Cruising Sailors Forum Archive

Re: General Questions Regarding Winterization and Solar Battery Charger

You guys are great! Thank you!

I am pretty sure my seacocks do not have the extra drain capability. But I think I will try to definitely drain the raw water strainer and add antifreeze. I probably should pull the entire thing out and replace the gaskets and give it a good cleaning. The clear portion does not look clear at all right now. Who knows when the last time it was cleaned - and, the bronze is a pretty solid green patina - OK for architectural roofs - but not for sailboat parts!

My batteries are wired right now so that one battery will run everything - it starts the engine and runs all electronics. It is not separated out to a starter battery and a house bank. That is OK, I think - but, I like the idea of adding a combiner. I do not have the solar charger yet - so I can take my time figuring out the best way to get everything set up.

My previous boats just had an outboard that I stored in the garage over the winter. I love the inboard - but I need to get comfortable with winterization.

My head and fresh water system were not used in the past several years. In fact, they still have some pink antifreeze in the tanks. I would like to get them operating in the spring - but, I figured they would not need winterization this year.

Messages In This Thread