Winterizing in Portland

Hi All,
I'll be moving my boat to Portland, Oregon early October to a covered slip (PacMar) on the Columbia River. I was wondering if any of you have experience over the winter there and what systems you found necessary to winterize?
Your advice is always appreciated!
Taras

What boat do you have to move to Portland? I see you are listed as currently boatless.

I am at St Helens. I have fully winterized one year in the last 5. It was based on a forecast of several days in the teens. Normally I just drain the seawater wash down system. I do the wash down hoses separately since they don’t drain when disconnected. We do run a couple small round west marine heaters and a small dehumidifier during the winter.

We had a SeaRay 400 express there for 3 years. Kept low heat on in cabin and engine space ( no way to call it a room). First year outside, second under cover was really cold as the roof didn't allow solar gain and it was always river temp under cover. Third year back outside. The boat did fine but we did close through hulls as a precaution and drained strainers to heat exchanger.
Hollywood

To me the answer to your question is simple: all systems, that you don't want to have to replace, need to be winterized.

You might have a mild winter but then again it could be the winter of all winters with historic lows. When we were in FL I did the same winterization that I did in Ontario. FL could have a snap cold go through with freezing. Why run the risk for the cost of winterization.

I have a sheet i could send you if interested. PM me with your email.

Taras said:

Hi All,
I'll be moving my boat to Portland, Oregon early October to a covered slip (PacMar) on the Columbia River. I was wondering if any of you have experience over the winter there and what systems you found necessary to winterize?
Your advice is always appreciated!
Taras

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In 36 years, and 3 generations prior to me, of commercial fishing out of Westport, WA. I have never winterized our vessels other than to disconnect fresh water hoses from the deck during hard freezes. We do run block heaters, cabin heat and dehumidifiers essentially year round. I do the same with my Hatteras 65’ LRC wherever it’s at in Western WA, and SE Alaska. Never had any problems.

Taras said:

Hi All,
I'll be moving my boat to Portland, Oregon early October to a covered slip (PacMar) on the Columbia River. I was wondering if any of you have experience over the winter there and what systems you found necessary to winterize?
Your advice is always appreciated!
Taras

Click to expand...

Dozens of boats sunk in Portland last winter during the ice storm. Expect this to happen every winter. Most because they left seacocks open.

Drain all water lines, use space heaters (oil filled work well), close all seacocks. Also make sure you water tanks are full and black water empty if you plan to spend any time on the boat during the winter.

Nepidae said:

To me the answer to your question is simple: all systems, that you don't want to have to replace, need to be winterized.

You might have a mild winter but then again it could be the winter of all winters with historic lows. When we were in FL I did the same winterization that I did in Ontario. FL could have a snap cold go through with freezing. Why run the risk for the cost of winterization.

I have a sheet i could send you if interested. PM me with your email.

Click to expand...

Agree, you can never predict when the weather will take a dive in temperature. And by the time it happens you will probably not have time to run there and do the winterization. How much trouble is it to replace blown out water lines as compared to winterizing them? I would assume that they will blow out in the most inaccessible places. Much rather do a scheduled winterization than do repairs. But if you feel lucky go ahead and roll the dice…

Rsysol said:

Dozens of boats sunk in Portland last winter during the ice storm. Expect this to happen every winter. Most because they left seacocks open.

Drain all water lines, use space heaters (oil filled work well), close all seacocks. Also make sure you water tanks are full and black water empty if you plan to spend any time on the boat during the winter.

Click to expand...

That’s a great point! Thx for the seacock suggestion!

Another thing to check is what your insurance company says about winterizing. They may or may not require it.

Dozens of boats sunk in Portland last winter during the ice storm. Expect this to happen every winter. Most because they left seacocks open.

Click to expand...

I am guessing water above the shut off froze, burst the hose and when it thawed....... so should the hose be taken off and drained?
Does the water below shutoff freeze as well?
Sure glad mine sits in a warm bath.

Keep in mind that a boat in Portland Ore, is sitting in flowing water. It is going to be above freezing. The air temp can get very cold however, for short periods. The seacock problems occur if the water in the hoses freeze (remember this is fresh water), bursts the hose, then when it thaws out the boats can sink if the seacocks are open. In general, I think it is always a good idea to close any seacocks below the waterline anytime you leave the boat. I used to do this all the time on my sailboats, but I admit to not doing this in my trawler.

I never winterize my boat, but it is sitting in the Puget Sound which has warmer winter water temps than the Oregon rivers. I do close off the water lines to the cockpit shower as the lines there are exposed the the cold and can (and did) freeze. I do keep an oil pan heater running full time on the boat 9 months of the year. This keeps the engine at a comfortably warm temp and that keeps the rest of the boat above freezing as well. I also keep a dehumidifier running which has a side effect of raising air temps a few degrees as well.

So in PDX, I think using an oil pan heater will help keep the ER warm and dry and eliminate any freezing risk for any of the water lines in the ER. Close off any remote water lines such as cockpit shower, and be prudent and close all seacocks when away from the boat for extended periods. Not for freezing risk but just as general safety. I caution you against using any resistant fan heaters on the boat when unattended. Fan motors can fail and then the heater can overheat causing a fire risk. Those are actually prohibited in my marina for unattended boats. The low amp "Davis air dry" heaters are fine to use and are enough to keep the cabin spaces above freezing without creating a fire hazard.

I used a Wolverine oil pan heater but they were purchased and now their same products are being sold under the Zerostart name. 250W is plenty.

I'm on the lower Columbia. The lowest engineroom temperature I recorded at 20°F, was 35° when the ER was unheated. But I live aboard so the ER received some heat from the cabins.
Thermocube comes on at 35° and off at 45°. Rated at 1500 watts. There are other models with different temps.