For some of you, it will be a long, cold winter.

Gary

We've already told folks we're not playing out Jan/Feb...too cold.

We figured it wouldn't be all that bad Nov/Dec. But now, we're thinking of running our gigging season like April - Oct since it's getting so cold in Nov. now.

12 degrees here this morning...new record cold temperature.

Gary

So Gary, any requirement to winterize the boat? If so, did you get it done in time? This cold snap caught us all by surprise, but luckily I got my motorhome done just days before the cold snap (@ $200.00 at Camping world). I'll have to de-winterize and re-winterize if I want to make a planned trip to South Florida in January. What a royal PITA. Waiting for a insulated hanger to open up at the airport. Expensive, but worth it. Hate cold weather. Never should have left Hawaii (or Florida), even for the grandkids. I would've been perfectly happy with just pictures of them .

chas

I winterized the boat last week. I do it myself. I completely drain the freshwater system, then flush it with two gallons of pink antifreeze until antifreeze flows out all the spigots and shower head. The the heat pump gets the same treatment, but it only takes about a quart to do that one.

The engine is a different deal. It has a heat exchanger, which requires about 1.5 gallons of pink antifreeze, then each spark plug is removed, fogging oil is injected into each cylinder, then the engine is turned over a couple times to make sure the cylinder walls and valves are coated with fogging oil. This is followed by an oil change.

The sails, bimini top, console cover and all other canvas has been removed and stored in my office. The batteries, all five of them, are connected to a solar charger, which keeps them topped off, therefore I no longer have to remove them from the boat. Those babies tip the scales at 105-pounds each, and I'm too damned old to pull them out, and lower them to the dock.

The last thing I have to do is put on the winter tarps, one over the boom, and another over a line stretched across the foredeck. They get tied down to the boat's toe rail with bungee cords.

It's a lot of work, but when spring arrives, the only thing I will have to do is install new spark plugs, polish the points, and fire up the engine. April seems like a long way off, at least to me.

Cheers,

Gary

It gets a bit nippy up here, too, but the show must go on.

I drained the water from the lower end of my bass boat, in case in gets cold enough to freeze. Temperature today is going back up to around 60 though. BRRRRR!

Gary ... be happy you don't live in Buffalo:

http://www.startribune.com/nation/283155881.html

Just talked with a friend of mine there. He had to climb out his attic window so he could shovel out his front door and garage door. It took him most of the day to do that, and I heard there is another 3 to 4 feet of snow coming tonight. How's the weather in your neck of the woods, Tony?

Gary