Just de-winterized engine but mini-cold snap forecast and boat not in the water....

[FairweatherDave]

I de-winterized my raw water cooled MD11 and started her up beautifully on the hard at Shoreham as a test prior to launching very soon. In the meantime on Sunday night it is forecast to go down very near to freezing, and definitely a frost.... ie 1 degree and of course that is a forecast with local variability. Should I not worry as the boat is near the water and the cold is not going to penetrate before the temp starts rising again, or should I put a low wattage light bulb on in the engine compartment? New nice problem for me to be ready this early in the season

 

[AngusMcDoon]

Not worry. One night of near freezing won't do any harm.

 

[benw]

I have worried about this in the past. However the sage advice out there urges one to consider the air temperature or ground temperature as compared to the temperature inside the boat which is likely to be slightly above the outside. You may consider a frost stat oil filled radiator which will kick in only when necessary and lift the ambient temp in your cabin thus reducing the potential for frost to be an issue.
I was hoping to get third and fourth anti foul costs on this w'end but the temp on the east coast being 11 degrees things will get a bit gloopy, so grass cut will have to suffice.

 

[chewi]

....I was hoping to get third and fourth anti foul coats on this w'end but the temp on the east coast being 11 degrees things will get a bit gloopy, so grass cut will have to suffice.

Park the paint tin in a bucket of hot water, let the water warm the paint, ait wont be so gloopy.

Does it really need 4 coats on the east coast?!

 

[FairweatherDave]

Thanks for the reassurance Angus. I think I'm pretty safe but I'll monitor the forecast too (plus some live weather stuff) as I'm only 15 mins from the boat. And thanks Benw too.....

 

[VicS]

I de-winterized my raw water cooled MD11 and started her up beautifully on the hard at Shoreham as a test prior to launching very soon. In the meantime on Sunday night it is forecast to go down very near to freezing, and definitely a frost.... ie 1 degree and of course that is a forecast with local variability. Should I not worry as the boat is near the water and the cold is not going to penetrate before the temp starts rising again, or should I put a low wattage light bulb on in the engine compartment? New nice problem for me to be ready this early in the season

Near to freezing is not going to do any harm.

If you are really concerned that is may get colder and we will have a period of below freezing weather why not simply drain the water from the engine and gearbox cooler

 

[benw]

Park the paint tin in a bucket of hot water, let the water warm the paint, ait wont be so gloopy.

Does it really need 4 coats on the east coast?!

Yes thanks for the bucket tip I have tried this before successfully. We are hoping to stay in back to back seasons so the extra effort now should see us ok until a mid season scrub next summer.
Fouling on the Orwell can be quite extreme!