MBY article on shipping boats

[jfm]

Plus I guess you 'save' the depreciation on the VAT element.

Yup, and some of the running costs

 

[Hurricane]

I, too, was very surprised about the engine running solution to drain the silencers.

Our Princess also has drain taps to drain the silencers but I dont see the need to drain them on a standard lift - after all the boat will roll more on the sea than it does on the hard and you cant drain them whilst she is in the water.
However, if you were transferring by road or sea transport it would be prudent to drain them then.

I found this part of the article quite scary and would have pushed my insurance company harder on the matter - for example - would Volvo recommend "blip the engines" without any sea water in the circuit - I think not.

 

[jfm]

after all the boat will roll more on the sea than it does on the hard and you cant drain them whilst she is in the water

But remeber, if the engines are running at sea you dont need to worry cos exhaust gas pressure will generally prevent seawater getting in the the valves

I agree with you on the ins co. I too got the feeling the author of that article gave up too easily.

 

[Hurricane]

I meant and should have said that in harbour or at anchor the boat can roll about much more than if it were on the hard.

 

[MapisM]

if the engines are running at sea you dont need to worry cos exhaust gas pressure will generally prevent seawater getting in the the valves

Generally, yes. But on engines with aggressive cam profiles, the exhaust scavenging can actually draw sea water back along the internal surface of the exhaust tubes, particularly at idle. In fact, some very nice head upgrades for petrol big blocks require straight exhausts instead of the silent choice, to avoid the risk of reversion (dammit!).
But back to the point: though I didn't read the article, I agree that the suggestion to just drain the exhausts is ridiculous.
It would make more sense to make a proper winterization, running engines with freshwater+antifreeze, and then sealing the filters and exhausts. Possibly worth a thought if the trip is very long, and in areas where freezing temperatures can be expected.