What Winter Prep for Winter Moorage?

[BCTony]

I have a 19' aluminum fishing boat (North River Seahawk) with 115 and 9.9 Yamaha engines and canvas cabin, mooring cover etc.. The boat is moored in a saltwater marina where I intend to leave it through the winter. The boat also has raw-water washdown and livewell intakes with pumps. Since being moored at the marina the boat has been used every few days, but this will decrease during the winter months when I hope to use the boat once a week or every 10 days or so. Since placing the boat in moorage last April, I have flushed the engines with freshwater after almost every use and used Saltaway. I have also raised the engines to maximum height out of the water. I am told that when the freezing weather comes I should leave the the engines lowered in the water as during the winter intrusion by marine life is unlikely.

I am new to boating and would be grateful for advice. What do I need to do to prevent freezing or other damage through winter?

My boat is not set-up to take 'shore-power' but a 120v supply is available (with electricity supply included in the moorage fee).

[goatram]

Tony
What kind of Plug is in the transom? Most of the Aluminum boats sink up here because they; the plug Fail. Have you pulled and checked it lately?

Battery charger/maintainer hooked to shore power for the time just in case the plug fails or it Rains to much for the Bilge pumps maintain and your away.

Make sure you drain the wash down and bait pumps to prevent them from freezing. Then close the seacocks.

[BCTony]

Thank you for this. I have a stainless steel screw-in transom plug, liberally anointed with 'never seize'. This I have checked each time the boat has been taken out of the water and does not appear a problem.

How do I drain the pumps with the boat in the water?

[goatram]

Mine has a quick disconnect hose coming from the Seacock. At the intake for the pump pull on the keeper up to disconnect and pull the hose fitting elbow out of the pump body to drain. Then reinstall the hose.

I would think for the motors leave them down in the water and after rinsing leave the hose diconnected for a few minutes to drain the engine power heads. I will say that I have no experience for leaving the boat in the water over the winter. I do have some for the frozen washdown and supply pumps that have Busted do to water left in it. Plastic housing do not like the cold

[BCTony]

Problem is I do not think my water intakes have seacocks; just a piped inlet to the pump and then outlet. Could this be the case or would it be unusual?