Winterizing in MA

[Funtacular]

Anyone in MA/RI know a good place to take my boat for winterizing love? Bonus points if they can wrap it too! I have a place local that will wrap it for me but nobody will touch the winterize project on jet boats in my area. I know I should do it myself but frankly I just completely lack the confidence that I will get it done right!

 

[mark_m]

Anyone in MA/RI know a good place to take my boat for winterizing love? Bonus points if they can wrap it too! I have a place local that will wrap it for me but nobody will touch the winterize project on jet boats in my area. I know I should do it myself but frankly I just completely lack the confidence that I will get it done right!

Just blow the water out of the water boxes/exhaust.

Put in Marine stabil in the gas tank say 3/4 full.

You can remove each spark plug and squirt some fogging oil in each cylinder too.

Add couple buckets of damp rid inside and be done with it. You can do this!

 

[feziwig]

There are a lot of write ups on winterization and it’s fairly straight forward. If you don’t want to do it yourself, any Yamaha waverunner dealer should be able to do it. You have 3 near lakeville. The waverunner dealers likely will not be equipped to shrink wrap a boat though.
The closest Yamaha boat dealer is twin city marine and they should be able to do both, but will probably be more expensive than a waverunner shop.

 

[Funtacular]

I was all set to do it myself but reading other posts, etc I just don't want to risk screwing something up.

It sounds like I would want a good high powered air compressor (don't have) do blow out the water boxes/exhaust. I think for this first one since I have owned it maybe I let the pro's handle and then consider next year

I will look up the local Waverunner dealers to see what they might charge. Thank you both for the feedback.

 

[mark_m]

I was all set to do it myself but reading other posts, etc I just don't want to risk screwing something up.

It sounds like I would want a good high powered air compressor (don't have) do blow out the water boxes/exhaust. I think for this first one since I have owned it maybe I let the pro's handle and then consider next year

I will look up the local Waverunner dealers to see what they might charge. Thank you both for the feedback.

No need! Just rev the motors on the trailer a few times and done!

 

[Scottintexas]

It sounds like I would want a good high powered air compressor (don't have) do blow out the water boxes/exhaust.

Negative, you just need to run the engines for a few seconds to help blow some of that water out, you can never get all the water out of the water boxes but they are cylindrical so any water that freezes expands upwards and doesn't cause a problem,

 

[Funtacular]

No shit? Well that is simple enough...I am running out of excuses here...

 

[Gym]

I was all set to do it myself but reading other posts, etc I just don't want to risk screwing something up.

It sounds like I would want a good high powered air compressor (don't have) do blow out the water boxes/exhaust. I think for this first one since I have owned it maybe I let the pro's handle and then consider next year

I will look up the local Waverunner dealers to see what they might charge. Thank you both for the feedback.

I'm not that far from you @Funtacular. I'll be doing mine in a couple of weeks. You're welcome to stop by, watch, take notes & have a beer. I have a 2006 SX 230 so we have the same motors and essentially the same boat.

 

[Funtacular]

That would be pretty cool. Will PM you my cell and try to meet up. So many "ah ha" moments since owning this thing that make it really stupid simple to work on but until I connect the dots I do nothing but worry!

 

[biglar155]

The water boxes on our boats are designed in such a way that a little residual water lying in them will not damage anything when it freezes. A couple quick revs is all you need. I do it every time I take it out of the water.

I had a waterbox out of the boat while upgrading my through-hull drain (scupper). Just for S&G I dumped the water into a small pail to see how much was in there. After a LOT of rolling it around, turning it, and shaking it, I probably had a couple pints of water in the bucket and could still hear some sloshing around in there when I gave up. You just can't get it all out.

My boat is stored in an un-heated building and has happily survived 10 Wisconsin winters (we've gone weeks at a time with highs of -10 deg F) with no issues.

Moral of the story: Don't waste your money on anti-freeze. Some folks do it to "feel good" but dumping money (literally) into a storm sewer doesn't make me feel good so I skip it.

The manual recommends fogging the engine through the throttle-bodies by spraying into each intake with the engine off, then starting it for a few seconds. I typically run the engine on the hose (Engine on, water on, water off, engine off. In that order), and spray some fog in while it's running. Then I shut down and follow the manual recommendation of spraying each throttlebody and starting.

(In all honesty, sometimes I feel like fogging is a feel-good thing too, but it IS recommended by Mother Yamaha.)

As mentioned, sta-bil in the gas and don't fill the tank all the way -especially if you store outdoors. When filled fully, fuel could be pushed out the vent line when the weather warms up. (With the floor removed and a full tank, you can see the air pocket bobbing around in the tank - it's not 100% opaque. If the boat is a bit nose-up - which you should be for storage - the air pocket is at the front of the tank. When it gets warm and expands it has nowhere to go so fuel is forced out the vent line.) I haven't personally had to deal with this, but my indoor storage unit seems to warm up slowly enough to keep this from being a problem.

I'm sure @Gym will get you sorted out, but feel free to ask questions here and don't be afraid to do this stuff yourself. If you can pour water out of a boot with the instructions written on the heel, you can handle this.

 

[Gunner]

Twin City Marine in Central Falls, RI

 

[Funtacular]

Looking to get some opinions on the right size tarp to get to cover my boat for the winter. Usually I shrink wrap but I have been convinced to do a good tarp instead. Boat is an AR230 with wakeboard tower. My plan is to wrap the tower/speakers with bubble wrap and then go over the top of everything with a tarp. Then just bungee/tie the tarp really good. Looking at a 30'x40' 16 Mil tarp on Amazon for $264 or 24'x30' 20 Mil for $210. Just not sure how much I need to get up and over. Any ideas?

 

[Troch1]

You’d be smart to support the span from the bow to the tower with either some stout strapping or a 2x4 on edge. You get some heavy snow loads in MA, you need to support your tarp to shed the snow.

 

[Funtacular]

I was thinking about that @Troch1 . I was thinking of making a couple of "bows" using PVC kind of like in this article:



Then I got thinking that if the tarp is tight enough and the angle is good the snow should slide right off?

 

[Troch1]

I was thinking about that @Troch1 . I was thinking of making a couple of "bows" using PVC kind of like in this article:
View attachment 107910


Then I got thinking that if the tarp is tight enough and the angle is good the snow should slide right off?

It would be time very well spent to make some type of support. Those PVC bows are impressive. The first time your tarp fails and your boat fills with a heavy snowfall, you’ll be kicking yourself for not taking the time to do it correctly. Northeast snow can be really wet and heavy and sticky. I guess if the angle were extreme enough, it may work, but why risk it?

 

[Funtacular]

It would be time very well spent to make some type of support. Those PVC bows are impressive. The first time your tarp fails and your boat fills with a heavy snowfall, you’ll be kicking yourself for not taking the time to do it correctly. Northeast snow can be really wet and heavy and sticky. I guess if the angle were extreme enough, it may work, but why risk it?

Fair enough. I agree! Should be reusable as well so its a good investment.

 

[BigT51]

Looking to get some opinions on the right size tarp to get to cover my boat for the winter. Usually I shrink wrap but I have been convinced to do a good tarp instead. Boat is an AR230 with wakeboard tower. My plan is to wrap the tower/speakers with bubble wrap and then go over the top of everything with a tarp. Then just bungee/tie the tarp really good. Looking at a 30'x40' 16 Mil tarp on Amazon for $264 or 24'x30' 20 Mil for $210. Just not sure how much I need to get up and over. Any ideas?

I have the same boat and just bought a 20x40 10 mil tarp (the silver kind like Harbor Freight sells). The tarp is longer than it needs to be, a lot of excess at bow and stern (trailer is completely covered as well). Side to side, the tarp reaches to just about the top of the trailer fenders. It seems pretty heavy but we'll see how it holds up over the winter. I live in PA and they're calling for more snow than normal this year. I bought the tarp off of Walmart's website and ended up paying less than $40 which was a steal. Again it remains to be seen how it holds up but for the cost I had to try it. I have the Yamaha boat cover with support poles on under the tarp to provide additional support, particularly in the bow.

 

[Funtacular]

Nice. Thanks BigT. I ended up pulling the trigger on a 20x30 ft 14mil Thick tarp I found on Amazon. I am hopeful it is long enough but based on your pic I think it should be good. I grabbed some bungy's, large bubble bubble wrap, and a roll of clear stretch wrap. My goal is to wrap the tower and speakers in bubblewrap and secure with the clear stretch wrap. Then go completely over the boat and as much of the trailer as I can and secure with bungees. I was considering buying some shock cord and tying instead of bungees but figured I could make that call later. I am probably thinking way too deeply into this LOL

HydraTarp 20ft X 30ft Heavy Duty Waterproof Tarp - 14mil Thick - White/Brown Reversible Tarp - - Amazon.com

 

[Gym]

On my SX230 I use 3/4 inch PV electrical conduit from HD for the frame. Then covered with a 20x30 foot tarp from Ocean State. They're pretty inexpensive and last 3 to 4 seasons.

 

[zipper]

I know winters down there, you guys get Nor'eastahs, high winds and heavy wet snow. I would buy a couple of 2 x 4 x12's to build a ridge and support with at least 3 dead men, 2 x 4's from boat sole up to the ridge to support the load. Tie the ridge off on both sides to cleats and tower. The line will also support the cover. Put the cover/tarp on as tight as you can, lighter ones are known to shread by spring when they flap in the wind. You don't want to be picking small pieces of tarp out of your boat for the next few years. Still finding bits of tarp that a P.O. used 2 years ago on the Beneteau. Also be careful of the grommets/ bungees/material chafing the gelcoat. Snow will have a hard time staying on it as high as it would be to cover the tower. It gives you room to work under if you need to. We store our sailboat this way, but our tarp is shrinkwrap. Our Yamaha is inside a barn covered.