Launching Early

[antney1]

I am like everyone else and can't wait to hit the water. The question I have is... I have an I/O and am afraid if I launch now and leave her in and we get a cold snap that I risk cracking my block. What are your thoughts ? Is this a valid concern ? Thanks

[GAMBLER]

Leave a light bulb on in the engine compartment and it will be enough heat to keep the block warm.

[Chas0218]

You can too pull the drain plugs on the motor. If you could pull the boat each time I would say gravity feed some of that RV eco friendly antifreeze into the motor just to be sure.

[Tim Bromund]

you say "Launch now and leave her in" if by that you mean launch for the season and put it in the slip, then IMO you should be fine. The boat will be sitting in marina water that is quite a bit above freezing and that will protect the block from freezing. I'd be more worried about un-winterizing it and leaving it on the trailer in a cold snap. THAT can get the block cold enough to cause damage.

If you're still worried, the trouble light in the engine compartment will certainly take care of it. Only issue there is (and it IS an area of concern) it's not a marinized piece of equipment and therefore not spark protected, so if you DO have any fuel leaks and the bulb sparks at all if and when it blows out, the possibility exists of blowing the boat up from the spark igniting gas fumes.

Tim

[Gill-T]

Run the non-toxic antifreeze thru the engine right after you pull her out. The engine is warm so the antifreeze will flow right in. You just need one of those plastic tubs with engine earmuffs found at any West Marine. Don't worry about fogging the engine, since the boat will get used again soon.

[antney1]

I was thinking about putting her in the water for the season this weekend. The marina I'm at does not have power to my knowledge so the light bulb idea would not work

[Tim Bromund]

like I said above, I'd be a lot less worried about it with the boat in the water once it's un-winterized than I would be with it on the trailer.

Tim

[borderline 350]

Dear Early In........your risking a lot of very expensive equipment and they will freeze up "IN THE WATER" Seen it happen in mid April @ Sodus Bay.....if the wind blows and the outside temp. is 28 F. It happened last winter in the SOUTHERN STATES NC, SC, GEORGIA....They never use antifreeze, they never had freeze problems....until last YEAR. Go ahead, trust MOTHER NATURE....but not until Mid-April and you had better run to the Marina when they forecast COLD weather. Miss that day and your engine & manifolds will be FUBAR! See it all the time. Even had a I/O bell housing crack due to water trapped in the line! .....Miss one drain plug due to sand blocking the exit hole and that side of the block will crack! ..............I love the early fishing too, but it requires extreme care of equipment.......Respectfully submitted....X-Jet Boat Bill

[antney1]

Ok so now having read all this I am alittle nervous but I do have one last question....I understand that my motor has 5 drain plugs....if I were to run it and upon my return took out the plugs to allow the water to drain would I STILL have a reason to be concerned... common sense it telling me to wait till April to launch it, BUT ........................

[bottom-feeder]

all depends how bad you wanna fish....mines going saturday

[tangleweed1]

Mines going also we will be launching out of Mexico

[ Post made via Android ]

[rolmops]

You can pull the boat after you are done fishing and pull all the plugs from the manifold and the block and remove the hoses just like you would do when you winterize. It only takes about 10 minutes to do that.

[george]

If you trail you boat,buy the winterizing kit from Rob at West Marine, Rochester. Run 2 gal. pink thru the motor. First warm the engine up w/ ear muffs and a garden hose. Then switch to anti freeze and run till pink comes thru the exhaust. Talk to Rob at WM. He'll fix you up.

Tell him Florida George sent you. Good Fishin.

[BullGator]

Guess it depends on your definition of a cold snap....

I would drop it in, as long as you can get to it and pull the drain plugs quickly if needed.

Like Tim said, sitting in the water will provide quite a bit of warmth and insulation.

Throwing an old blanket over the motor will help you sleep easier on a really cold night, the warm water below will keep her plenty warm enough.

Just remember to remove it before you wind her up in the alternator........

[antney1]

I was going to put it into the slip this Saturday(where it will be all season, not trailering it)... I have no problem pulling drain plugs and hoses, what are we talking bout, 10 minutes of work ?? I also have a few mattress pads left over from a move so maybe between the marina water, the plugs, the pads, and the engine cover I shouldn't have a problem ??

[Chas0218]

Get yourself a Compact flourescent 100w on a drop light and throw it in there. They do NOT spark when they blow, they have a catalyst that heats up but does not spark. Add that to a fire blanket over top the engine and your golden. The CFL won't be 100w but equivalent to a incandescent 100w bulb, it will put out plenty of heat without the danger of an explosion.

[antney1]

Do you need shore power for that ?? If so I don't think I have access to that. I'm hoping that by me opening up the 5 drain plugs on the motor, maybe adding some antifreeze and then covering the engine with a mattress pad that I will be alright. Gonna be an expensive lesson if I'm wrong

[karmakaze]

I don't know if I would risk my boat for some fish.... it hasn't been great out there anyway.... went out Sunday and went 12-16 and again yesterday on 3-15 and we went 12-14 on the browns. And I did listen to advice about running 10lb leaders for browns and lost 3 monsters... I am sticking with my 20lb leaders and getting the fish to the boat. Good luck with you decision... I have an outboard and not too worried about it.

[Chas0218]

Ya you need shore power. Is this a chevy motor? If so you should be able to pull the thermostat housing and pour anit-freeze down in your block.

[bandrus1]

I don't know if I would risk my boat for some fish.... it hasn't been great out there anyway.... went out Sunday and went 12-16 and again yesterday on 3-15 and we went 12-14 on the browns. And I did listen to advice about running 10lb leaders for browns and lost 3 monsters... I am sticking with my 20lb leaders and getting the fish to the boat. Good luck with you decision... I have an outboard and not too worried about it.

HAve you thought about using longer or lighter rods?

I use 10lb line on the salmon river on fresh kings and land 35lbers in current... I cant see how you can break off trout that easy using 10lb.... use rods with more bend and let the rods do the work

[Chas0218]

I don't know if I would risk my boat for some fish.... it hasn't been great out there anyway.... went out Sunday and went 12-16 and again yesterday on 3-15 and we went 12-14 on the browns. And I did listen to advice about running 10lb leaders for browns and lost 3 monsters... I am sticking with my 20lb leaders and getting the fish to the boat. Good luck with you decision... I have an outboard and not too worried about it.

I am running 8ft. 15lb. flourocarbon leaders and didn't have a single one break even with 12lb and 14.5lb browns. Sounds like your drags were a little too tight. Both fish fought hard 25 minutes for the smaller one and 37 minutes for the larger one. We couldn't shut the motor down in worry of tangling our lines.

[bandrus1]

37 mins? thats nuts.. the only way I can see me breaking off is if I have to really put the breaks on them because we run out of line on the spool.. I only run about 160 yards of line on my reels

[Chas0218]

37 mins? thats nuts.. the only way I can see me breaking off is if I have to really put the breaks on them because we run out of line on the spool.. I only run about 160 yards of line on my reels

Every time it would get within 10' of the boat it would spool out 150' of line it did that 4 times. He was trying to muscle it in but the rod tip jumped the one time and it looked like he pulled it out but the rear hook dug in and allowed us to land it. When the rod tip jumped up that was after 20mins. haha it was fun and well worth it. I'm not running the strongest line but it seems to do the job.