever advice you might have for getting through the winter.
I'm wondering if anyone in the Seattle community would be willing to talk Ericsons live and in-person. Maybe even show us your boat. We're pretty easy going, reliable folk so your safety is assured There could be a dinner involved......

Thanks,
Carol

Congrats on your E27 and welcome aboard.

Hi Carol,

There is an annual Ericson rendezvous, usually in June, so if you watch this site you will eventually see an announcement about it--a great place to see lots of Ericson boats and talk about maintenance, upgrades and other fun stuff.

Regarding winterizing, it may help to tell us what kind of boat and engine you have, as requirements may be a bit different by boat. However, we keep our boat in the water and sail regularly all winter (in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island), so leaving it in the water is ok as long as it doesn't freeze wherever your boat is. The hull does absorb some warmth from the water, so doesn't freeze as quickly as if it were on the hard in a boat yard. However, it is still a good idea to winterize it a bit if you don't have ready access to monitor it.

Winterizing involves emptying water tanks or adding some of the pink antifreeze to them, drawing it through the plumbing system so it's in the hoses so they don't freeze and crack, closing all seacocks, adding antifreeze in the engine raw water system (there is a process for this), taking cushions home or putting them on end to promote air circulation to avoid mould, adding a fan to circulate air, removing all food items, books and anything else that can be affected by moisture. Some people add a dehumidifier, or dehumidifying crystals, or a small heater (though this can be dangerous if it falls over or has an electrical fault), even a light bulb/trouble light to add a bit of heat, though again there is a risk with this. Covering with a tarp is an option, though some advise against this because of it chafing against the deck or hull. Removing sails is a good idea if you won't sail through the winter--it's pretty straight forward by unfurling the headsail, releasing the halyard, pulling it on deck, undoing the shackles and lines, storing carefully in a dry, vermin-free place, preferably with air circulation to avoid mould; similarly the mainsail can be removed and stored. Some people seal all openings--vents, etc. to prevent insects and mice getting in, but remember to remove them all in the spring. It's a good idea to completely fill or completely empty the fuel tank to avoid condensation adding water to the fuel over the winter, and add a fuel stabilizer and algae preventer. Also add fuel stabilizer or use up the fuel for your outboard, run it until all the gas in the carburetor is burned off, ensure all the water is drained and then store it; cover the dinghy if possible to minimize UV damage.

I hope that gives you a start; I'm sure I've forgotten something, but others can chime in. There are probably other posts on this site if you do a search on winterizing; similarly there are articles, web sites and books written on this as well, so there should be no shortage of information.

I hope you enjoy your Ericson as much as we do!

Frank

Congrats on your new boat!

Welcome! Congrats on the Ericson decision. I think the last post was pretty thorough. All I would add is that it's significantly easier to raise/lower the headsail on a furling and mainsail when it's calm winds.

Maybe also have a nice (big) clean, dry place to fold the sails up properly prior to storing them. The place I usually use is covered in goose droppings this year.

I agree with the full fuel tank with sta-bil. And if you can fill it with ethanol free gas, that's always best.

Just to reiterate Franks point, if you guys get snow there, you may want a winter cover to keep it off the decks and weigh the boat down. Most of the time, the little bit of chafe is outweighed by not having 3' of snow sink your boat. Also cabin ventilation is key and often hampered by a winter cover, so you'll have to plan around that.

Have a great time!

Dean

Welcome to the "Viking" community!


Way back in the day I used to crew on an E-27. Great sailing boats.

Lots of dedicated owners here, so more responses to your questions will be rolling in.

Regards,
Loren

E27 Winter

Hi Carol and welcome,
I have an E27 with an Atomic4 gas inboard moored about 2 hours south of you, and about 2 hours north of Loren Beach. I guess I am right in the middle between you two folks latitudinally, so fairly similar winter weather. We of course don’t get the harsh winter weather like they do back east or midwest so winterizing is not a lot of work here.

I keep a mixture of sta-bil and seafoam in the fuel year round so don’t do much else in winter in that regard other than keep the fuel tank full of non-ethanol gas.

I remove the engine cover, and the upholstery, and leave running this little west marine heater on the lowest setting, along with a marine/rv dehumidifier:

This way the engine is always warm, as are any tanks plumbing etc. I also visit the boat at least bi-weekly and run the engine, operate what little accessories I have, and scrub seagull poop of course. So the boat doesn’t really know that its winter all that much, and when a nice day pops up it is fairly ready to go out.

I do take all sails and canvass home and store under the bed for the nastiest part of the winter and put up a small boom tent. That’s about all I do, and have never had a problem.

If I were you, with an outboard, I would just take it home, run it in a barrel of fresh water, drain the carb, and put it in the garage right next to the hot water heater. That’s where I keep my dingy outboard. Unless of course you plan to use it all winter, then just run it every couple weeks with good gas and should be fine.

Best,
tom