Wintering of a moored and covered R6OB in PNW

[gstubbers]

Hi,
I have a new 2023 R6OB and will be mooring it under cover in a slip over winter on Lake Washington (freshwater lake near Seattle). The boat has only 6 engine hours and I plan to take the boat out every week or so throughout the winter season, provided it is not raining, just to run it a bit. Do I need to winterize it? Winter temps occasionally get into the teens but are usually mild. We do get snow for a week or two occasionally. Also, should I leave the outboard down in the water or keep it up out of the water? I don't think the lake freezes over where it is at, but I can check with the marina manager. I don't have a trailer and I won't be dry stacking it either. Any and all information would be helpful, Thanks.

[Big Block Power]

Well what temp does the lake get to? The water maybe warmer than the air. Then keep it in the water. Then why buy a outboard? Ok I'll watch from the sidelines on this one. I have nothing more. But congrats on a great boat

[gstubbers]

Thanks for your response. The lake temps dip down to 38 deg - 39 deg in Dec, Jan, Feb and Mar.

[stifflkd]

It might be worth getting an ice breaker (bubbler) if you have access to electric. You can throw it on a thermostat to only turn on when the air hits 32 degrees or so. I would tilt the engine out but either pump some pink stuff in the flush port or at least blow some air through the line. I don't own a OB but I would think there might be some residual water in the lower unit with the OB tilted up.

[gstubbers]

Thanks. The water doesn’t freeze over at the marina in the winter so i think an ice breaker isn’t warranted. Also, i plan to use the boat every 1-2 weeks during winter so trying to not use the pink stuff if possible. I did a little sleuthing on the intersnizzle and found an outfit that makes a heating blanket /cover that is customer made to your outboard to keep the top half above freezing temps.

[Plastik]

I too will be, for the first time, wet slipping (but uncovered) this year in Seattle (Newport marina) with our 2014 Cobalt 220S. While she’s not the R6 I’m ridiculously jealous of you owning, I have some of the same concerns and curiosities about prep. We’ve had her her at the Lk Union SkyLaunch dry stack for the last three years so haven’t had to worry about it, other than winterizing.

The slip has power and I plan to have an engine compartment heater, battery tender and fan in cabin to keep air moving. We fight with mildew every year and hope the fan stops that. I also do want to get her out a few times over the winter to warm up a bit but often my aspirations get forgotten in the days distractions. I’m unsure if a winterization is necessary?

Ideally the guys at Seattle Boat have some input and I’ll swing by West Marine as they tend to have great info. Lastly, since we can now use our own boat guy for services, I’ll ask him too. We’ve been locked into using Seattle Boat (crazy expensive) service for the last few years and pleased we can go external and save some dough.

Looking forward to learning any new information you get.

[Plastik]

Two other items came to mind:

Auto bilge: I’m unsure if we have that or not but need to check into it.

Fouling the hull: I read these terrible stories about not keeping boat in water for more than 30 days, antifouling paint is a must, bubbles and gel coat scares…are these valid in Lk WA? I see the same boats at the marina for years and if they, like myself, have no trailer then what do they do? Do they pull out annually for a hull cleaning or some other method? I certainly don’t want hull staining but unsure how concerned I am about the other stories I read about.