NW freeze

Starting tomorrow, highs will be 28 degrees through Saturday. I have a covered hallogen light that can be easily placed in the bilge, near the water tank. The power source is reliable. Will that do the trick or should I drain the water and apply antifreeze? I'd prefer not.

-Greg

One of the best advantages of this gizmo is you can have a fire for highly defined periods of time. We turned it on and sat next to the hearth with a couple of glasses of Pinot Noir and talked for about half an hour this evening. When we were done, we simply turned it off. Will come in handy when we need to leave the house and would otherwise be at least slightly nervous about leaving a fire burning.

Yeah, we're getting the cold blast tonight. Strong north, northeast wind all afternoon, right out of the Fraser River Valley and the Canadian Rockies. I like the wind from Hawaii better, even if it is on the wet side most of the time.

Even a blind squirrel gets a nut sometimes. A few weeks back, we ordered our old home fireplace converted to a Nat-gas log with a custom built leaded glass door. The fireplace opening has an arched top so the door had to be built back east somewhere and won't be ready for another month or so, but just as I was leaving the house this morning the crew showed up to run the gas line and install the actual log. Coldest night in the last few years, and we have our newly improved fireplace running. :-)

Spent the morning prepping both boats, the one I bought and the one I'm selling. The one I bought, Maxum 2400, is in the boathouse, engine hatch up, canvas down, with a thermostat controlled heater in the cockpit.

The other one is in a covered moorage. Water has been drained, from the water tanks, and manifold. It has the hallogen light hanging in the engine hatch, which the boat broker will routinely check. Hoping for the best. They are predicting low 20 degree temps with a frigid 30-40 mph east wind, that actually warms the air some.

Hopefully these measures will get me through this... Both boats are FWC.

-Greg

Lets see...bet that a 2 buck light bulb made in china by a 9 year old will protect your $10,000 engine.

If RW cooled, stick you engine water intake into a bucket of antifreeze. Keep it running until you see the stuff blowing out the side of your boat. If FW cooled do the same and then check your FW collant with a 3 buck tester. Top FW system if necessary.

Even with "fresh water cooling" your engine should be running a strong coolant solution, so there should be no real chance of a freeze up at 28F.

If you drain your potable water tank, and hot water tank, and make sure the lines are clear there would be no need to add anti-freeze.

You keep that cold weather down in the Columbia, OK? :-)