Winterize Your Bowrider Boat to Avoid Spring Surprises

Taking good care of your bowrider boat is an important responsibility all year long. It’s easy to focus on the summer season when you’re having all that fun, but winter can put some serious wear and tear on your watercraft. Winterizing your boat is a critical annual activity that is absolutely necessary if you want to avoid a spring surprise such as mildew or a damaged engine. Here’s more info on this important topic from experts at The Harbor, so read on to learn more.

Why Winterization Is So Important?

Winterizing a boat is crucial to protect your bowrider's engine, electronics, and other components. If you skip these measures, your spring surprise could be a ruined engine, a moldy interior, corroded plugs or wires, and other maladies. Failure to winterize is a great way to damage your boat, incur big repair expenses, and possibly seriously diminish your resale value. In other words, winterizing definitely pays for itself over the long run.

Thorough Cleaning

You’ve got to clean your bowrider, inside and out! First the interior: Remove all gear and equipment and clean everything, especially the cracks and crevices that harbor gunk. Condition anything that needs conditioning such as upholstery. Dry off all surfaces. Clean the exterior thoroughly, let it dry and wax it.

Oil Change

Change the oil and the filter according to the directions in your manual. It’s generally best to drain the oil when the engine is a little warm so it drains thoroughly, and to run it after the oil change for a few minutes so the oil will circulate and lubricate all the internal parts.

Coolant and Antifreeze

Flush your coolant and top it off with some fresh antifreeze. Follow the manufacturer’s dilution recommendations. This is super important to prevent the internal tanks and components from freezing, which can cause severe damage.

There’s More!

You also need to disconnect your electronics and disconnect your battery and store it at room temperature (or close). Also, flush the engine and make sure it’s fully drained. If you are going the DIY route, make sure your list of tasks is thorough, and that you don’t skip any of them. Once all the winterizing tasks are done, it’s time for cover, storage, and dreaming of next summer on the water!

When it’s time to winterize your bowrider, we hope you’ll trust the experts at The Harbor. Let us help you prep your bowrider for the winter season. We are conveniently located in Branson, MO, and we proudly serve all those in Springfield and Kansas City.