Boat Life: Fall Boating and How We Prep for the Offseason
Although summer is over, we’ve been lucky enough to have some gorgeous fall weather, that’s still great for boating! From those amazing September sunsets to that heat wave in early October, we’ve been able to get out on the water more than expected.
When fall boating season rolls around, there’s always the thought in the back of your mind that it could be the last time, so we try to take full advantage. We keep a close eye on the weather and the wave conditions and make plans around that. I’ve talked about that here on the blog before, about keeping our schedules clear during boating season, because you just never know when you’ll be gifted with a perfect day! We also watch the sunset/sunrise times so we’re aware of how much daylight we have – it’s a definite adjustment to see the sun setting at 7:30 when you’re out on the lake! Despite the shorter days, I think fall sunsets are truly the best – we were out earlier this month and the sky was lit up with the most beautiful oranges, pinks, and purples. Even when the temperatures drop, I encourage you to head to the lake and go check out the sunset – they continue to put on a show!
We just took our boat out of the water this weekend, and got it prepped for winter. We store our boat in my in-laws’ barn, which is a HUGE help and cost saver, as we’re able to avoid shrink wrapping the boat and paying for storage fees. It makes our winterizing process a little easier, too, so we can conduct all of that maintenance right there.
The winterizing process varies per boat, but the main to-dos for us include flushing the engine with antifreeze, draining and changing the oil and oil filter, and adding a stabilizer to the fuel in the tank. We’ll also give everything a good clean from top to bottom – we wash the hull, clean the bilge, wash the interior and remove any unnecessary items from our storage compartments. You want to eliminate any risk of residual water freezing, cracking, and thus leading to damage to your engine or parts – so if you have sanitation lines or air conditioning systems (which we don’t have) then you’ll want to care for those proactively too.
It’s actually quite a bit of work, but is necessary to make sure the boat withstands the elements and is ready to go without issues next year. Once we have everything all buttoned up, we’ll put the cover on and wait until spring — the longest wait ever! I’m already counting down the days…
Thank you to Progressive for sponsoring this post – click here for a free boat insurance quote for your next boating season!
