Any precautions to boat in cold weather?

[holgo123]

1993 Chris Craft w/ OMC Cobra 5.0 l EFI MPI... I just finished a lengthy repair and am itching to go out on the lake. Is there any danger to boating when the water is so cold? It seems that the water would be a problem being so cold and pumping through the engine... Also, the oil in the foot would be pretty thick. Any thoughts? Any thing I need to do besides wearing warm clothes?

 

[starsnstripers]

Re: Any precautions to boat in cold weather?

probably would depend if you have a closed cooling sys. and if there's antifreeze in it or not. Drain every thing when done or winterize run some anifreeze through it when done. Cooling sys. I'm not sure about a lighter drive oil someone else on here will know. good luck with it

 

[Lou C]

Re: Any precautions to boat in cold weather?

Make sure you will be able to get all the drain plugs out, I use the Merc Hi Performance gear oil in my Cobra and it shifts very well, but never used it in temps colder than 60.

 

[holgo123]

Re: Any precautions to boat in cold weather?

I have Amsoil Synthetic gear lube in the foot. It is an open cooling system, just sucking up a bunch of very cold water... I store the boat in the garage, so it is never in freezing temperatures...

 

[Bondo]

Re: Any precautions to boat in cold weather?

Ayuh,......

The Temperature of the water doesn't matter til it gets to 32?,.......
Only at that point will you have Issues.........

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Any precautions to boat in cold weather?

I would go easy on it until it warms up some.Give those gears some time to spin before going wide open.It should be fine.
I had my old Cobra drive out one year when the water was 34 degrees.Froze my butt off but the boat did fine.

 

[180shabah]

Re: Any precautions to boat in cold weather?

No swiming!!!

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Any precautions to boat in cold weather?

The biggest issue is not to fall overboard or swamp, and not break down. There are usually very few boaters or marine tows, on the water to assist you, this time of year.

 

[njlarry]

Re: Any precautions to boat in cold weather?

Ditto on everything Chris wrote. Your survival in cold water is measured in minutes. Even in warm protected waters I use a PDF when I'm the only one out there.

 

[salty87]

Re: Any precautions to boat in cold weather?

definitely cell phones and let people know when you should be back.

let it warm up real good as has been said. bring a jumper pack if you have one. real warm clothes that can get wet from spray. towels/dry clothes for the truck ride back.

be gentle with things while you're out. even the interior gets really brittle in the cold. sounds like a fun time.

 

[Lou C]

Re: Any precautions to boat in cold weather?

Today I saw a guy going out in an OB powered boat from the harbor behind my house in Long Island. It's 17 degrees here and they guy was in an open boat, looked like a dual console. Braver dude than me for sure! In fact the water over by the boatyard where he must have been docked was frozen over. The water temp is about 38 degrees.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Any precautions to boat in cold weather?

Thats a hard core boater Lou! I hope he has no issues out there in that kind of weather..

 

[Lou C]

Re: Any precautions to boat in cold weather?

Hard core for sure, I have seen this guy out there a number of times before. And on a day when it's not windy, you can see 3-4 boats out in Northport Bay fishing. I give these guys credit for bravery. The CG is right there at Eaton's Neck, but still, man that's cold!!! And these are not bigger walk around or pilot houses, they are open center consoles for the most part.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: Any precautions to boat in cold weather?

They have more guts than i would for sure!

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Any precautions to boat in cold weather?

We have clammers that work year round. Occasionally I will see one coming in from a day of work. One guy had an open boat, like a cc, and it was in the teens. He had a phone booth built around the steering wheel and controls. He was inside the 'booth with the door closed. On the open deck was his black labrador retriever, running around the boat sniffing and barking, looking over the side etc, just having a ball being out on the water with his master on a freezing cold day! A real sea dog!