To me, winterizing and draining the water just in case the temp might dip
below freezing for a few days are two different things. And this happens for
me more in the early spring than in the fall. My boat's on a trailer in the
laneway. If the temp is gonna drop, I just drain the block/risers ... remove
the drain cocks and disconnect water lines here and there e.g. at the oil
cooler. And then reconnect to go out again.

Winterizing for my boat involves topping up the tank, adding stabil, running
then draining/changing the engine oil, running then shutting off the fuel
(carburated) so there's no fuel in carb (4bbl) over winter,
removing/checking/replacing the plugs and squirting fogging oil in the
cylinders and turning the engone over a few times, spraying DW40 here and
there, and most important draining the block/risers. And taking everything
in that might disappear over winter (the prop, battery, ...).

And on top of that, there's some preventive maintenance required that could
be done fall or spring ... e.g. every 2 seasons or so pull the outdrive (ok,
I have the outdrive pulled), lube the universal, crack the outdrive (alpha)
and replace the impeller, change the outdrive lube, grease the grease
points.

There's a few more little things ... but that's my 2 cents worth :-)



"John Cadella" wrote in message
. net...
This is my first season with my 1987 Bayliner Capri cuddy cabin and it has
been running great with the 1998 Volvo Penta 3.0L 4cyl.
We trailer it and launch in both a local fresh water river and a salt
water
marina in Connecticut. We are also taking it to Lake George, NY soon too.

I'd like to use the boat at least til the end of October - When should I
start winterizing the engine and outdrive? Is the first frost when it
needs
to be done or do we need to get sustained low 30's evenings?
Thanks,
John