The unforgiving and hostile Ohio winter is taking its hold shockingly early this year. Of course, boats do not fair well on ice (except giant fan boats, surprisingly). To keep the boat in good condition, we had to prepare it for the grueling white hell ahead of us, and opted to save some money to do it ourselves. Here's how we did it in six simple steps:
Step One: Pull the Plug. Water that enters your boat and seeps into the hollow hull has no way of escaping, except The Plug. This water can freeze during the winter, expand, and crack or weaken your hull. You should lift the front of the trailer as high as you can so all the water will pool in the back and then pull The Plug. Make sure to give it time to fully drain, since it might not do it automatically. We left the plug out overnight. You may also want to dump a couple of buckets of fresh water down your live well to fight off the fishy odor.
Step Two: Empty, Store, and Clean
Once you put your boat away for the season, whether in your garage or at a storage unit, you will not have easy access to anything left inside it. You should take out expensive equipment such as rods and fish finders. Personally, I take this opurtunity to clean out all the junk left in the boat and to re-organize anything that may need it. We also remove the starting battery and the trolling motor's battery and store them in a dry, warm place like our garage. This is the most important part! Lastly, since we have a lot of carpet, I take a shotvac to the whole thing, making sure I got corners well.
Step Three: The Motor
There are several things that need to be done in the post-season that a. makes preseason preparatory work easier and b. protects your motor. The first thing we do is to frost the spark plugs using frosting oil. This can be picked up fairly cheap at any auto parts store. It's pretty simple to do, but you can find guides online. Next, we drain the lower unit. Again, this is simple and guides are online. *If the oil that comes out of the lower unit resembles chocolate milk, the seal could be broken and letting water in. When this happens, get to a mechanic as fast as possible.* Finally, we pump fresh oil in and put anti-freeze into the gas tank that can be cheaply picked up at auto part stores. Once again, there are specific guides online.
Step Four: Gear Check
This is a fast and important step. You should check over all your equipment and ensure everything is in working order. Some things to check are ropes, lights, trailer lights and tires, and pressure on the fire extinguisher. You should also make sure there is nothing that leaked or left a nasty residue.
Step Five: Cover Your Boat.
You are almost done with the most depressing part of Northern fishing: the end. Cover your boat with either the cover that came with it or a series of tarps. We throw a box of moth balls on the floor to keep critters out. You can probably find cheap boat covers online. The main goal is to keep as much of the outside world where it belongs, outside. Make sure everything is tight and secure.
Step Six: Store Your Boat
Maybe you just have a little rowboat that your store upside down beside your house (or use it as a second trailer when you move) that can probably withstand the elements. Or maybe you have a beautiful 21 foot Fisher boat that you are trying to keep in good condition. If the latter is true, choosing where to store your boat is important. We store our vessel in a boat garage that we modified for further protection by screwing a tarp across the back and chicken wire over the openings in the side. The front was left open for now. If a population of neighborhood cats using your boat as a restroom and dead pine needles somehow finding their way into your boat are not problems, then no modifications may be needed. Another option is to find a storage facility that can accommodate a boat.
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