cooling system not circulating

[luvfishing]

Okay may be a dumb one, but.... Just bought the boat and am fishing in pretty cold weather. Draining the outdrive completely... but next day when I started the motor (135 Honda 2005). The water was not flowing through the tell tell port.... Watched for the engine to get hot but never indicated it was over heated. Turned off the motor waited a bit...About 5 minutes or more. Restarted and within a few seconds the water was flowing through the port... Was there frozen water in the tubing. Will this hurt the engine? How do I keep this from occurring? I fish alot on the cold weather for steelhead and I am a bit nervous about running the motor until it thaws. Would like to know how to stop this or at least know, it is okay. Please anyone.. Help

 

[Sea Rider]

Re: cooling system not circulating

To prevent water freezing inside engine, after use, remove boat/engine from water, start engine some seconds with safety lanyard disconnected to turn impeller and water leftovers out of the engine head.

Happy Boating