Sea Ray

The annual winterization of my boat was performed by me each year. The Spring is where issues / problems are discovered. The commissioning of my boat each year was uneventful. (My current operation in the tropics removed that fun from the equation.)

For your inquiry, yes, drain the fresh water tank w/ taps open until only air flows. {Don't forget the head.) The water heater is the problem. On my boat it is a horizontal bottle w/ taps on the side, leaving at least a gallon within the interior. Bypassing the water heater is the common solution, to ensure all the hot plumbing gets full strength of pink.

After empty I would dump three gallons of pink into the fresh water tank, then open each tap until I got a good pink flow, including the head flush.

The theory on the water heater is that a horizontal cylindrical tank w/ spherical end caps having water in the bottom will have expanding ice rise rather than crack the tank.

Remember there are parts extending into the tank limiting that effect. These include the heater element, the over temperature sensing rod and the hot pickup tube.

On my hot tank I've diluted w/ pink and I've removed and manually drained to not have problems. All methods had no water heater problems.

For the rest of the boat, I just made a checklist to ensure everything is completed to avoid problems.

Thanks, especially for the reminder on the transom faucet and I also have one in the locker. My water heater is square and easy to drain. I will also pump some pink in there after reconnecting the bypass. All this seems pretty simple when considering what the Marina has been charging me.

The insulated water heater enclosure is box shaped.

The interior water heater bottle is cylindrical w/ large diameter spherical end caps.


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Don't forget to pour a little extra pink down each drain just to be certain...it's cheap insurance. Also, get a good pump out of your holding tank, then fill about half way with clean water and pump out again. Solids laying in there all through the off season will get "more solid" and may not be easy to remove.

My Vacuflush maintenance includes periodic holding tank pump out, followed by removal of the large level sensor assembly to use that opening to permit scrubbing the tank interior.

A long handled brush is used w/ powder cleaner and a garden hose to restore the tank interior to being nice and clean.

My boat also has an anchor wash down and fresh water windshield washing spray. Be sure to winterize those items if you have them.

Even though I'm not in freezing temps, I always forget to winterize the bilge pump in the cabin which has the ac and shower water pump out. Someone suggested just pouring vinegar down the shower drain. Otherwise, like me, you'll end up in the spring cleaning the pump etc to get the algae that has accumulated and plugged up everything.

That shower / AC sump pump system is important to protect.

The one on my 2000 380DA has a check valve on the output, retaining water above the check valve to the side hull fitting.

My maintenance includes periodic disassembly and cleaning of that shower sump.

Thanks. My sumps are dual purpose - shower and AC. So when I bleed the showers, the sump will fill with pink. I also have check valves but the discharge will will be filled with pink from bleeding the showers. The only time I physically clean the sumps is when I have to replace a pump. In the interim, I pour bleach in the shower drains and let sit for a while, which cleans the line as well as the sump.

Cbruck - vinegar freezes are around 28 deg F so I wouldn’t count on that as freeze protection. We get minus 20 and lower around here. Actually I use bleach to clean the sumps which also seems to work well - just put it down the drain and let sit. Thanks for the comment.