Do you winterize your bilge if you can't get the water out?

[wikakaru]

It's my first year winterizing a boat for a cold climate. The bilge sump on my CD22 is several feet abaft the bilge access hatch in the cabin sole and it isn't really possible to get down there and sponge all the water out.

Do other CD22 owners have a trick for getting the water out of that sump?

Is there a problem leaving water in the bilge over winter?

Can I just add some antifreeze to the bilge and leave it at that? If so, what works best for a bilge, and how do you figure dilution ratios if you don't know how much water is already down there?

The boat's only bilge pumps are the cheap long tube-type manual pumps so I don't need to winterize any pumps.

Thanks in advance for the advice! I've owned boats for 40 years and I lived aboard for about 15 years, but I've never kept a boat anywhere cold enough to worry about winterizing before!

Jim

[Carl Thunberg]

If you can't get down there with a sponge, can you get a shop vac hose down there? You really don't want to leave water down there permanently. There must be a way.

[wikakaru]

Good idea about the shop vac. The boat is on a mooring and I don't have access to electricity. At the end of the season the boat gets hauled by a boatyard and it is difficult for me to get to the boat. (It involves ferries and long hikes...it's a living-on-an-island thing.) Maybe I can get the boatyard to shop-vac the bilge for me unless someone has another non-electric idea.

Thanks!

Jim

[Keith]

try a big sponge on a stick/pole. It will be tedious but effective.

[Bill Goldsmith]

Still not a bad idea to put a gallon of the pink stuff full strength in the bilge even after emptying it, so any rainwater or meltwater that ends up in the bilge won't freeze up.

[drysuit2]

Still not a bad idea to put a gallon of the pink stuff full strength in the bilge even after emptying it, so any rainwater or meltwater that ends up in the bilge won't freeze up.

I second Bill's advice. Whether I store her for the winter on the hard or in the water...I always make sure I use a few gallons of the Pink Stuff. Put it in everything sink drains, porta potty, bilge, Water tanks, etc. Fill up and pump everything until you see pink. It's always something like a plastic hose or valve that freezes. Something you would never even consider. Very little work; great insurance.

[Paul D.]

Maybe an idea is to get a cheap long manual pump to get that water out while at the mooring. Alternative to installing something more complicated.

I Third Bill's comment on pouring in a gallon of antifreeze into the bilge. Cheap insurance. There is likely condensation and stray rain water that makes its way to the bilge over the winter. I know this as a Lake Superior sailor who's been winterizing his boat for nearly two decades. Pump what you can out, pour some pink stuff in and sleep better all winter!

I use six gallons, one for each water tank, one for the toilet, one for the motor raw water and one for the bilge after it's pumped out. I then pump some of that out each through the manual and then the electric bilge pumps to get their lines treated too.

[wikakaru]

Thanks for all the advice! Sounds like pink stuff is my new best friend.

Jim

[fmueller]

just a note ... the pink stuff has the added benefit of halting biological activity ... of which there is lots in most bilges and holding tanks ... so feel good about throwing some in the bilge for that reason as well

[Keith]

good point Fred, I didn't know that!

[Markst95]

Last two boats I've had I put in garboard drains in the keel. Don't have to worry about water building up and freezing. The Marina should pull the plug for you when they store it.

[MHBsailor]

My Typhoon Senior (which I've heard used the Cape Dory 22 hull) came with a portable rigid plastic hand pump which I have only needed to use occasionally after wind-driven rainstorms and have never had a problem withdrawing water from the deeper aft portion - so long as I removed the ladder first so that I could get the proper angle to drain the bottom of the bilge (using a flexible hose would be easier). Having said that, since it is a major PITA, I am going to install a manual bilge pump during the off-season for my convenience. Good idea about adding some propylene (NOT ethylene) glycol "just in case", although when I stored mine last year with shrink wrap the bilge stayed bone dry all winter.

[swhfire21]

I’ve always put a cup of rock salt in low the spot, which retards prevents a hard freeze up, at least in NJ.

No chemicals into water or ground. I was taught this decades ago (before the pink stuff was a thing)

[jen1722terry]

We have a small handpump with a long (36") hose we use to get the last water out of the tanks and bilge. Cost maybe $10 at HD, plus a few $$ for the hose. Then we put about 1/2 gallon of the pink stuff in the bilge. and another 1/2 gallon in the holding tank (which we pump with the dedicated pump). We also leave all taps, valves and seacocks open.

The last 7 winters our 31 has been stored in New Hampshire, Maine and Nova Scotia. No damage yet but that may only prove that we're lucky.

Happy Columbus Day to all or you!

Jenn and Terry

[Dick Kobayashi]

Put in the pink stuff. And forget about it. Also I have found it beneficial to put in a capful or two of ordinary dish detergent whenever I pump the bilge. This keeps much of the crud in suspension.