freeze warning tonight - not winterized

[lesman01]

THere is a freeze warning tonight. The low temp for my area is forcast for 34, but there may be spotty freezing. I have not winterized my boat yet and it is outside under my deck with the boat cover on it. Anything i can or should do in case it happens to dip below 32?

[dawsonr]

I was once told that the temp would need to be below 20 degrees for over 8 hours before any freezing would take place.  If you are worried about freezing, place a shop light (incandescent bulb) in the engin compartment.  Just be careful of what it may overheat, like the fiberglass hull.  With the engine cover sown, it will provide a bit of insulation for the motor.

[Lakeside]

I was told something similar.  If it is skirting 32 degrees at night and it is getting into the 40's in the daytime, you should be OK.  If it's not getting into the 40's in the daytime, or if it drops well below freezing, that's when potential problems may arise.

[rustnrot]

You will be fine.  I have left an inboard engine boat with lake water in the block ALL WINTER here in Augusta, GA underneath one of those aluminum roofed carports before.  Occasionally I would put a light under the motor cover when it was supposed to get really low but I do not think it gets below 20 here anymore.

[epic_toy]

If you're concerned, you can run it for a while to heat up the engine. I had the same concern when staying in the mountains and it was freezing at night, but after running during the day and followed by a cold night, it is still toasty warm under the motor cover in the morning.

[Bitzco]

Give her a hot totty. That will warm her right up.

[cyclone]

Same for me here tonight. If it is gettin close to 32 deg, like 34 deg, you are probably fine. You can always put a trouble light under the engine cover, that's more than enough to raise the temp enough not to worry. It would take a hard freeze to really screw things up. From what I have seen, the heads are where the cracks occur, so you could put new heads on there if the very worst happened. Only 2k or so, cheap!

[lesman01]

Thanks all.